School of Wisdom® Series: Volume 2

CHAPTER 5: YIN AND YANG

The I Ching and the Five Stages of Creative Time.

By Arnold Keyserling and R.C.L.

"Since Life is based on Self Organization, the fractal reality of the fourth dimension, we must make our choices out of chance, out of chaos."

The basis of evolution is self organization. There is no master plan in nature or civilization. God is not playing dice with the Universe, but He-She-We does make a good deal of it up as we go along. Self organization develops without predetermination. There is free will, a chance to choose. But the self organization is structured and shaped by the four scales or dimensions.

Self organization can be understood as the capacity to create information based on the Mandelbrot vector 0 : z z¾ + c considered as a continuous creative process. The key is spontaneous improvisation in the moment - acting in the Tao - returning to Zero. This whole field has been thoroughly explored for millennia by Chinese thinkers and so we will use their terminology.

The underlying principle of self organization, the factor creating a larger identity, is called CHI in Chinese philosophy (KI in Japanese). (Strangely enough, this Chinese word is the same as the Greek word for the Pythagorean symbol.) CHI appears in two aspects, WU CHI, emptiness, symbolized by the empty circle, and TAI CHI, plenitude, symbolized by the ancient Chinese fractal:

The integers - whole numbers (1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9...) Allow a person to make sense beyond meaning. This can be exemplified by the following proposition:

Equation: 2 + 4 = 6 : Sense

2 elephants + 4 tigers = 6 animals : Sense and Meaning.

Making sense is awareness, having meaning is consciousness. Consciousness without a subject is knowledge, consciousness with awareness of the subject is Wisdom. Wisdom is "know how", the basis of choice and doing.

WU CHI is pure attention, zero emptiness, corresponding to deep sleep. TAI CHI is one, containing the fractal dichotomy of Yang and Yin. Yang is time, Yin is space. Yang is characterized by the circle. Yin by the right angle. Symbolically Yang is a straight line, Yin is a broken line.

Yang ______________

Yin _____ _____

In CHI, Yang is the direction upwards, Yin downwards. Yang is the closed circle, Yin is the open angle. Yang is clockwise, Yin counter-clockwise. Yang is hard, resistant and tense, Yin is soft, yielding and relaxed. This dichotomy can be directly experienced by the martial arts, Tai Chi Chuan, Qi Gong, Aikido, etc. The martial arts originated in China, then spread to all of the other Eastern countries such as Japan and Korea.

As shown before Man unites three realms:

Microcosm Body Earth

Mesocosm Soul Man

Macrocosm Spirit Heaven

Following the principal of recursiveness Yang and Yin take on similar, yet different meanings in the three realms. In Heaven Yang is light and Yin dark. In Man Yang is justice and Yin love. On Earth Yang is strong and Yin is weak, and in Nature Yang is male and Yin female. In Astronomy Yang is the Sun and Yin the Moon.

Out of sun and moon the twelvefold Zodiac is born. The Sun gives light and force, the Moon receives them. In Chinese thought the relations of the Sun and Moon forms four basic pictogramms:

7
Old Yang
__________
__________

6 Young Yang: ____ X ____ -> __________

9 Young Yin: _____O_____ -> ____ ____

____ ____
____ ____
Old Yin
8

These create the four changes. Old Yang, is steady in movement and radiation; it is symbolized by the full moon and the sun at noon. It has the number 7, representing the seven Chakras. Old Yin is steady in receptivity and reflection. It is symbolized by the new moon and the midnight sun, the polar star. In the mythology of Chinese Taoism and of Islam, the polar star is the door to the New Earth, home of the Ancestors and your potential future. Old Yin has the number 8, the 8 space directions. Young Yang changes from darkness to light. From 6 ___ X ___ to 7 ______. It changes from its number 6, the family structure, to 7, individuality apart from the family. Young Yin has the number 9. It changes from light to darkness, from 9 ___O___, conception and change, to 8 __ __ receptivity. For the Chinese the four primary directions originate from these basic symbols.

The Chinese then extend the pictogram of duality to a trinity. They create a three line symbol called a trigram. This represents the next level of complexity in the world. Eight Yin-Yang combinations are possible with three components. The trigrams are thus numerically capable of depicting the eight basic types of consciousness (actually 7 consciousness + 1 Awareness). Each of the eight trigrams has an inner structure, image, motivation and essence as shown below.

