ABSTRACT
This tale from China illustrates how embodied empathy, a product of virtual comprehension, helps us resolve difficult conflicts. A rich man overworks his servants, oblivious to their plight. Then he has a recurrent dream in which he is such an overworked servant, awakening every morning exhausted. Later he hears that one of his servants also has a recurrent dream but of being a rich man who enjoys a life of ease. The rich man finally consults a wise friend who tells the rich man that the dreams are a warning that his life is unbalanced, making other people suffer. The rich man considers the situation and then lightens his servants’ workload and works himself. The dreams stop and the much happier household prospers. The story reiterates a classic Jungian interpretation – especially at midlife, dreams are compensatory, pushing to restore psychologic and social balance. For the rich man, that balance occurs through an emotional, embodied experience of other people, conveyed through dreams. Only then can the genuinely empathize with other people. Such empathy is a core part of rationality – detaching from our own experiences so we can more fully enter into another person’s.
