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Translation and Commentary by Nina


	Dao De Jing Chapter 11 Fit thirty spokes into the hub of a wheel. It is the space between the spokes that makes the wheel valuable; thus the vehicle can be put to use. Bake clay and make it into cups. It is the space within the cup that makes it valuable; thus the cup is useful. Cut out doors and windows. It is the space created by the doors and windows which makes them valuable; thus a house is useful. Therefore, what has substance is beneficial. What is without substance is useful. Commentary 11 ~ Beneficial vs. Useful This chapter compares what has substance with what has no substance. -Fit thirty spokes into the hub of a wheel. -It is the space between the spokes that makes the wheel valuable; thus the vehicle can be put to use. -Bake clay and make it into cups. -It is the space within the cup that makes it valuable; thus the cup is useful. -Cut out doors and windows. -It is the space created by the doors and windows which makes them valuable; thus a house is useful. When looking at a wheel, a cup or a house, what's most apparent is the material structure of the object. The spokes of a wheel must be strong in order to be beneficial - carrying the weight of a cart. The clay used to make a cup must be fired properly in order to be beneficial - retaining its shape and not cracking. The beams and rafters of a house must be sturdy in order to be beneficial - providing shelter. It's easy to see how all of these substantial things could benefit us. What we tend to pay the least attention to is that the usefulness of the wheel, cup and house is actually based on their emptiness. There must be a hole at the center of the wheel hub where the spokes can be placed properly. A cup must have enough of a hollow interior to be able to hold liquid. A house must have doors to allow entry and windows to allow in sunlight and air. This theory can be applied to people as well. That which consists of our physical, outer form can be beneficial in many ways. Just like the wheel, we can be strong; just like the cup, we can acquire health; just like the house, we can provide protection. However, without being open enough to allow new things to enter, what's beneficial might not be useful. We have to learn how to take something that has the potential of being beneficial and shape it into something useful. -Therefore, what has substance is beneficial. -What is without substance is useful. Look at what you have to work with in life. Look at your own abilities, talents and physical form. You may not be suited for one task, but be more than adequate for another. Finding what's beneficial within yourself can be a delightful journey. But don't stop there. It can be easy to get caught up in simply appreciating the things you have that are beneficial to you, but how do you find ways to make them useful?   Your physical attributes and abilities are like the spokes of a wheel, the clay used to make a cup and the walls of a house. They're outer shells with lots of potential, but unless you can open yourself up to receiving the energy constantly flowing around you, they'll remain simply rigid objects. That openness to the natural power of the universe will guide you in which ways to use what benefits you have. Dao Is Open Site Map \| BY: Nina \| Guodian Laozi \| DDJ Concordance \| Comparisons \| From the DIO Forum \| BY: Bao Pu \| By: Joshua \| Who was Laozi \| \| Return Home \| Laozi's Dao De Jing \| Your Dao De Jing \| Zhuangzi (Chuang Tzu) \| Links \| Meditation \| Dao (Tao) is Open Forum \| Book List \| Other Stuff \|