STRUCTURE	MOTIVATION	IMAGE	ESSENCE	NAME	SYMBOL
1. Sense	Soft/Pentrating	Grass/Wind	Yin Sensing	Sun
2. Think	Attaching	Wood/Fire	Yin Thinking	Li
3. Feel	Serene	Lake	Yin Feeling	Tui
4. Will	Receptive	Earth/Cave	Yin Willing	Kun
5. Body	Keeping Still	Mountain	Yang Feeling	Ken
6. Soul	Danger, Abyss	River	Yang Thinking	Kan
7. Spirit	Exciting	Thunder/Lightening	Yang Sensing	Chen
8. Awareness	Creative	Heaven	Yang Willing	Chien

The eight trigrams can be considered spatially, all together as a whole, or temporally, one after the other. The spatial image of the trigrams requires reference to The Wheel because The Wheel follows the structure of space. The eight trigramms follow the eight directions shown on The Wheel.

When the eight trigrams are looked at temporally, then you see a sequence like that of the chakras which is discussed in Chapter Seven on Energy. Zero is the absolute AWARENESS that manifests itself in us as 7 potentialities -- 7 energies. This is the time potential of the chakras. The seven come out of the Zero. Whereas in the I Ching spatial arrangement shown above, and the eight directions discussed in Chapter Eight, Zero stands with the other seven to make up the spatial components of reality. In the spatial arrangement the 0 becomes the 1 - the creative power of the East. The receptive power of the West is 2, the South is 3, and the North is 4. Here is the temporal sequence of the trigrams following the seven plus zero.

SUN. Sensing. The sensing is defined by the weak yin line, outside, at the bottom. The motivation is to be soft and penetrating. The image is grass and wind; the wind does not harm the rooted grass.

LI. Thinking. Thinking links up sense data with words, following the wishes or motivations and impulses. Thinking has a beginning and end, visualized in the image of burning wood. You should not think beyond the solution of the problem. The motivation is to attain clarity, unattached to the thought. Thinking, like dialogue, is not an end in itself.

TUI. Feeling. Feelings experience the inner signals, as opposed to the outer signals of senses. The image is the clear lake which you can look through. The motivation is serenity, to be joyous together, and not to be together in pity or sympathy, which means emphatic suffering with the another.

KUN. Earth. The image is the vastness of our planet. The motivation is the receptive, to receive the germ and let it grow.

The first four trigrams are Yin, they result in emptiness of the functions. In the Sun trigram, after receiving an impression, the senses are free for a new one. In Li, thinking, once you have understood a problem, the solution is in memory, you cannot understand it twice. In Tui, feeling, a satisfied need disappears. Once you have eaten, you have no more hunger. In Kun, willing, once a choice, resolution, or decision is made, it is done and you are transported to a higher level of responsibility.

The next four trigrams, the three realms, plus Awareness, are Yang. They have a certain significance. You have a body, a soul, and a spirit, you cannot ignore them; and you face the voice of revelation in Awareness.

KEN. Body. The body has a certain gestalt. You are unable to change it, and have to accept it as it is. The image is the mountain, the motivation is keeping still. Only in the tranquility of silence, of deep sleep or illness, can your body talk to you about his/her motivations.

KAN. Soul. The soul is between heaven and earth, spirit and body. It is always in danger of stagnation, based on the six primary relations of the family: Mother, Father, Sister, Brother, Daughter, Son. The Soul, like the river, has to flow from the source in the mountain to the sea, then be transformed, die, into clouds, and finally be reincarnated again as rain in the mountains. The motivation is danger and the abyss.

CHEN. The Spirit, attained only in the waking state, is always sacred spirit; it is defined by the images of thunder and lightning, and the motivation is the inciting. First you experience awe and anxiety, then laughter, because you understand the game and the rules.

CHIEN. Awareness here means living in tune with the spirit of the time, the East. The image is the night heaven. The motivation is creativity. The purpose of the I Ching is to merge with cosmic creativity.

