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118 of 121 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"The clouds pass and the rain does its work..., January 30, 2000
...and all individual beings flow into their forms." The I Ching is a book in that it has pages and printed text, but it is also an actual, living oracle, with its roots in antiquity and fresh leaves emerging every spring. It can tell you how you are doing, where you are headed if you continue in this way, and what you might do to change the course of your destiny if you don't like the results. I have had a deep relationship -- and that is precisely what it becomes -- with this book for almost 30 years, and it has never betrayed me. I have thrown it across the room in anger; I have approached it, trembling, on my knees, with my most profound existential fears and questions; I have wept with relief, or shivered with guilt at its answers and advice. It has seen through my confusion, stroked my forehead, slapped my cheek, poked me in the ribs. It has been kind or cold, bestowed blessings or blame, as was deemed cosmically necessary. It will reward even the casual visitor with wisdom and a way to be happier and more successful in this life.I have heard many complaints about this particular edition of the I Ching. Apparantly, some people feel that it is "muddy," or encrusted somehow with the translator's limitations. However, I have read or used more than ten other versions, and the Wilhelm/Baynes remains the benchmark for them all. They all rest on a knowledge of the Wilhelm/Baynes version to provide the screen upon which their translation is projected. None are so thorough, and none provide the glorious, exalted poetry of the original. For example, Confucius says of one of the lines in the 13th hexagram, Fellowship with Men: "Life leads the thoughtful man on a path of many windings. Now the course is checked, now it runs straight again. Here winged thoughts may pour freely forth in words, There the heavy burden of knowledge must be shut away in silence. But when two people are at one in their inmost hearts, They shatter even the strength of iron or of bronze. And when two people are at one in their inmost hearts, Their words are sweet and strong, like the fragrance of orchids." Some people find parts of the direct translations too wierd: "Penetration under the bed. Priests and magicians are used in great number." "The flying bird leaves him." "There is a large fruit still uneaten." But these poetic images have always had a striking impact on my subconscious, helping me to fathom the deeper meanings of the hexagrams and individual lines, and giving me a much richer depth of understanding. I find the use of many other translations valuable, and always appreciate the different highlights and perspective, but I used the Wilhelm/Baynes edition exclusively for many years and still consider it my primary resource. It is the one book -- of any kind -- that I would take with me to the proverbial desert island, if I could only take one. Don't hesitate to buy this book; you will never regret it!
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by Hellmut Wilhelm
by R.L. Wing
by Richard Wilhelm
