Dear reader...

I began to collect quotations and to study the I Ching -- usually translated as "The Book of Change"-- in 1981. Over the years I have deepened my study of this wisdom tradition and have collected reams of quotes; they fill notebooks, are spattered around my home on snippets of paper, and little hexagram "flags" make up much of the marginalia that sidelines the books I've read.

In 1996, the two came together -- I started to see quotations in the light of I Ching hexagrams and principles...and began to understand the oracle (= "source of wisdom") in a new way. I've noticed that commentators all have their primary way of perceiving the I Ching; each centers his or her perception through a unique lens. Some focus on direct translations from the historical and cultural wisdom of China; some focus on the psychological aspects, some on the metaphorical and poetic; others hone in on the oracle's mysterious facets that seem to replicate, for example, binary and genetic codes. I see each new interpretation as another gift that helps us to understand the I Ching with more clarity.

I've explored many wisdom traditions...I find the I Ching to be universal, benign, lucid, and applicable to all persons and situations. Combine this with the power of a pithy quote, and what emerges, I hope, is a way to see the oracle that resonates with the quick-thinking Western mind.