Verse number 11, from the Tao Te Ching, contains imagery related to emptiness. Those images are objects we interact with on a day to day basis. The first image is a wheel. In this chapter, they depict the wheel as just a wheel, and that is what makes it so interesting. A wheel with a hole and that hole is what makes the wheel useful. Another image is the carved out space in a bowl, and how that carved out space (where the bowl is not) is where it is useful. The final image is a house, with the same ideas as the last two images.
It’s hard to pinpoint a specific metaphor or simile, or even paradox. However, if we are not looking at the specifics then this whole chapter could be a paradox. Just the idea of useful emptiness is a paradox in itself.
It’s hard to pinpoint a specific metaphor or simile, or even paradox. However, if we are not looking at the specifics then this whole chapter could be a paradox. Just the idea of useful emptiness is a paradox in itself.