Hexagram Fifty Line Four

We've talked to a certain extent about lines one two and three already, but in just a little bit of review, let's talk about line two from the standpoint of the I Ching itself as the speaker. The line says, "There is food in the Ting." Just as in hexagram forty eight line five the I Ching says of itself, In the well, there is a clear, cold spring, From which one can drink," so too here does it describe itself as a living entity that wishes that humanity would partake of its knowledge. The I Ching is full of wisdom. In fifty line two it says, "There is food in the Ting." Not only is there wisdom within the I Ching itself, there is also nourishment for the soul. When we get this line we might take a look at what is really being told us, as it is probably something very important meant for us specifically when we get this line. The text goes on to say, "My comrades are envious, But they cannot harm me." The spring is always there. No matter what the detractors do or say, the well and the Ting are always there to nourish us. The detractors will go to any length to negate the message of the I Ching. Their wish is to keep people in ignorance. You will often hear it said, "There is no scientific evidence to show the I Ching works." How silly can you get? There is no scientific evidence because science is very primitive in its understanding and has not yet even learned how gravity works. It is utter nonsense. The inference is that we are not supposed to believe in anything until the scientists say they believe in it, no matter how well it works for us in our lives. These detractors are envious of those who would know and understand the truth. As Jesus said to the Pharisees, something to the effect of, "You have the keys to the kingdom yet you refuse to allow others to go in and in fact you won't go in yourselves." It is human nature to lie to ourselves, because we want things to be a certain way, and think they are unfair if they are not that way, yet, "wisdom is justified of all its children." Truth is truth, and no matter how harshly it is suppressed, it will always rise once again to the surface, just as the bucket pulls the water up from the depths of the well.

Then on to line four. The line says, "The legs of the ting are broken." In this day and age the legs are truly broken, because we do not have full aspect to the wisdom of the I Ching. Most of us do not have access to the original language, we live in a materialistic world where people are far more concerned about making a living than they are of any true spiritual experience. Most of us think there is no such thing as a spiritual experience. The problem here is that the line should have a relationship with the fifth line, which is the sage, but it is caught up with the first line, the common people, or the common mentality. The fifth line is the ruler. It and the sixth line dispense wisdom. (In another way the fifth line is the receiver of wisdom from the sixth line - we will discuss that more later.) But the fourth line gets sidetracked with things that are unnecessary,gets sidetracked with the things of the world, of materiality, and does not concern him or her self with the spiritual world. For this reason line three of hexagram forty eight says, "The well is cleaned but no one drinks from it. This is my heart's sorrow." The I Ching has a heart, it has a soul, and it cares. Right now we are in the midst of the deepest darkness, but the light will shine again once we are out of this particular age, and into the new age, not the new world order, but the new age. It is coming, and as the Hebrew scriptures say, "At that time, no one shall say, know ye the Lord; for all will know him from the least to the greatest." The I Ching is far deeper than anyone can imagine. It behooves us to look into its pages, and into the pages of all the sacred scriptures of the world for the wisdom of the ages. The deep well that has no bottom.