The Dao is naked awareness. It appears as void or emptiness, just like a door of a house. The door means where the house is not. All doors open through the void. Entrance is only possible from where there is nothing, mere emptiness, which is ‘the essence of wisdom’.
Framed walls and brick are joined
To make a house.
Yet it is the open space within
That makes it livable,
That gives doors and windows
Their unique functions.
Clay is formed and baked:
Thus a cup is made.
Yet it is the invisible interior
From which we drink.
— Laozi (Verse 11, tr. Brian Donohue)
There is emptiness within us. Emptiness is our nature, our soul. Our body is the vessel, a wall of clay. We keep on adding things to this emptiness, so much so, that it is completely smothered: we see someone’s clothes, a new desire arises; we see someone’s house, a new desire arises; we see someone’s car and a new desire arises. Every moment some desire is kindled within. We are busy filling the mind and forget about emptying it, therefore we can hardly at peace, even for a moment.
So Laozi says:
Rely upon your inner discernment;
Return to your original purity;
Wear down your ego;
Break out of the circle of desire.
— Laozi (Verse 19, tr. Brian Donohue)
Desire means the process of tension, which arises from underlying needs and unacceptability. If we go deep into the nature of desirelessness, we shall know that everything is acceptable as it is and how it is. To be desireless is to live in reality. To be desireless means ‘I accept myself as I am.’
When we are able to empty ourselves, learn to breathe in tranquility, and accept whatever life brings to us, we are then capable of being aware of our true self and expanding our awareness to find out the opportunities in all the challenges we are facing.
This is the beauty of Dao. It makes ‘awareness’ possible to emerge through the coach-coachee relationship.
Dao and Flow
One key to masterful coaching is the idea of being ‘in flow’. This happens in two ways in the coaching relationship: the flow in the relationship between the coach and the coachee, and the flow in the relationship between the coachee and the coachee’s wellness goals. According to the research by Karen Wesson, there are six factors that affect the coach and the coachee in terms of their ability to find the flow in the coaching practice. They are relatedness, commitment, facilitation, physical and mental resources, situational factors and continued successful engagement.
What is flow?
Mihaly Csikszentmihaly is the man behind the flow theory. He describes flow as a state of effortless concentration and enjoyment, or the moments that provide flashes of intense living against the dull background of everyday life. The flow experience typically involves a sense of control. What people enjoy is not the sense of being in control, but the sense of exercising control in difficult situations. When experiencing flow, people feel strong, alert, in effortless control, unselfconscious, and at the peak of their abilities. The sense of time and emotional problems seem to disappear, and there is an exhilarating feeling of transcendence.
Dao is flow.
The Dao is the creative force of the universe. All things have their origin and place in the Dao. Since the Dao is dynamic, it is seen as a flowing. If we lead a life in harmony with the Dao, we flow with its current.
Acknowledge the masculine
And be one with the feminine:
Let the river of your being flow
Into the valley of eternal Nature.
Acknowledge the white,
But trust in the black:
Let Nature be the mold
Into which you pour
The liquid energy of your being.
— Laozi (Verse 28, tr. Brian Donohue)
Laozi uses metaphorical expression to explain the entire flow of our life is in our being, and this is found throughout the Dao De Jing.
Like water is the Cosmic Consciousness:
It nourishes the depths of everything that lives.
It flows, it settles, it abides in low places.
Drop the struggle, silence the demons,
And your natural self will be free.
— Laozi (Verse 8, tr. Brian Donohue)
Water does its work with persistent strength but no effort, and thus it is effective. Even where it appears turbid, it nourishes, settles, flows, and acts. The same is true of us in harmony with the Nature: ‘to silence demons’, both our own and those of others, through the fluid, invisible work of inner action.
Sublime, the Cosmic Breath
That limitlessly pervades and imbues
Time and space, form and non-form.
It diffuses in every direction,
It flows through all being,
It creates and furthers all,
But makes no claim and takes no credit.
It is the body of transformation,
And we do not even know its name!
— Laozi (Verse 34, tr. Brian Donohue)
Water doesn’t try to carve canyons or wear down mountains; it just does it, ‘makes no claim and takes no credit’. This is flow, and this is how transformation happens: the unforced action engages the force of Nature, the Dao that makes things occur and endure.
This is the beauty of Dao. It makes ‘flow’ possible to run naturally throughout the coach-coachee relationship.
Conclusion
Coaching is beyond techniques or tools; it is a mindset. Coaching is beyond a process; it is a life style. Coaching in its highest form is about personal and organizational transformation (Alan Seale). Such transformation lies in ‘presence’ to produce a feeling of waking up, starts with ‘awareness’ to unveil new possibilities, and arises from ‘flow’ to reveal a larger context to shape choices and actions.
The concept of Dao is based upon the understanding that the only constant in the universe is change (Yi Jing, or I Ching, the Book of Changes). Change is characterized as a constant progression from non-being into being, yin into yang, potential into actual. The aspects of Dao are not to be separated; all changes in Dao happen for the benefit of the Whole. Dao is the activity of transformation, which is ‘an energy-dance that perpetually and spontaneously occurs on the invisible, formless plane of being’. The transformative energy-dance of Dao is described by Laozi with metaphors of regeneration and bliss:
The manifest and the immanent
Are of the same Cosmic Origin—
The living, teeming darkness.
Eternal, shimmering darkness,
Reflecting itself in transformation,
Beyond all form and name—
Through the gateway of your heart.
— Laozi (Verse 1, tr. Brian Donohue)
The formed and the formless
Create and support each other.
In the Cosmic Unity,
The light and the dark dance and mingle
Like the breath of lovers.
— Laozi (Verse 2, tr. Brian Donohue)
The Dao is a plain and beautiful message of growth through diminishment, and an unforced action of discovering the true self. It’s about staying in presence and awareness with what is unfolding and invitation to be led by the unknown. By understanding the Dao, we come to understand and gain the courage to attempt to harmonize ourselves with the everlasting change by embracing various dimensions of the Dao, such as ‘presence’, ‘awareness’, and ‘flow’. And thus in a coaching relationship, the coach and the coachee are able to dance together with positive energies.
Reference:
Tao, Tao Te Ching, Lao Tzu, Daoism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tao
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laozi
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taoism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tao_Te_Ching
http://www.taoism.net/ttc/complete.htm
http://www.iging.com/laotse/LaotseE.htm
http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Dao
http://www.tm.org/blog/meditation/laozi-and-the-tao-te-ching-the-ancient-wisdom-of-china/
Osho. The Way of Dao
Awareness, Self-awareness
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Awareness
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-awareness
http://what-when-how.com/social-sciences/self-awareness-theory-social-science/
http://www.lexiyoga.com/awareness-quotes
Coaching
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coaching
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Margaret Moore. How Coaching Works: Flow
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/life-changes/201001/how-coaching-works-flow
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http://hbr.org/2013/12/the-focused-leader/ar/1
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What is Coaching. International Coaching Academy (2013)
Creating Awareness. International Coaching Academy (2013)
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