Doubt

In reply to an entry in Hilary's weblog:

Many who have been working with one translation for years often become confused when they see another translation which differs quite from theirs, but is more true to the original Chinese text. What to do? Still use your old book with which you were comfortable for all these years but which now has breaches in its outer layer of perfection? Or use the new translation which fits like new shoes - uncomfortable yet, but walking probably makes it better? If you choose the latter, how about all these years and the answers you got from your first book? Should the answers you got through all these years have been better if you used this new translation instead? Doubts arise.

But the problem is not the book, it is what you do with it. In the end it doesn't really matter if the book you use is close to the original Yi or not. If you value the book, if it enriches your life, if you draw inspiration from it, if it helps you and you are not concerned about the Yi and its history and origin - then what does it matter if it is THE Yi or something entirely different? As an ordinary user you shouldn't be bothered by questions about origin and originality - you should be selfish and think about your own concern only. If a new translation doesn't give you what you need, and you have walked all possible ways to comprehend it, then stop punishing yourself and use what you are familiar with.

However, if it is important to you that you use a book which is as close to the original Yi as possible, in other words you want to use the Yi as an oracle and not any other book, then you will have to get used to using a new translation every now and then. You will have to learn to cope with doubts, and integrate them in your learning process.

"People who do not doubt simply have not devoted themselves to concrete practice. If they have concretely practiced, there must be some doubts. Something must be impractible, and that raises doubts. (...) The student must first of all know how to doubt. (...) Combine the internal and the external into one and regard things and the self as equal. This is the way to see the fundamenal point of the Way."
- Jin-si Lu: 'Reflections on things at hand'

Use doubt to your advantage. There is no difference between You and the book you use. After all, every book can be used as an oracle. What matters is how the book fits you. The Yi does not serve everybody.