What is Gen?

"Gen" is the english spelling of a Chinese word for Mountain. In Chinese mythology the Mountain can stand for a great General or Emporer. In the "Book of Changes" or "I Ching" a work of Confucian philosophy the Mountain stands for the idea of standing still and observing the world without taking action.

In Christian mythology the Mountain stands for the Kingdom of Heaven established on Earth. But it may also stand for a man, in the story of the small stone which was cut out without hands, which becomes the mountain.

The Chinese word may also be spelled as "Ken", but the letter E should have a carrot over it. So I have always identified myself with the Chinese character from "I Ching". The observer who does not act, the Mountain is standing still, but perhaps the Mountain can be moved. Every concept within the "I Ching" is represented by a hexagram made up of light or dark lines. The light lines embody the idea of Creation, the force that gives light and warmth to the Universe. The dark line embodys the idea of receptivity, that which is in need of the light and the warmth. One line stands for Heaven and the other stands for Earth.

It is called the "Book of Changes" because the conditions of our lives are always changing. The Hexagram which represents one condition eventually becomes old and changes into another state. There is a Hexagram for Peace, according to this philosophy it is a passing condition at best, it may be obtainable but only for a moment in time. The Hexagram for peace is called "T'ai", I have given this name to my oldest son. Each of these Chinese Hexagrams has the power to change into any one of the other Hexagrams, by changing a few of the lines. There are 6 lines in each full hexagram and this is a binary numbering system with two states for each line. This allows for 64 possible combinations or conditions, if we number them from 0-63.

The "Book of Changes" has been used as an Oracle in the past to make predictions based on the chance outcome of a coin toss. There have been other ways to use the book as an Oracle that do not involve the tossing of coins, but the element of chance outcomes is always preserved. It is through the element of chance that Heaven may excert its influence, and a higher Law works it way down to our lives here on Planet Earth. This is a basic principle of Confucian thinking that there exists a higher order in Heaven, in as much as that order is mirrored here on Earth all will be well and good. When we try to go against the order of Heaven, this is the cause of our problems here on Earth. This philosophy supports the idea of Heiearchys and Laws representing order very well.