bernardodias:

[Lynn Davis][Ice House, Road to Shiraz, Iran][2001]

One Cup

This is the story of Namu-In, a Zen master who lived during the Meiji Era. One afternoon while meditating, he had a visit from a professor from the local university. 

Master Namu-In welcomed him in and offered him a cup of tea, which the visitor gladly accepted.

Zen master Namu-In poured the visitor a full cup and continued pouring. The tea was overflowing onto the table. The visitor, making sure to thank him first, asked, “But the cup is full! Why do you keep pouring?”

Zen master Namu-In replied, “Just like this cup, you are full of your own assumptions and speculations. You must first empty your cup!”

The visitor was visibly perplexed, and not wishing to show disrespect, said, “I am but a humble student. And yet I cannot help but point out that you poured the tea to its fullness. My cup was empty when I arrived.”

Zen master Namu-In nodded solemnly as he continued to pour, “You are like the cup, rigid and unyielding, only able to fill with wisdom a small portion at a time. Return when your cup is empty.” The hot tea dripped into their laps.

The visitor’s face brightened, “Ah! I now see! The tea is the wisdom of the infinite, and I am but a vessel that can receive only as much as my mind is willing.” He thanked the Zen master profusely and hurried back to the university, eager to share with his students the lesson he had learned, with steaming wet groin. 

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gretchenjonesnyc:

i had to share this. i just had to.

(Source: yourspiderman)