Emptying Yourself

An arrogant business man came to a monastery and said to the head monk, "I have learnt much of the material world in my life so far. Now I wish to learn of spiritual knowledge." The monk said, "Maybe you will get the opportunity but first let us have a cup of tea while we discuss the matter." After making the tea, the monk poured some into a cup for the businessman. Even when the cup was full, the monk kept on pouring the tea and it overflowed onto the clothes of the businessman. He jumped and exclaimed, "What are you doing?" The monk replied, "You are like the cup, so full that there is no room to put in any more. First you must empty yourself."

Things that usually affect us are related to our own impressions of who we are. When someone says something to strengthen our image of ourselves, we feel it to be a compliment; same is true of criticism when someone speaks against the image we have built. Consider a student who thinks himself smart. When someone insults his intelligence or refers to him as stupid, he will initially be upset; then he will quickly retort to restore his impression of himself onto others and if that fails, he will be even more agitated. Discomfort comes when the impression of oneself is disturbed and further discomfort follows when we try to project our image of ourselves onto others. This situation is hilarious and at the same time, serious -- we paint a picture, associate our identity with it, and continuously react to that imaginary picture!

So full of ourselves, our ideas, and our thoughts, we are constantly in a battle with these illusions. The "cup" brimming with oneself, one's ego, has no room to grow, understand life, or be happy. To remove conflicts and realize the natural flow of life, we must be "emptied" of ourselves; meditation is a simple act of observation where we shatter these illusions and empty ourselves, only to be filled with a unique and rejuvinating appreciation of life.