Self-development with the I Ching

What do people mean by self-development, self improvement, or personal growth? They all indicate a focus on the individual, an ideal of becoming something more than we are, or perhaps becoming more fully what we already are. Self development means exploring your potential, creating your ideal self. All manner of self-help books will tell you that the first step to real achievement is deciding what you want to achieve: to set goals. There are many ways of going about this - such as imagining what you would like people to say about you - but it can be hard to break out from your present, limited horizons to see greater possibilities. What you need is a vision of this Self that you can work with, a new way of imagining yourself.

The I Ching brings that fresh perspective, and with it can come a sense of a calling. One of the most important questions you can ask it is 'Please, show me something of who I truly am...' It has countless vivid images to offer you. Perhaps you are a well of fresh water, perhaps a vessel of transformation, or a wanderer, or a radiant light... When I asked this question, I was told that I am a watcher, channel and learner.

Discovering your talents and potential is only the beginning. Perhaps your talent is for leadership, or for supporting, or for challenging - but how can it come to expression, what is it for? For me, this question came to the fore when I had earned my degrees and become dissatisfied with the idea of a career in academia. But if not for that, what was my intelligence for? Perhaps for other forms of teaching, maybe through writing? When I asked the I Ching about this, it began by telling me that my brains were for Learning. Intelligence was a way of being young and ignorant, and of growing. For me, after years of building up knowledge and skills, this was a dramatic change of perspective.

Divination is often thought of as a way of discovering the future - as if this were written in stone and not something you create yourself. The I Ching simply does not work like that. Even when people ask it 'what will happen?' it will reply with an explanation of the choices available and where they lead. Especially for this kind of questioner, discovering the I Ching can be profoundly empowering. Its answers speak directly to your situation, enabling you to take your own decisions. Consulting the I Ching is a radically new way of exploring the different paths open to you. (It is also some 3,000 years old.)

Working with the I Ching can give you a new understanding of 'personal growth'. The metaphors and structures it offers you not only bring about greater self-knowledge; they stretch your understanding and constantly challenge your perceptions. What begins with goal setting, a tighter focus, can become an expansion of possibilities: as you are pushed to your limits, you find that the limits recede. The oracle's rich webs of imagery offer you new ways to imagine yourself.

However, the I Ching is not merely a stimulus to imagination. It lets you work with your goals and ideals, it frees your imagination - but it can also bring you firmly down to earth. This is very much an oracle of the real world. It is not merely a 'tool' you can control: its answers are challenging and not always what the questioner wanted to hear. Personal aspirations and imaginings are always placed in a wider context: the very act of divination opens up the boundaries of the self.

The I Ching has its own voice- sometimes compassionate, sometimes sharp, often funny. In my own experience, I have found that it offers gentle reassurance to the insecure, but is distinctly firm (and occasionally scathing) when people try to evade their responsibility for their own life. At a moment when the weight if stress and depression seemed too much to cope with, a questioner was told of the unchanging Well that never runs dry. A woman seeking a closer relationship learned how the ideal hunter leaves space for the birds to fly free if they want, so that the ones that are caught have chosen to come to him. A perfectionist who found herself blocked on all sides was reminded that when confined to a bronze carriage, you can only move forward very slowly. I (re)discovered that brains were for learning more than knowing. Over time, the images the I Ching offers can transform your sense of self, open new possibilities, and allow unimagined growth.

Copyright H.J.Barrett 2001 n