METHODS/EXPERIMENTS: The Trigrams are accessible to consciousness and physical exercises like the Pa Kua of Tai Chi Chuan. There is a specific Tai Chi exercise tied to each of the Trigrams. For instance, the trigram Kun, the Receptive, is characterized by the "pull back" movement. As an experiment try and place yourself into this frame of mind, the function of receptive willing. If you have a PrimaSounds CD, then you may want to play it softly while you try this. Think about the Receptive and feel the force of your will power. Then stand in a relaxed position, weight even, with knees slightly bent. Hold your hands out in front of you at chin level so that the left palm faces up towards your right palm, and your right palm faces down almost touching. Now begin the "pull back" movement by slowly moving both hands diagonally, the left hand moves to the right, and the right hands moves diagonally up; the body turns naturally to the right. Then after reaching a slight stretch right and a high point, begin a slow downward movement towards your lower left side with the waist moving slightly left. There are also foot movements to go with this, but that gets too complicated for a first experiment or word descriptions, so just let your feet go with your hand/arm movements. Do this a few times, until you can do it effortlessly without self consciousness. Move your hands slowly and coordinated one with the other. Stay with a loose, relaxed body and let yourself be graceful. Pay attention to the energy and movements, feeling particularly the movement back down and left, the pulling back. Try taking a Tai Chi course, or pick up a book on Tai Chi, like for instance, Da Liu's book Tai Chi Chuan and I Ching: A Choreography of Body and Mind. Other martial arts courses can be helpful if the instructor does it for purposes of development of Chi rather than as a machismo thing, as is often the case. One good book on the subject is Martial Arts: The Spiritual Dimension by Peter Payne.

Although the trigrams can be understood through exercises, and can help you to understand your states of consciousness, they can not help you with existential decisions and choices. This requires the doubling of the trigrams into inner and outer worlds. Now six lines are used to create a Hexagram. There are sixty four possible combinations of six yin or yang lines (two to the eighth power). For example, one possible combination is a hexagram known as PEACE where the top three lines are all yin, and the bottom three all yang, Heaven below the Earth:

___ ___ 6
___ ___ 5 Outer Trigram
___ ___ 4
________ 3
Inner Trigram ________ 2
________ 1

The lower Trigram shows the attitude to your inner world, the upper your attitude to the outer-world. The Chinese sages who created the I Ching understood the duality of life and its existential problems. They knew that it in order to change your external situation -- your outer fate -- you had to change your inner mentality. Since the I Ching was created as a kind of pragmatic guide, they knew that the Trigrams would have to be doubled to reflect the dynamics of the inner-outer worlds, of external situation and internal attitude. The system of 64 hexagrams which make up the I Ching resulted from the necessity of doubling the eight combinations of three.

In a dramatic example of the fractal recursive nature of reality, nature follows the very same system to create the genetic code. The eight trigrams correspond very closely to the DNA and RNA code of our genes. This is the genetic code which is responsible on a cellular level for all self organization, growth and reproduction in life.

DNA is the blueprint for every protein made in every cell. It is the Yin, spatial structure which stores the information. RNA is the reverse copy of DNA which carries out DNA's instructions for protein production. It is the Yang, active catalyst which actualizes in time the information in the DNA. The DNA and RNA have eight different base combinations, each made of three chemicals, just like the trigrams made of three lines. The chemical "triplets" as they are called, combine in double triplet code, just like the hexagrams. The maximum total combinations of DNA/RNA triplets is thus 64, just like the I Ching. The 64 triplet combinations control the twenty amino acids and other cellular generative-structural activity.

Out of the combinations of the 8 triplets or trigrams, the 64 "words" of the genetic code of life are formed. All life, from bacteria to Man, is directed on a cellular level by the same language of the 64 Codons of RNA and DNA, based on the doubled triplet, or Hexagram. For example in genetics one of the 64 three letter Codons is: T.A.G. - C.T.A. (Thymine, Adenine, Guanine - Cytosine, Thymine, Adenine). The first gene detected by Watson was equivalent in structure to the I Ching hexagram number 42: Increase.

________

___ ___

________

To understand the full significance of the hexagrams we also need to understand the interrelated Chinese concepts of Time, Change and Energy. Basic to Chinese culture and mythology is the discovery/principle of the 5 Hsing. The five "Hsing" is usually translated incorrectly as the five "elements". Actually it means the five "stages of change" and are better thought of as "agents" rather than fixed "elements". The Hsing constitute the five basic types of human energies on the mesocosm. They are symbolized and correspond fractally to the macrocosm by the five visible planets in the fixed field of stars.

