{"id":1574,"date":"2018-10-15T18:40:34","date_gmt":"2018-10-15T18:40:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/writeherewritenow\/?p=1574"},"modified":"2018-10-15T18:40:34","modified_gmt":"2018-10-15T18:40:34","slug":"the-empty-space","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/writeherewritenow\/2018\/10\/15\/the-empty-space\/","title":{"rendered":"The Empty Space"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/writeherewritenow\/files\/2018\/10\/20181010_113537.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-1579\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/writeherewritenow\/files\/2018\/10\/20181010_113537-300x223.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"223\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/writeherewritenow\/files\/2018\/10\/20181010_113537-300x223.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/writeherewritenow\/files\/2018\/10\/20181010_113537-768x570.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/writeherewritenow\/files\/2018\/10\/20181010_113537-1024x760.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>Thirty spokes meet at the wheel\u2019s axis<br \/>\nThe center space makes the wheel useful.<br \/>\nForm clay into a cup;<br \/>\nThe center space gives it purpose.<br \/>\nFrame doors and windows for a house;<br \/>\nThe openings make the house useful.<br \/>\nTherefore, purpose comes from what is there<br \/>\nBecause of what is not there.<\/p>\n<p><em>Tao Te Ching, <\/em>Chapter 11<\/p>\n<p>In one of my favorite passages, the <em>Tao Te Ching<\/em> reminds us of the essential power of the empty space, what the Japanese call <em>yohaku.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>In an old Buddhist legend, an accomplished young man came to a teacher seeking enlightenment. He introduced himself, reciting his list of accomplishments while the master poured tea. As the man talked on, the master continued to pour until the tea spilled over the sides of the cup.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cStop!\u201d said the young man. \u201cCan\u2019t you see what you\u2019re doing?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The old master smiled, eyes twinkling as he replied, \u201cYou cannot fill a cup that is already full.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The young man was full of himself, full of ego. To learn anything new, he would have to empty his cup.<\/p>\n<p>Likewise, to keep learning and growing, we must empty ourselves of preconceptions, suspend judgement, clear away the clutter of our minds. This is the vital lesson of <em>yohaku, <\/em>the \u201cwhite space\u201d or the background in an ink painting, which adds balance and beauty to the whole.<\/p>\n<p>An expression of <em>yin, <\/em>the \u201cempty space\u201d so much a part of the Tao, <em>yohaku <\/em>is the space of contemplation, insight, and creativity.<\/p>\n<p>What about you? Take a mindful moment now<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>To close your eyes,<\/li>\n<li>Take a slow, deep breath and slowly release it.<\/li>\n<li>Then ask yourself,<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u201cDo I have enough space in my days?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhere do I find my <em>yohaku?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Namaste,<\/p>\n<p>Diane<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Thirty spokes meet at the wheel\u2019s axis The center space makes the wheel useful. Form clay into a cup; The center space gives it purpose. Frame doors and windows for a house; The openings make the house useful. Therefore, purpose &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/writeherewritenow\/2018\/10\/15\/the-empty-space\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"qubely_global_settings":"","qubely_interactions":"","kk_blocks_editor_width":"","_kiokenblocks_attr":"","_kiokenblocks_dimensions":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,10,3,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1574","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-contemplative-leader","category-mindful-leader","category-spiritual-practice","category-uncategorized"],"gutentor_comment":0,"qubely_featured_image_url":null,"qubely_author":{"display_name":"writeherewritenow","author_link":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/writeherewritenow\/author\/writeherewritenow\/"},"qubely_comment":0,"qubely_category":"<a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/writeherewritenow\/category\/contemplative-leader\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Contemplative Leader<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/writeherewritenow\/category\/mindful-leader\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Mindful Leader<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/writeherewritenow\/category\/spiritual-practice\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Spiritual Practice<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/writeherewritenow\/category\/uncategorized\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Uncategorized<\/a>","qubely_excerpt":"Thirty spokes meet at the wheel\u2019s axis The center space makes the wheel useful. Form clay into a cup; The center space gives it purpose. Frame doors and windows for a house; The openings make the house useful. Therefore, purpose &hellip; Continue reading &rarr;","post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/writeherewritenow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1574","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/writeherewritenow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/writeherewritenow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/writeherewritenow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/writeherewritenow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1574"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/writeherewritenow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1574\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1580,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/writeherewritenow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1574\/revisions\/1580"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/writeherewritenow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1574"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/writeherewritenow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1574"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/writeherewritenow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1574"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}