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I Ching: A New Interpretation for Modern Times

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This version of the I-ching is one of the best out there. Like having your own personal guru, continual use of this book will bring the anxieties and complications of your life into blissful perspective. Why is this version the best? It manages to combine simplicity and directness with the complexity and beauty of eastern philosophy. Get this book and use it often!

The translation of "I Ching" means "book of change", and this specific translation really captures the true spirit of the text. While the introduction is a bit short for those new to the subject, the rest of the book features interpretations which are very sharp and relate to a "western" point of view. Where many I Ching books have a specific focus (like the "Buddhist I Ching" or "the I Ching of Romance") each hexagram has three sets of interpretations which allow you to get a business, relationship or spiritual oriented take on any question. The insights are filled with many current references, and Reifler avoids the trap getting too "new age" or literal about his subject. Don't judge this book by the cover, it's a classic that has now been around for over 25 years. If you already own a translation or two of this book, you may want to think about adding this edition to your library.

I got my first copy of this book some 25 years ago. In the meantime, I have acquired many other versions, but one is still one of my favorites. I used to refer to it as "my second brain" because it has been a tremendous help for me for accessing higher wisdom and getting practical solutions to some challenges that bordered on impossible - finding a way when there seemed to be no way out. The wisdom and guidance from this book has enabled me to accomplish some things that were very important for me, but which I didn't have a clue where even to begin to turn into reality. It has helped me to turn some seemingly impossible dreams into reality. For this I am profoundly grateful to the author of this book.

I have started using this book when I was a teenager and when some other translations and interpretations of I Ching left me more confused, whereas this one provided easy to understand and straightforward counsel.

As you keep on working with I Ching, you begin to develop a "feel" for different hexagrams that goes beyond words and comes about through actual experience. In time, you don't have to read the interpretations any more because you have the knowingness of the meaning of each hexagram. In time, you may develop a greater and deeper relationship with your higher wisdom, and what you need to know will emerge into your conscious awareness through direct guidance, without the necessity of using outer oracles. But, until you learn to clearly discern the voice of your higher wisdom, I Ching can be tremendously helpful.

Other than the simple and easy to understand language of this book, I particularly appreciated that the interpretations of each hexagram are divided in three sections - related to your material life, to your love life and to your spiritual life. This makes the book even more "user friendly". I think that the book is particularly suitable and the best choice for someone who is new to working with the profound wisdom of I Ching.

There are so many I Ching books to choose from out there but very few are easy to understand.This book is easy to understand.Its written in simple English so people of all ages should be able to use this book.

This book doesnt have several pages for each hexagram which makes asking for guidance a lot simpler than most other books.It can be used for all matters.It has more to offer than most I Ching books even though it has less pages.It still offers a great deal.


As a book for beginners I think this book is suitable.I would encourage people who are starting to learn I Ching to choose this book and at least one beginners book first.You will end up keeping this book for sure.

The quality of this book is very high.Printed on very high quality.The price itself is very good value too.Its really a good quality bargain.The cover is very appealling too.A little colour inside makes this book more interesting.Nice touch.Overall,this book is one of the best books for anyone interested in I Ching.I have yet to find a book that can offer as much as this book does for the same price and the same high quality in a book with less than 280 pages.

I also recommend these books:
1)"Practical guide to the I Ching" By Kim-Anh Lim.
2)Symbols of love".By Stephen Karcher.

The copy I currently have of this book is from 1985, having worn out at least one previous copy. I'm delighted to see that it is still available, since I recently loaned my copy to my teenaged son, who was seeking an accessible translation of the I Ching. I was loath to let it leave the house until I verified that it could be replaced at Amazon.

The other reviewer is correct that the introduction is rather short for someone not already familiar with the I Ching (or at least divination systems in general), but it is sufficient to allow the user to dive right in. Each hexagram is given interpretations in modern English for the three critical areas of life that three quarters of all divination is done: "artha" (work), "kama" (love), and "moksha" (spirituality). Here's my only complaint then, for one on health would have covered that last quarter!

Despite the use of the three Sanscrit terms, the book is faithful to the Chinese cultural context of the I Ching and neither talks down to nor over the head of the reader. Anyone over the age of 14 should be able to read and use this book with success, though those under 30 may refuse to believe some of the practical but not-much-fun advice the oracle will dispense. It's like talking to a reasonably hip Chinese American grandfather. But I'll stop now, before I wax on and wax off too much....

This is an easy to understand intrepretation of the I Ching. Much easier than Wilhelm's book, "I Ching, Book of Changes" This so far is my favorite. Some other easy interprtations are; "The Everyday I Ching" by Sarah Dening, and "The I Ching or Book of Changes" by Brian Browne Walker

There are literally tens of thousands of translations of I Ching (pronounced "Yee Jing") or "Book of Changes" in existence. A truly ancient text (scholars estimate that it is at least 3000 years old) I Ching is a handbook of sortilege, or divination through the arrangement of objects.

Sortilege has been used since prehistoric times. Modern dice ("Roll them bones!") are the direct descendants of sacred goat bones used by diviners who interpreted the future by reading the marks on the bones and the arrangement of the bones when ritually tossed. Other sortilege-based games include Mah-Jongg and Go. Another form of sortilege is the reading of tea leaves.

I Ching uses hexagrams (six line figures of solid and broken lines made up of a lower and upper trigam, all of which have independent meanings) to represent its readings. The hexagrams are traditionally constituted by the tossing of coins or yarrow sticks, though other objects can be used. Unlike many other forms of "fortune telling" I Ching does not in fact answer questions. Rather, it presents the querent with a series of interpretive statements from which the querent is expected to draw conclusions upon reflection. Thus, I Ching is related closely to Zen Koans, many originating in China, which are used as exercises in spontaneous thought.

Previous reviewers seemed somewhat surprised at the use of Sanskrit terms in I Ching. However, it should be recalled that Indian mendicants, including the Buddhist sage Bodhidharma, entered China long ago bringing their various systems of thought with them. The Chinese reinterpreted these ideas in their own way, but a word like "Karma" entered the Chinese language much as it has entered English in modern times.

The author of this volume, Sam Reifler, has done a masterful job of presenting the readings of I Ching (often very esoteric and translated very, very obscurely) into modern English in a format which can be readily used by novices and masters alike. On the negative side, no doubt some of the subtleties of the original Chinese are lost, but on the positive side, the typical reader will not get lost in the subtleties of the original Chinese. Rather than being offput by the exotic atmosphere of I Ching, most readers will be drawn into it. If you do find yourself wishing to delve deeper, the material is out there and available to you.

You may find yourself reading this book for pleasure, or simply opening the book at random to see what it can tell you. Much like Rorschach inkblots I Ching can unlock your own thought processes and you will take from a reading whatever you may need at a given moment. Many people use I Ching as a daily lesson, a kind of "Hexagram a Day" spiritual practice.

Whatever you choose, enjoy, and may we all ascend to the throne of Enlightenment.

I love this book!!!! Whenever I have a question or need some guidance on the tact I should take with a situation, I throw the coins and the answer somehow gives me a better perspective. No biased advice from friends or relatives, no poetic language, no esoteric phrases, no koan-like gibberish to wade through.