“Empty” Space

We join spokes together in a wheel,
but it is the center hole
that makes the wagon move.  

We shape clay into a pot,
but it is the emptiness inside
that holds whatever we want.  

We hammer wood for a house,
but it is the inner space
that makes it livable.  

We work with being,
but non-being is what we use.  

                                          Lao Tzu’s Tao Te Ching, Verse 11. Stephen Mitchell, trans.

Yesterday in class we played with the idea of what Taoist philosopher Alan Watts called “the pregnant emptiness.” As Lao Tzu wrote, it is the space within the cup, the window, and the rooms of a house, that makes them useful. In other words, what is NOT there is as important as what IS.

What allows us to create this useful space within ourselves? Well, letting go of unnecessary stress, rumination, and worry is a place to begin. Or consider this: perhaps we’re thinking entirely too much to begin with?! It’s not that our goal is to be as empty-headed as a vacant house or drained cup, but as Alan Watts wrote “If you are always thinking, there is nothing to think about but thoughts!”.

What else is there? That’s the fun part. If we can breathe and focus and let go enough to move through the muddy turbulence of our repetitive, worrisome thoughts, there’s a vast, even infinite “emptiness” of possibility out there, and within ourselves, to explore.