Reflections on the I Ching

About the Book

George Santayana once commented that, “The concept of Spirit does not interest me, except as a technicality; it is the life of Spirit that I’m talking about. . .” And so too with Professor Allan W. Anderson whose Reflections on the I Ching is written precisely for the one engaging the life of Spirit. Throughout his career, Professor Anderson tirelessly explored and shared his understanding of the Perennial or Wisdom Tradition whose essential features remain the same in every classical religion regardless of culture.

This collection of Professor Anderson’s work on the I Ching, the earliest of the Chinese classics, serves as a companion volume to his Self-Transformation and the Oracular. The transcription of a short lecture series will assist the student who is meeting the I Ching for the first time. The articles delve deeply into the original text and so provide the philosophical underpinnings for the practice outlined in the extended essay.

Every scripture has its particular genius. Arguably the genius of the I Ching is its focus on making adequate passage from birth to and through death through embodying timely action and awakening to the interplay of fate and destiny. The serious student of the Wisdom Tradition will richly benefit from the sagely interpretation Professor Anderson provides with Reflections on the I Ching.

About the Author

Professor Emeritus Allan W. Anderson received his Ph.D. in Philosophy and Comparative Religion from Columbia University with Union Theological Seminary. He has published several articles on the I Ching and presented numerous papers at professional academic conferences on the nature of and interrelation between religion, spirituality and the oracular. He has also become well known for his series of 18 dialogues with Krishnamurti available on DVD and transcribed in A Wholly Different Way of Living.