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Tao Te Ching Verse 11:

The thirty spokes unite in the one nave; but it is on the empty space (for the axle), that the use of the wheel depends. Clay is fashioned into vessels; but it is on their empty hollowness, that their use depends. The door and windows are cut out (from the walls) to form an apartment; but it is on the empty space (within), that its use depends. Therefore, what has a (positive) existence serves for profitable adaptation, and what has not that for (actual) usefulness.

Photo by Juliet Furst on Unsplash

Allowing myself to become useful by receiving the flow of the Tao

I’m quite sure you’ve experienced being in flow at some point in your life.  I know I have.  When I’m creating a piece of music.  When I’m writing.  When I’m meditating and can just be in the moment without thinking.  When I’m at a movie.  When I’m concentrating on work.  

When I’m in the flow, time goes away - I don’t even notice it - and I feel like everything is just right.  I can be doing nothing or I can be doing something - it’s just when I’m in the zone and nothing exists for me except the thing or circumstance I’m experiencing in that moment.  I’m not even putting that much effort into it - it just...flows!

The thing about flow is that I can’t really plan it - I can’t really demand that it happens.  I kind of have to wait for it, and even when it does happen, sometimes I realize it then and sometimes I realize it after.  So what is this elusive feeling, and how can I feel more of it?

That was a question I asked myself for years before I came to know that flow happens when I am doing that which I am fashioned to do - without thinking about it, without being conscious of it - in that moment.  That moment when I have...purpose.

For me, it turns out that while I can’t control how and when ‘flow’ shows up for me, what I can do is increase the likelihood that it will happen and the frequency with which it occurs.   I can do this by - you guessed it - emptying myself of wants and desires.  There are other conditions I can set - like practicing Oneness, Allowing perfection, like moving into harmony with the Tao - you get the idea.  For today,  emptying myself is one of those things I can do.

When I become a vessel, I am acknowledging that I am just a some-thing into which a no-thing can flow.  In other words, by actively practicing humility, I am letting the Tao operate in my life as it sees fit, based on the intentions I’ve set like we talked about earlier.  

There are lots of ways to practice humility.  Being grateful is one of the ways I can do that.  For me gratitude is merely the appreciation of that which is around me and in front of me.  I can also be of service to others.  When I am helping other people, I am setting aside my self and am concentrating on another person - which is kind of like a self-forgetting thing.  That sounds like humility, doesn’t it?  There are other ways to practice humility, but those two are my main go-tos.

In any case, my main takeaway here is that it feels so good when I’m in flow, I want to experience it as much as I can.  I know that I can’t control it or demand it - I can just encourage it by practicing humility.  And in doing that, I am emptying myself as best I can so that the Tao can enter into that space.  In so doing (or not doing, actually) I move into my purpose and therefore find fulfillment and finally... become useful.