Line by Line - Verse 4, Line 1

The Tao is (like) the emptiness of a vessel; and in our employment of it we must be on our guard against all fullness.
~ James Legge translation, from The Sacred Books of the East, 1891 ~

The Tao is an empty vessel; it is used, but never filled.
~ Gia-fu Feng and Jane English translation, published by Vintage Books, 1989 ~

The Tao is empty
When utilized, it is not filled up
~ Derek Lin translation, from Tao Te Ching: Annotated & Explained, published by SkyLight Paths, 2006 ~

How much Tao is there? More than you'll ever need.
~ Ron Hogan rendition, from Beatrice.com, 2004 ~

I can see some people reading the first line of Verse 4 and thinking to themselves, "So, is this Tao like an airhead?"

You see, we too often think of the concept of emptiness in only a negative sense. A person who has nothing to their name is not the kind of person any of us wants to be. We look at such a person with pity, compassion or contempt. We wonder why their life has fallen off the rails.

But as Derek Lin points out in his book,

The emptiness of Tao is not a vacuous state of nothingness, because its infinite depths conceal the seeds of Creation. There appears to be nothing in the Tao, and yet it contains everything. It is the "pregnant void," a field of unlimited potentialities.

So, the next time you see a person with nothing, maybe you will look at them differently. While the individual may have nothing in terms of material riches, he or she may be rich with the essence of Tao.

To view the Index page for this series to see what you may have missed or would like to read again, go here.