A full cup
On a cold winter night, me and my cousin whom I met after three long years, sat down and were having a chat. We used to argue and discuss lots of issues during the summers holidays that we spent together at Thanjavur.
This was probably the first time after our marriages to our respective wifes and have had a son, that we had a heated debate on issues that each of us held close to our hearts. That is India and the current affairs back home.
The season was different, the location was not Thanjavur, it was London, but still we were going about the debate the same way we used to when we were in school.
At a point, as a metaphor I used the “Your cup is full” a very famous Zen story. It goes saying that you cannot add fresh tea to a already full tea cup. Basically you have to have an empty cup to hold tea, there by implying that, you need to have an empty mind, a mind that is not burdened with thoughts already in order to hold new thoughts. I was telling my cousin that one has to empty his cup to hold fresh tea.
He shot back, saying that no you don’t need to empty your cup, just get a new cup! To me, That was a very refreshing thought. Not only you retain the old tea, by that way, you gained new tea as well.
Yet another time, we were reminded of our inherent difference in the way one thinks.
This was probably the first time after our marriages to our respective wifes and have had a son, that we had a heated debate on issues that each of us held close to our hearts. That is India and the current affairs back home.
The season was different, the location was not Thanjavur, it was London, but still we were going about the debate the same way we used to when we were in school.
At a point, as a metaphor I used the “Your cup is full” a very famous Zen story. It goes saying that you cannot add fresh tea to a already full tea cup. Basically you have to have an empty cup to hold tea, there by implying that, you need to have an empty mind, a mind that is not burdened with thoughts already in order to hold new thoughts. I was telling my cousin that one has to empty his cup to hold fresh tea.
He shot back, saying that no you don’t need to empty your cup, just get a new cup! To me, That was a very refreshing thought. Not only you retain the old tea, by that way, you gained new tea as well.
Yet another time, we were reminded of our inherent difference in the way one thinks.
posted by the g at 7:30 PM
1 Comments:
I like the "cup" proverb.
However, let's consider another aspect of this topic.
I suggest its the type of tea itself that is critical and drinking it is what truly impacts the individual.
There is a religious proverb that say: "every person is born pure, it is the environment and society that makes the child a good person or bad person".
So I offer another thought...
If the tea itself is impure then this may affect the person drinking from the cup and cause them to become impure or "bad"; the converse is also true.
- A fellow truth seeker and rebel
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