The five Hsing, the visible planets, along with the Sun and the Moon, order the flow of creative time. The Sun is Yang, the Moon is Yin. The Sun creates the two-fold rhythm on Earth: day and night. The Moon divides the solar year into twelve months, each of which has a special meaning originating from the structure of consciousness described in the first chapter. In Chinese and Islamic mythology, among others, inspired messages are sent to Man from the chaos of the night - the twelvefold star constellations - during the time of the new Moon when it is invisible for three nights. When these messages are integrated into the Mesocosm, the spiritual inspiration guides Man to achieve a balanced flow of the five Hsing, the five types of energies in the human soul.

The Hsing can flow in two different directions, the life cycle and death cycle. In the life cycle it flows from Wood, willing, to Fire, sensing. The Wood nourishes or gives life to the Fire. Action once completed gives rise to new sensations, takes you to a new place. So too the Fire, sensing, nourishes the Earth, body. Sensing is the doorway to the body. In the Earth grows Metal, thinking. From out of the physical true thinking can arise. Metal can be made fluid, like Water, feeling, and take any form as a tool of civilization. A thought completed should lead to a feeling and not just another new thought. The Metal condenses Water, and the Water nourishes the Wood. Feelings once spent should lead back again into action. When a person's energy is flowing, it constantly changes in the direction of the life cycle. No one type of energy or Hsing dominates and there is balance in change.

The danger is stagnation where the energy flow becomes blocked in one of the Hsing. That type of energy then begins to dominate and the person's energy becomes imbalanced. For instance, in the trap of thinking where one thought loops endlessly into the next, and the other energies atrophy. When one Hsing dominates over time the other energies weaken. The person then goes out of sync with the natural rhythms of creative time. Unless corrected, such stagnation leads to illness and death.

This danger is overcome by going into the inner pentagram, the death cycle, which can liberate from stagnation. Water puts out Fire, Metal saws the Wood, the Earth absorbs the Water, Fire melts the Metal, and Wood assimilates the Earth. Put another way, feelings can overcome a sensual fixation, thinking can get you out of a willing loop, the body can get you out of feelings, sensing can let you out of a thinking prison and willing overcomes body dominance.

All Chinese medicine is based on the five Hsing, and corresponds to the twelve acupuncture meridian cycles and organ groups, Yang and Yin. Chinese medicine maintains health and treats illness by emphasizing a person's CHI and striving for a healthy flow of the five forms of CHI. The healing flow of energies can be enhanced by PrimaSounds. Based on the principal of the natural seventh in sound vibrations, PrimaSounds divide the octave into five intervals. Thus PrimaSounds with its pentatonic scale -A - E - I - O - U ⁽¹⁾blends the seven Chakras in the fivefold flow of creative time.

7. Spirit Metal A
6. Soul Fire U
5. Body Earth O
4. Willing Wood I
3. Feeling Water E
2. Thinking Metal A
1. Sensing Fire U
METHODS/EXPERIMENTS: Most communities in the United States now have one or more practitioners of Oriental Medicine, typically referred to as Acupuncturists. In acupuncture needles are used to painlessly stimulates the energy flow. However, not all Oriental Medical providers use needles to manipulate and balance the five Hsing energy flows, some use mental effort alone, or slight massage, such as Q.M. therapists. Again, Tai Chi and the martial arts also use physical and mental exercises to help keep the energy in flow and balance. A good book on this subject with exercises and more information about oriental medicine, the five Hsing, twelve meridian channels, Yin and Yang, has been written by Richard Chin, who is both a western medical doctor and a doctor of oriental medicine and a martial artist. His book is called The Energy Within. A Western M.D., Richard Gerber, has written a ground breaking work, Vibrational Medicine, which lays a predicate for an energy bridge between Western and Eastern medicine.

The five Hsing also correspond to the five dimensions, five stages of evolution and five stages of human development:

5-0 Holy Sage Awareness TAO, (GOD)
4 The Called One Waking Man
3 Superior Man Reflection Animal
2 Worthy Man Dream Plant
1 Common Man Sleep Mineral

The aim of Man at each stage of development is different:

1. Common Man looks for material goods. This is the stage of the vast majority of the contemporary world; commercial, consumer striving for more and more things.

