I have meditated. I am clear now. I am here now. I'm asking the I Ching about our present world situation - about all the wars and the hatreds and the divisive religions. I'm asking about all the poverty and lack in the world, with more coming soon. I'm asking about all the neglect of our children in order to support an illegal war. I'm asking about the lack of any true spiritual values being manifested by the so-called leaders of the world. I am asking about this. In particular, I am asking why the rest of us have let this go on. Where are our spiritual values?

     I sit quietly, meditating now on this question. I formulate it again in my mind: "Where are our true spiritual values and how may we be more superior and conscious in today's world." I throw the coins. With each throw the situation becomes clearer.

     The I Ching answers me with Hexagram 44, "Coming to Meet." In the I Ching's answer, Hexagram 44 changes, through the fifth line, into Hexagram 50, "The Caldron."

     "Coming to Meet" describes a situation "in which the principle of darkness, after having been eliminated, furtively and unexpectedly obtrudes again from within and below... It is an unfavorable and dangerous situation, and we must understand and promptly prevent the possible consequences."

     Later, in the Judgment portion of the text, the I Ching says that "the inferior man rises only because the superior man does not regard him as dangerous and so lends him power. If he were resisted from the start, he could never gain influence." I am sure we can imagine who this inferior man might be in our present situation. The I Ching is saying that we should have stopped him at the outset instead of giving him our power. We forgot that this country belongs to each and everyone of us, and not just to our government.

     The fifth line, important because it leads to the second hexagram in the I Ching's answer, states that "this is a situation in which a strong, superior, well-poised man (read person here) tolerates and protects the inferiors in his charge... He does not bother his subordinates with outward show or tiresome admonitions but leaves them quite free, putting his trust in the transforming power of a strong and upright personality. And behold! Fate is favorable. His inferiors respond to his influence and fall to his disposition like ripe fruit."

     The I Ching is here saying that each of us has within us and can become this strong, superior and well-poised person. Each of us has to trust in her or his own inner truth, has to trust that it can be manifested through his or her own being, affecting others, less centered and less conscious perhaps, in a healing and consciousness raising manner.

     This fifth line leads us to the second hexagram in this answer to our question. It leads us to Hexagram 50, "The Caldron."

      "The Caldron" says, "Here we see civilization as it reaches its culmination in religion. The Ting (that is, The Caldron) serves in offering sacrifice to God. The highest earthly values must be sacrificed to the divine. But the truly divine does not manifest itself apart from man. The supreme revelation of God appears in prophets and holy men (read people here.) To venerate them is true veneration of God. The will of God, as revealed through them, should be accepted in humility; this brings inner enlightenment and true understanding of the world, and this leads to great good fortune and success."

     Perhaps if each of us were willing to sacrifice ourselves to Spirit, we would make a difference. Perhaps if each of us strove to become holy men and women instead of business men and women, perhaps if Spirit and healing became more important to us than money and power, perhaps then we might actually be able to heal this world we're living in.

     This answer satisfies me. It fits my nature. I hope there are others for whose nature it fits as well. The I Ching doesn't tell us to retreat or to fight on the physical plane. Instead, it says that only a spiritual revolution will heal the world, one in which those of us who carry the spirit within us begin to focus more and more on manifesting it in the everyday world. The world needs us. It has lost its way and has become very dangerous.

     By Eugene Marks