A Large Fruit Still Uneaten

Hexagram twenty three line six speaks of "a large fruit still uneaten." This line can have many meanings depending on the context. Here. let's look at this from the perspective of the speaker being the Sage, or the I Ching itself, and consider this. One way of looking at this line is that the "large fruit," represents an aspect of the line that has to do with the teaching of the Sage. When we are told that we still haven't eaten a large fruit, we may be being told that there is still a large amount of material in the I Ching that we haven't absorbed. Of course, this is always true, but here it may be saying that we are not getting the really good and nutritious teaching that is being presented us. Perhaps we have just had an "aha" breakthrough in studying the I Ching, and think we have gotten a great deal out of it. When we get this line the I Ching can be saying, that is only a fraction of the material that is meant for you to comprehend, keep digging.

All of us throughout our life are contemplating life and the meaning of it just as the young yin line in line two of hexagram twenty does; through the crack of the door. Our quest in life is to mature and become more deeply spiritual and moral beings. Each day we open the door a little farther, and we see a little bit greater view. We may think the door is now fully open, but that would be wrong. We all see, as St. Paul said, "through a glass darkly." We see as a child. Hexagram twenty three line six is simply another way of presenting this message to us that we are not finished yet. It is only when the seed falls to the ground, (is taken within the soul and nurtured) that new seed sprouts from old. We must always replenish the "water from the well," that we ever learn newer and deeper lessons. There is a depth beyond anything imaginable when we consult the I Ching and look on its pages for messages. There is always a metaphor, a meaning that points to another meaning. There are always symbols and allegories, and we must be diligent in searching them out, like the subject in hexagram fifty seven line two that employs priests and magicians in great numbers in order to seek the inner and deeper wisdom, the water of the well. We can never assumed we are finished. We can never assume we have graduated because there is always a deeper level.