In the how to learn to be empathic? [3] ... "From Chado to Vacuum"

I finished to read the Book of Tea, and I got to connect some of my learnings (I think). Let me "try" to explain, hopefully I can get to somewhere.

Japanese Tea ceremony was born from a Zen ritual, where monks gathered and drank tea of a single bowl. Zenism is the legitimate successor or Taoism, both representations of the Southern Chinese mind in contradistinction to the Communism of Northern China.

Let me first start with Taoism,

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TEAISM -> TAOISM

Okakura wrote that Teaism is Taoism in disguise, therefore I shall first attempt to understand what Taoism is about.

Taoism is referred as the "art of being in the World". More important, Taoism accepts the mundane as it is and tries to find beauty in our world of misery, misfortune and worry, which is pretty much the philosophy of the Teaism.

THE SECRET

The Taoists claimed that the comedy of life could made more interesting if everyone would preserve the unities.

The secret of success in the mundane drama of life, according to taoists, is to keep the proportion of things and give place to others without losing one's own position, which is easier to understand, than exercise it.

To illustrate this, Laotse said that if someone can make a vacuum of himself into which others might enter freely, he or she would become MASTER of all situations. Moreover, it is written that, the Real Man of the Taoism tempers his own brightness in order to merge himself into the obscurity of others.



How do you imagine a vacuum is like?

I imagine being a vacuum is like being a moderator of a round table where everyone's opinion is equal. I may be hallucinating, but I was thinking that a good practical example of Laotse's vacuum, is the way one of the greatest leaders in human history was, Nelson Mandel's way.

Mandela's way of leadership, according to Richard Stengel [ref], is:

- Flexible, both sides of certain situation, maybe opposite, often would be considered to have some kernel of credibility, and some part important to be reconciled (min 8).

- Lead from the back. He would let everyone speak and express themselves, and until the very end, he would summarize what everyone said, and then, he would direct people in the way he wanted them to go (min 11).

What do you think?

To Conclude: Be a vacuum, temper your brightness and merge yourself into others ... maybe one day we will get to MASTER all situations... easy ah?