BECOME DEVOID TO GAIN TOTALITY

Your teacup is full. Empty Your Cup.

Once, a long time ago, there was a wise Zen master. People from far and near would seek his counsel and ask for his wisdom. Many would come and ask him to teach them, enlighten them in the way of Zen. He seldom turned any away.

“I have come today to ask you to teach me about Zen. Open my mind to enlightenment.” 

The tone of the important man’s voice was one used to getting his own way.

The Zen master smiled and said that they should discuss the matter over a cup of tea. 

When the tea was served the master poured his visitor a cup. He poured and he poured and the tea rose to the rim and began to spill over the table and finally onto the robes of the wealthy man. Finally the visitor shouted,

“Enough. You are spilling the tea all over. Can’t you see the cup is full?”

The master stopped pouring and smiled at his guest.

“You are like this tea cup, so full that nothing more can be added. Come back to me when the cup is empty. Come back to me with an empty mind.” 

I love this story. Usually in a scenario where someone in the group is resisting change or throwing up an invisible wall to learning.

So why am I sharing it with all of you?

Because to gain from anything that is new to us, we have to be willing to “park” our current belief systems. To put things we have been practising up to this point on hold to allow ourselves the opportunity of becoming better. It is holding onto negative behaviours or traits that keeps us where we are. In fact, some traits and behaviours may not even be entirely negative, but right now they simply are not serving us.

I will share a real world scenario with you. A lady approached me for help. She was tired of being tired. Tired of being stiff when she got out bed in the morning. Tired of needing coffee just to function. Tired of snapping at her kids for minor things. Tired of everything. And not a fun person to be around. This was impacting her self esteem and self worth and impacting those around her. She was no longer who she wanted to be. So she approached me for help. About 4 months into the journey she was looking and feeling like a new woman. She looked better, felt better, no longer snapped at her kids, was easier to live with (her husband told me that), had energy and was just happier. 

Then one day she stopped coming to class. And the excuses began to roll in. “Bad weather”, “cramps”, “lack of sleep”, etc. She went from being back in the drivers seat of her life to being a passenger with life just pulling her along. 

So what caused this shift? One word. Fear.

Fear of the unknown is a powerful thing. We get so used to being a certain way that we see those old ways as a “safety blanket” even if they have been killing us slowly. As humans, we have a default switch that pulls us back to the known even if that known was and is negative. 

You have to be willing to go the distance long enough for positive behaviours to become your default. You have to be willing to commit. To trust the process. And just get it done consistently with no excuses. 

If you are not happy where you are at in your life physically and emotionally, you have to accept that this did not happen by mistake. We create our reality through our choices and our actions or lack of action. 

Empty your cup. Pull down your invisible wall that is blocking you from being more and feeling like you want to feel.

How to empty your cup? –

HONESTY – Be aware of the things you tell yourself

COMMITMENT – Embrace the possibilities in the unknown

RESPONSIBILITY– Take ownership of your action or inaction

EMPOWERMENT– Step forward with the intent of making a difference

Stop being a passenger. Do it. Say it. Own it!!