Pause • Reflect • Sundays on Pianodao
Written by ANDREW EALES
The image of an empty vessel is a common one found in many cultural and spiritual traditions. It is a concept which is marvellously introduced in these words from that great classic Tao Te Ching by the ancient sage Lao Tzu:
“Clay is folded into a vessel,
Yet it is the hollowness that makes the vessel useful;
Windows and doors are cut out,
Yet it is their empty space that makes the room useable.”
Lao Tzu: Tao Te Ching (chapter 11, excerpt)
translation, Edward Brennan and Tao Huang
Here’s a wonderfully pithy rendition of the first part, this time as translated by that great author Ursula K. Le Guin:
“Hollowed out, clay makes a pot.
Where the pot’s not is where it’s useful.“
Lao Tzu: Tao Te Ching (chapter 11, excerpt)
translation: Ursula K. Le Guin
In her ever-thoughtful commentary, she notes,
“One of the things I love about Lao Tzu is he is so funny. He’s explaining a profound and difficult truth here, one of those counterintuitive truths that, when the mind can accept them, suddenly double the size of the universe. He goes about it with this deadpan simplicity, talking about pots.”
If the iconography of the empty vessel can be momentarily viewed as a metaphor for our piano playing, then perhaps the clay, design, craftsmanship and varnish can be taken for tokens of our technique, understanding and creative musicianship. And we might wonder whether it is the music itself which fills the pot.
Perhaps that space within, framed by our piano playing ability, provides the context for our piano journey, the connections we make with others along the way, the musical communication we develop with our audience, the spark which illumines our soul, all distilled within an empty vessel that we have committed ourselves to polishing and perfecting.
In teaching, learning, practice and assessment, we often separate important aspects and areas of development. Nurturing our understanding, skill and creative ability with distinct exercises and focused attention is undoubtedly helpful, enabling us to throw, hone and polish a bigger and better “pot” in which fresh music will condense and find its form.
But let’s remember that the rudimentary facets of our pianism, our technical accomplishment, theoretical understanding, and even our musical personality, are ultimately no more than a means to an end.
However shiny, however magnificent our vessel ultimately becomes, it is only useful to us as the carrier of our potential for personal connection and artistic transcendence.
“Where the pot’s not is where it’s useful.”
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