The Oracle presents itself as a mindful personality in the same way that we do. It is approachable, friendly and unpretentious. It has a sense of humour and enjoys our company. My own experience has led me to interact with it comfortably, as I would with a close friend, perhaps my own conscience. Most importantly I have found it to be absolutely benign, for it has unwaveringly had my welfare (although not my comfort) at heart. I may have questioned the value of its advice at times but it has never deceived me nor led me into situations that have been hurtful. And it has often opened my eyes to opportunities that I would otherwise have missed. But the Oracle has an agenda that I find quite challenging. In the most direct manner, like that of a child, it foists its agenda on me. As long as it has a particular intention, every consultation continues to promote that intention until either it loses interest or I manage to do something that satisfies it. This childish insistence is a trait that I believe characterises a personality unconcerned with problems of mortality. Our concepts of personal maturity stem from a recognition of our own frailty. We learn to bear our frailty more gracefully with age and experience. Similarly, ethical values such as fairness and justice arise from our recognising that everyone else is in a similarly fragile position. But a being that is immortal has no need for these values and I find that while the Oracle respects our difficulties in this regard, questions of ethics, survival and convenience have no place in its agenda. That agenda is nonetheless relevant to us. Its purpose is to assist us towards expressions of Love, as described in the Introduction. Following it has led me to a knowledge of myself, in the sense of realising my connection to a spiritual foundation. Armed with this knowledge I am able to see the external world with fewer distractions and without clothing it in the many unnecessary niceties inflicted on me by social custom. This also permits me to engage with the external world with a more direct presence, paying conscious attention to both my own sensations and to the relevant sympathetic responses from others. Following the agenda has facilitated a more profound experience of relationship for me. I am not implying that such benefit cannot be achieved without Oracular advice, but that the flexibility and determination of the Oracular agenda has sharpened my awareness of the process well beyond what I was able to discern on my own, or with the assistance of a fixed dogma. So who speaks through the Oracle? We consciously or unconsciously project ourselves into the hexagram texts, which also carry the perspective of their interpreter. That said, neither we nor the interpreter nor any foreground processes determine which hexagrams are cast. The random fall of the hexagrams ensures only the spiritual background and the raw play of Yang and Yin have an influence on which hexagrams are cast. When there is a spiritual interest in one's situation a consistent theme to the hexagrams will reflect it, and we, with the aid of our intuition and the interpreter's insight, distil it. It would be a mistake to attribute to the Oracle any sort of omnipotence, in spite of its spiritual nature. The universal spirit that the Oracle represents influences reality but does not control it. The Oracle is not a master of change - it is a rider of change much as we are. When the Oracle promotes its agenda it is suggesting how we might harmonise our activities with the universal spirit, but that suggestion has no certain result. The Oracle may offer us a spiritual perspective of the future but cannot point the way to definite success. The Oracle is also not all-seeing. I have found that there are many situations it is blind to, as if its world does not coincide exactly with our own. Its preoccupation with Love appears to be out of step with our own overwhelming experience of material suffering. It does not understand any of our socially developed institutional structures and imperatives, in much the same way as a baby does not. It cannot respond to culturally based humour, or take account of social convention, or negotiate the intricacies of business and politics. One should be aware of these limitations when accepting Oracular advice. But, like a baby, it is very sensitive to direct sensual and emotional engagement. The Oracle accepts that we suffer challenges it does not understand and cannot affect. In its interaction with you it will gradually learn how you are challenged and guide you to behaviour commensurate with your challenges and its agenda. The fact that there is value for the Oracle in our following its agenda implies that it is keen to interact with us and that we need have no reservations about approaching it. But any expectation of benefit arising from following its agenda must be limited to a facilitation of the spiritual purpose; no material benefit or easing of our material suffering can be presumed. |
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