I Ching and the flavors of time

Student A: In verse 1.6 Confucius mentioned that one should learn. What kind of learning was he referring to?

Teacher: Learn how to live life, find out what your roles are in this world and play your part well.

Student A: What's my role in this world?

Teacher: It's the five relationships as taught by Confucius: a son, brother, friend, husband if you're married and citizen of the world. Those are your roles and as to how to do them well, that's what we're here for: to learn how to play our roles.

Student B: Did Confucius mentioned citizen of the world? I thought he said relationship between ruler and subject.

Teacher: During Confucius' time society was feudalistic, people were clannish and wars were common. Now, our system of governance has changed considerably, people could easily change their citizenship. Though we must be loyal to our home country, our highest allegiance must be to the well being of all humanity.

Student C: I heard Confucius studied Yijing (I Ching), supposedly a book on divination. What is it actually? How does it work?

Teacher: There is a certain quality inherent in time, in every moment. One who's in tune is able to tell the quality of the time. The time we start an enterprise, the moment a thought pops up in our mind, in short all phenomena takes on the quality of the time when it was born. All these qualities are represented as hexagrams in the Yijing. Since not everyone is capable of perceiving these flavors of time directly, certain mechanical methods are used to determine the hexagram, such as tossing coins and shuffling cards.

Student C: Any reason why Confucius used it?

Teacher: To find out the the flow of the time, and act accordingly. Certainly not for getting rich by divining the stock market.

Student C: That sounds interesting, should I also use it?

Teacher: It your personal decision, just be clear as to what your intentions are.

Student C: Is it wrong to use Yijing for personal gain?

Teacher: When greed creeps in, dé (德) is extirpated. Though you may not notice it, you've actually lost something very precious.