2. Worthy Man looks beyond materialistic consumerism and strives for growth and education. He imitates superior man.

3. Superior Man knows that he can only make sense of life and create meaning if he unites TAO and TE, intention and motivation.

4. But the political situation, greed and power can make the existence of Superior Man impossible. The Called Man, who has the task, "Ming", from heaven, will change the political situation.

5. The highest human stage, the Holy Sage, is in tune with heaven, earth, and the TAO. His mere existence makes him into a living pillar around which a culture might grow. In anthropological terms he is a "culture hero".

Since Life is based on Self Organization, the fractal reality of the fourth dimension, we must make our choices out of chance - out of chaos. If you ask through the chance oracle how all decisions can be in tune with TAO, then God - as the symbol of Chien, Heaven - will unite with the Earth Mother - Kun.

HEAVEN
EARTH
________
____ ____
________
____ ____
________
____ ____

Decisions happen in time. For the Chinese the basic time cycles are found in the Sun and the Moon. The Solar cycle (365 days) and Lunar cycle (354 days) combine to form the larger cycle of 19 years. This is called the Metonic cycle. After the 19 year Metonic cycle the full moon appears on the same day of the year as on the beginning of the cycle. In the same way the sun and moon combine symbolically to form a hexagram of six lines. This combination represents the totality of human experience in time. In this way the Chinese understood the full moon opposite to the sun, seen from the earth, to create the basic form of the Hexagram. There two trigrams combine - upper and lower - to form a whole. This follows the hemispheres of the Earth and the pattern of the sun and moon. The lower trigram of the Hexagram is the attitude towards motivation, TE, the upper towards intention, TAO.

Each Hexagram also has the possibility of change into another by means of the changing lines, young yang or young yin. The random formation of the oracle is traditionally accomplished either by a random process of using 50 yarrow sticks, or tossing three (3) coins. Heads is three, heaven-yang, tails is two, earth-yin. With this chance system the following possibilities of change emerge:

3 tails - 2 + 2 + 2 = 6 ___ X ___ --> _______Yin line that changes to Yang

2 tails, 1 head - 2 + 2 + 3 = 7 ________ Yang line that does not change

1 head, 2 tails - 2 + 3 + 3 = 8 ___ ___ Yin line that does not change

3 heads - 3 + 3 + 3 = 9 ____O___ --> __ __ Yang line that changes to Yin

METHODS/EXPERIMENTS: Obtain the Wilhelm/Baynes translation of the I Ching published by Princeton University Press and use it to fill in the knowledge presented here about the I Ching. Begin by reading the Forward to the I Ching written by one of the original students of the School of Wisdom, C.G. Jung. You will see that in the forward Carl Jung performs an experiment by "throwing an I Ching", that is, using chance to select a hexagram which answers a particular question. Jung explains how this can work by the principle of Synchronicity.
Now try your own experiment. Consult the I Ching oracle by asking a real life and significant question. Then the structured process will allow the Self in the Right brain to communicate with and send a message to the Ego in the left brain. The best form for any question asked of the I Ching is "What should my attitude be towards ... such and such an action." You fill in the particular action you have in mind, the course of conduct which you are considering to solve a particular problem. With the question focused like that, the response will be much more meaningful and easy to understand. Do not ask an unfocused question which has no particular action in mind, like "What should I do". You have to formulate the proposed choice yourself. Then the hexagrams will give you an idea as to whether you should go forward with the action, and if so, how, and with what inner attitude. Before you use the I Ching, place yourself in a open state of mind by meditating or PrimaSounds. Record the hexagrams you receive and the most pertinent points. Save this for future reference. Read one or more translations of the hexagrams to get a better idea of the particular situation. Reflect upon the inner structure of the trigrams as shown in this book and contemplate the visual images suggested by each hexagram.
Use the I Ching for a few months in this way and see for yourself how it works. Give it the benefit of the doubt, at least at first, and put aside any skepticism. Then later look at it critically and see how true or not the hexagrams have proven to be. When the I Ching is used seriously, and with a receptive attitude, it will pass the pragmatic test, although it may sometimes take a longer time perspective to see the truth of its comments.
There are many, many books written about the I Ching and the principal of Synchronicity. Try reading some of these other books and other translations to help you get a better understanding of the hexagrams you throw.

