Thursday, January 22, 2009

THE I CHING OR BOOK OF CHANGES



How can I be useful, of what service can I be? There is something inside me, what can it be?
(Vincent van Gogh, 1853-1890)

"A good question is never answered. It is not a bolt to be tightened into place but a seed to be planted and to bear more seed toward the hope of greening the landscape of idea."
(John Ciardi, 1916-1986)

Looking for a question rather than an answer,
I opened my copy of the Richard Wilhelm / Cary F. Baynes
translation of the I CHING OR BOOK OF CHANGES and found
this on page 158:

"It furthers one to undertake something.
How is this to be carried out?"

2 comments:

dreaminginthedeepsouth said...

This is quite nice. Looking for a question rather than an answer, turning that entire process around. Very cool. Thanks for this, your work is really good right now. According to me.
beth

R.L. Bourges said...

Thanks for the link to Ciardi. And Dylan. And the I Ching.

I start every day with a casting and find the questions it raises in my mind a lot more interesting than whatever answer it may seem to suggest. The questions are what keep you on the journey: answers are more like temporary halts - necessary, at times, but only valuable so you can get rested up to deal with the next question. Questions keep you moving.

or something like that :-)