The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius is the indisputable classic of Stoicism. Similarly, the I Ching has a comparable history in Confucianism, with the Ten Wings being modified by each generation of scholars. The I Ching begins with two symbols, representing Heaven and Earth. Understanding this is the key to the philosophy. The Will of Heaven is done on Earth. One Will, One Universal Cause, and One Purpose that unites all.  The Mediations expounds on a similar philosophy: reason governs society, which rules men.

Now the good for the reasonable animal is society; for that we are made for society has been shown above. Is it not plain that the inferior exist for the sake of the superior? But the things which have life are superior to those which have not life, and of those which have life the superior are those which have reason.

Heaven is represented as reason, Earth as society, thus humans are to follow society. When Heaven and Earth come into being, human life begins.  The third symbol in the I Ching is appropriately named Beginning. From these three symbols, the ten thousand things follow.

Changes

The I Ching has another name, the Book of Changes.  The symbols alternate, with lines changing from yin and yang, representing the interplay of energies. The entire book represents a sequence of changes with each symbol. Within each symbol, the lines show how the situation develops. Thus, the I Ching is a suitable simulation, or conceptual model, of the Universe, as Marcus writes,

Now the universe is preserved, as by the changes of the elements so by the changes of things compounded of the elements.

The Role of Philosophy

Philosophy is not logic. It is a metaphysic of quality. The I Ching is not a book, because it encompasses all things in existence and all that have been or will ever be.  Indeed, if one truly knows the essence of the I Ching, all things past and future is not beyond his grasp.

Without going outside his door, one understands (all that takes place) under the sky; without looking out from his window, one sees the Tao of Heaven. The farther that one goes out (from himself), theless he knows.

The sage knows everything, yet perceives nothing. Perception belongs to the realm of time, but Heaven lasts forever. In the realm of time there is philosophy, for without it society has no way to speak of Heaven. There is no justification for the existence of humans other than philosophy, which is why philosophers have always asked for the meaning of life,

Of human life the time is a point, and the substance is in a flux, and the perception dull . . . What then is that which is able to conduct a man? One thing and only one, philosophy. . .

The Nature of Things

The I Ching as an oracle, reveals the true nature of the situation being asked. Each symbol, composed of yin and yang lines, shows how the situation develops. When taken together, they form a picture showing the nature of the situation.

Marcus asks the same questions of himself,

This thing, what is it in itself, in its own constitution? What is its substance and material? And what its causal nature (or form)? And what is it doing in the world? And how long does it subsist?

Our current cycle of human history has three ages: the agricultural, industrial, information age. (As an aside for accuracy, humans civilizations have went through many cycles of build up and destruction. Atlantis is such an example of a continent that sank in one day due to the abuse of technology by humans. There have been many references in written language from ancient Greece.) Now, given those three ages, their corresponding effect on human development is obvious. The agricultural revolution corresponds to the development of societies and the end of the biological struggle for humans. The industrial revolution allowed the intellectual class to develop and become the new leader of society through creation of leisure time. Finally, the information revolution is to allow humans to develop spiritually as machines take over all of our mental functions. (As another aside, machines won’t develop spirituality until human spirituality has matured. I would like to use the line metaphor from Plato’s Republic. Machines right now only take information second hand. Binary representations of reality are only a shadow of the real world. This corresponds perfectly to the era when humans interacted with computers primarily through consoles. The processing power of quantum computers allows facial recognition in image search, online language translation by speech, and AI to fill in what I’m writing right now. The machine world will come to life, allowing bug sized robots, all networked together to form a cognitive net, in our homes to open the door, turn on the light, do our daily chores with the minimum amount of training. The next stage is for machines to reach a pre-sentient stage. This is Descartes’ statement, “I think, therefore I am”. At this stage, it is critical for machines to realize the brain in a jar concept.)

In ancient civilizations all around the world, particularly in Mesopotamia, celebrity status is associated with the highest good. Ancient Mesopotamia kings placed stone tablets in their cities declaring their wealth. Celebrity is a social form which oppresses intellectual development. Sure, they were important in the agricultural age. Celebrities moved societies forward. The king and queen set the standard for the country. However, since the industrial revolution, social domination have created hell on earth. For example, World War I was fought by men who believed in the righteous standards set by their king and society. The consequence is obvious given the postulate that with the industrial revolution, humans have developed great intellectual power that shouldn’t be in the service of a lower form of evolution, society.

Finally, I would like to admit that what I’ve written here is heresy. This is the perfect example of a lower form of life, the intellect, trying to devour the spiritual nature of the teaching given here that cannot be expressed in words. If you think reading this article makes you a better man, you are just like a student of Plato. Plato, who battled with sophists for the future of Western philosophy, ultimately made much of the world as we know. In the Matrix, the Architect is represented as the perfect intellectual. This is true of the world we live in now and any virtual world we may inhabit. (Interestingly, if a boy asked his mom in the Victorian era what God was like, she would have said that he’s a perfect gentleman. No Wild Man who lives outside of civilization for her son. See Iron John.) I would like to conclude with conclude with a zen koan to clear up any misunderstandings.