The final concept of cyclical time in Chinese thought follows the Moon-Jupiter year, the twelve year cycle. The Chinese observed that people born in the same lunar year share certain collective characteristics that repeat after the Jupiter cycle of twelve years.

The twelve basic archetypes of cyclical Yang time relate to the twelve signs of the western zodiac. They follow both the lunar month and year over twelve years. In precommunist China the Emperor gave audiences according to the theme of the month. Today we can include this Chinese wisdom by having monthly talks, experiencing the difference of personal choices, and the time meaning of the month.

A summary of the Chinese conception of the cycle of twelve is shown below. On the far left column the equivalent western zodiac symbol is shown. Next the realm structure is shown; after that the functions. The fourth column shows the Chionese name given for each of the twelve. The year of the dog is shown on top with the structure of Body-Thinking. In the next column the hexagram traditionally assigned to each of the twelve is shown. On the far right is shown examples of the years which apply to each of the twelve signs. The years of the dog, for example, is in the years 1946, 1958, 1970, 1982, 1994, etc.

METHODS/EXPERIMENTS: If you participate in a School of Wisdom or other group, try having monthly talks on the theme of that month. Observe the characteristics of the twelve time zones of the year and see if there are any correspondences or "fractalcalities" to the meaning posited in the Chinese system. Determine which animal you are according to the Chinese system and the year of your birth; try the same for your family and friends. Do you notice any type of similarity among people born in the same year? You may want to try reading some of the books written on Chinese Astrology, but at the present time there is little material of quality available in English on this Chinese tradition.

The I Ching of the 64 hexagrams, best interpreted in the translation of another early student of the School of Wisdom, Richard Wilhelm, constitutes the oldest book of the earth and the greatest single treasure of wisdom.⁽²⁾ As Confucius said, by following the counsels of the book, and studying it continuously, we can attain creative awareness in every situation. To study the I Ching we must have a better understanding of the structure of the hexagrams and how their order relates to the underlying fractal of the mind, the geometry of the Wheel.

The six lines of the I Ching relate to the basic structure of both the 7 and 12. The correspondence to the 7 comes by deletion of the middle function - willing, which you yourself provide by making a decision based upon the hexagram. The first line is sensing, the second line is thinking, the third is feeling, the fourth is body, the fifth is soul and the sixth is spirit. Using Confucian terminology the first line at the bottom of the hexagram, the sensing line, is called the "cause outside of you". The sixth line at the top of the hexagram, the spirit line, is the "result". Like the first line, the sixth does not depend on your consciousness, it represents a cause outside of you. The second line from the bottom, the thinking line, is known as the "official". The fifth soul line is the place of the "prince". The third feeling line shows your karma state which will lead to the fourth body line of motivation. There is no willing line on the hexagram - this comes from you, and from the random process itself, the Strange Attractor.

Result 6 ___ ___ Spirit
Prince 5 ___ ___ Soul
Karma 4 ___ ___ Body
Motivation 3 ___ ___ Feeling
Official 2 ___ ___ Thinking
Outside Cause 1 ___ ___ Sensing

The relation of the I Ching to the 12 comes from the movement of the sun and the moon through the zodiac in the course of the year. The moon goes through 12 cycles in the course of the solar year from which our 12 months are derived. Based on this basic time rhythm a myth of the twelvefold Zodiac has developed in all cultures of the world. This is discussed in Chapter 6 on Time Cycles. The chart shown on the next page shows the relationship of the 6 lines of the I Ching hexagram and the twelvefold Zodiac. It also shows the progression of the Sun and Moon, Yang and Yin, up through the two sides of the 6 lines to form the 12 points. The correspondence of the hexagram to the Chinese zodiac shows another way to use the I Ching to change from consciousness to awareness.

The cycle of twelve also appears in what is known as the "Cosmic Year", the longest time cycle known to Man, the 25,000 year progression of the vernal equinox. This is the time frame for the overall evolution of the human species. It is discussed further in Chapter Six under Historical Time Cycles. The six lines of the hexagram can also be understood in the context of human evolution. This is shown in the following chart.

Each hexagram is structured like the Cosmic Year. The six places correspond to the positions of the full moon, the clear vision, between waxing and waning. The steps are explained in many ways.⁽³⁾ For our purposes we start with Yang, the Sun, Seated in Dragon (Leo) and leading up to Dog (Aquarius). The Aquarian Age is the age of the Human, where the Earth Self merges with the Higher Self in communion with Tao, the Great Singularity.

