The Future Or Of The Unknown By Use Of Supernatural Powers Or Means (Essay Sample)

Divination
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Introduction
Divination is the practice of finding knowledge in the future or of the unknown by use of supernatural powers or means. Divination has been an ancient Asian practice for thousands of years. This essay examines divination according to the Daodejing of Laozi and the I Ching from ‘the translation of the ancient Chinese oracle and the Book of wisdom.’
In most Chinese literature on the subject, Daoism is usually seen as a combination of several practices and beliefs, which make up the way that people used to live and still live. In Daoism, there is not belief in a supreme being as it is with Christianity and other religious beliefs. People who practice Daoism belief that it can be found anywhere all at the same time. This shows that the Tao or Dao means ‘Is’. The practice of Daoism began in the time that Confucius ruled between 600-500 years BCE CITATION Lao03 \l 1033 (Laozi & Ivanhoe, 2003). In Taoism, the followers learn a number of practices and concepts that make up the way of living or the path to spiritualism, all the principles are based on different theories that are related to the way one eats, the body and the physical exercise. Some of the unique practices of Taoism are the use of philosophical inquiry or herbs and meditation as a way of finding one’s path CITATION Lao03 \l 1033 (Laozi & Ivanhoe, 2003). Taoism in this way is both a philosophical and religious practice with themes and ideas that are at times ambiguous for interpretation by the ignorant minds.
On the other hand, the I Ching is one of the most classical extant books that speak about divination. It is reported to have begun more than 1000 years BCE and some of the manuscripts date back to the Warring States periods of 475-221 BCE. The I Ching uses various types of divination referred to as the cleromancy that produces random numbersCITATION Joh \l 1033 (Minford, 2015). The interpretation of the different readings found in the book has been used symbolically as a means of proving spiritual or supernatural guidance to morality in the ancient and modern Chinese society. This is similar to the practices of Taoism and Confucianism. In most case, the practice of I Ching contains some cosmology importance and defines various processes of change like the Yin and Yang or Wu Xing. The I Ching as one of the most common Chinese form of divination describes the reconstruction in their history. For example 300 BC on the great commentary and the Lunheng and Huainanzi. In the great commentary, the neo-Confucian Zhu Xi is able to reconstruct the method known as the Yarrow stalk divination, which is still being used in most of the Far ...