Creating a Space - the Container

Thirty spokes converge on a single hub,

but it is in the space where there is nothing 

that the usefulness of the cart lies.

Clay is molded to make a pot,

but it is in the space where there is nothing

that the usefulness of the clay pot lies. 

Cut out doors and windows to make a room,

but it is in the spaces where there is nothing

that the usefulness of the room lies.

Therefore, 

Benefit may be derived from something,

but it is in nothing that we find usefulness.

• Lao Tzu. Tao Te Ching 55

 

When we sit still we’re doing two things. First, sitting becomes a container; whatever has happened, we sit still and feel it. The other side of sitting still is the stillness of non-reactivity. We feel all that anger without doing anything to anybody. The feeling becomes our own responsibility. Instead of our attention being directed, as it usually is, to making somebody else treat us differently, the way we want to be treated, we come back to experiencing what is at stake in being treated this way, what the hurt is really all about, and who we think we are that we can be hurt.

• Barry Magid. Ending the Pursuit of Happiness; A Zen Guide.