A university professor visited Zen master Nan-in to inquire about Zen. But instead of listening to the master, the scholar kept going on and on about his own ideas.
After listening for some time, Nan-in served tea. He poured his visitor’s cup full, and kept on pouring. The tea flowed over the sides of the cup, filled the saucer, spilled onto the man’s pants and onto the floor.
“Don’t you see the cup is full?” the professor exploded. “You can’t get any more in!”
“Just so,” replied Nan-in calmly. “And like this cup, you are full of your own ideas and opinions. How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup?”
Emptying the cup means making room for Great Questions. It means being open, reconditioning ourselves, so that we can accept, for the time being, not knowing. Out of that a greater knowing will dawn.
And this applies especially for a clear-cut answer to “What is the meaning and purpose of my life?”. The answer to Great Questions like this can only emerge from the journey of living. And we can only arrive at it by the road of not-knowing – or maybe we should say, not-yet-knowing.
Sometimes life doesn’t provide the answers right away. But asking the right questions is the first step.
Your take?
Smile, breathe and go slowly!
Dieter Langenecker