1. In the first step you awake to your DRAGON, you vocation, your question, your participation in the cosmic work of the spirit, or as the Native American's call it, your "medicine". For this you have to leave your family and personal history, changing your dependencies into material for self actualization. The CAT does not care for the past family, only the future one.

______ ______
______ ______
______ ______
__ __ ______
__ __ __ __
__ __ __ __

2. In the second step you have to find friends in the TIGER study groups and separate your spiritual way from the quest for survival (SNAKE). You look for those people who make it possible for you to pursue your spiritual way without looking for profit.

______ ______
______ ______
______ __ __
______ __ __
______ __ __
__ __ __ __

3. With the honest HORSE you transcend your group and make your achievements useful to others. You do so by establishing a style of livelihood, of wealth, which allows others to strive like a BUFFALO to participate in spiritual life.

______ ______
__ __ ______
__ __ ______
__ __ ______
__ __ ______
__ __ ______

4. Now with the RAT you must stand up for your truth by organizing your whole life around your vocation. You blend your material and spiritual life by the GOAT - the lunar capacity to seize the moment, the opportunity. By receptivity to the times you make useful to others what is meaningful to you.

__ __ __ __
______ __ __
______ __ __
______ __ __
______ __ __
______ __ __

5. Then you must get into revelation by understanding the comical aspects of all religious traditions, like the eclectic MONKEY in a supermarket of new age publications. The purpose of your search for revelation must be to heal others, to bring them to their wholeness. This requires unconditional service symbolized by the PIG. This understanding of the PIG explains the statement found in hexagram 61 - Inner Truth - "Pigs and fishes. Good fortune."

__ __ __ __
__ __ __ __
__ __ ______
__ __ ______
__ __ ______
______ ______

6. The highest achievement is no longer self-centered. You are in civilization and in spirit, a part of the New Earth in the sign of the DOG - Aquarius. You are, like the DOG, completely faithful to your path and to sacred history. You transcend your ego by announcing your truth in society like the ROOSTER without regard to the practical consequences.

__ __ __ __
__ __ __ __
__ __ __ __
______ __ __
______ ______
______ ______

How does the I Ching fit fractally into the Wheel? As we have seen, there is a striking similarity between the I Ching and the genetic code, the 8 trigrams to the 8 codons. This can be understood as recursive self similarity over scales. There is a basic identity between the genes and the hexagrams because their numeric structure is the same.

Martin Schoanberger, a German scientist, recently discovered that the two Codons which contain the genetic-chemical message "to stop" have the same numeric structure of hexagram 63, After Completion. All lines in this hexagram are said to be in their proper place.

__ __
______
__ __
______
__ __
______

Moreover, Schoanberger discovered that the Codons which, so to speak, act to say "Go" on a genetic level, correspond to the opposite hexagram 64, Before Completion.

______
__ __
______
__ __
______
__ __

These two genetic combinations and hexagrams seem to be connected together under the influence of the Circuit Attractor / Consciousness, shown in the hypercube as North and South: and . Thus for consciousness you have to start from an understanding of the whole, the Wheel, and then turn to a single problem. In effect the mind has to be made holistic, balanced, put into equilibrium. This is accomplished for instance by PrimaSounds with its tuning to 12 hertz, or by a good night's sleep with its full sequence of REM dreams. The Circuit Attractor with its conscious memories is then integrated into Being, leaving you free to act anew.

The table of I Ching hexagrams shown below helps both to identify the hexagrams and understand their structure. The vertical row on the left, from bottom to top, 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7, defines the lower trigram of your inner attitude, your motivation, Te. The horizontal row on the top, from left to right, 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7, determines your role in civilization reaching to the New Earth, Tao, your spiritual intention and Way. The 0 through 7 structure is the same as shown before: 0-Awareness, 1-Sensing, 2-Thinking, 3-Feeling, 4-Willing, 5-Body, 6-Soul, 7-Spirit. You can use this chart to identify and locate any of the 64 hexagrams. The trigrams on the left are the lower trigrams of the hexagram. The trigrams on the top are the upper trigrams. Put them together to find the number of the hexagram in the Wilhelm translation of the I Ching.