Also, in arguments, it is making a concession to keep the communication going. In labor disputes, it is compromising to find a middle ground. Many times one has to yield, back down, empty oneself before overcoming, feeling straight, filling up.
James Autrey wrote, Real Power: Business Lessons from the Tao Te Ching that covers a prime way that this paradoxical thought of Tao Te Ching can be understood by the modern manager -- as a means of gaining the most valued and elusive prize in business: power.
Autrey responds to the questions, What exactly is power, and where does it come from? Does power automatically come with authority? Does it come from one's superiors, or do people create it for themselves? And why is it so difficult to hang on to? Real Power illustrates the paradox in winning at work: that power begins only when managers learn to let go of the illusion of control in order to empower others. Real power understands that employees already have power in their skills, their commitment to the job, and their passion for the work. Real power comes from creating an environment where that power can be expressed in order to produce the best results for everyone.
Another translation of this verse ends with the phrase, "when the ancient masters said 'if you want to be given everything give everything up,' they weren't using empty phrases only in being lived by the tao can you be truly yourself." Unfortunately, Americans increasingly are putting more importance in the material things they have and deesire -- huge homes, new cars, electronics, stylish clothes, trips -- than that what should have more meaning -- the spiritual, love, family, friendship, . They have reached this point noted by Tao, "give up everything to gain everything." One cannot feel spiritually whole (regardless of what one's beliefs are) until dropping the pretensions and falsehoods and yielding to a much greater power.
One of the first things a child learns about nature is that trees bend in the wind. They give into the strong breezes and tilt to the ground. The trees that do not bend, but stand up straight and to not sway with the air currents will break and never be the same. However, this concept is forgotten as the youngster grows older and must keep pace and compete into day's hectic world.
Zen tells of a man's desire to be taken as a student by the Master so that he may find enlightenment. Throughout dinner, the man regaled the Master with the extent of his education and his observations to date. Listening intently, the Master lifted the tea pot and began to pour into the man's untouched cup of tea. Overflowing the cup, the tea spread across the table. "Master!" The man cried, "Can you not see that my cup is already full!" The Master replied "Indeed.
When people allow themselves to bend over, they can allow themselves to empty. They can discard the litter of their pretensions and judgments. They can allow decaying emotions to drain and they can emerge cleansed, and ready for healing.
References Cited
Autrey, James. Real Power: Business Lessons from the Tao Te Ching. New York:
Penguin, 1999.
Tao Te Ching: 25th-Anniversary Edition. Lao Tsu, Gia-Fu Feng, Jane English,
Translators. New York: Vintage, 1997
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