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The Cup
Jerbear
Veteran
Hello fellow travelers on the path,
I listened to this really cool teaching from ITunes yesterday that is really blowing my mind in it's simplicity yet how true it is. It is about how we are like a cup when it comes to learning. This was particularly r/t the Dharma, but can apply anywhere.
So how are we like a cup?
1. A cup turned upside down-this refers to our stubbornness and unwillingness or inability to listen to the teaching as it is being given. We aren't ready to hear the Dharma and our minds are closed to it.
2. A cup with a hole in it. This one I am guilty of a lot of the time. Say you watch this great tv show and you're telling someone about it the next day. "Yeah, that girl from that other show I watch was on it. The story was about her and some guy. Don't remember who he was and I think they were about to rob a bank or maybe it was kidnapping a child, but the show was fantastic". We don't remember what has been said and it slips right through us.
3. A cup that is filled with poison. This is when we have our preconceived notions that dilute the Dharma. Our thoughts are competing and the Dharma can't have it's full impact on us.
Just thought this was really cool and wanted to share. Something to think about if you get the minute.
I listened to this really cool teaching from ITunes yesterday that is really blowing my mind in it's simplicity yet how true it is. It is about how we are like a cup when it comes to learning. This was particularly r/t the Dharma, but can apply anywhere.
So how are we like a cup?
1. A cup turned upside down-this refers to our stubbornness and unwillingness or inability to listen to the teaching as it is being given. We aren't ready to hear the Dharma and our minds are closed to it.
2. A cup with a hole in it. This one I am guilty of a lot of the time. Say you watch this great tv show and you're telling someone about it the next day. "Yeah, that girl from that other show I watch was on it. The story was about her and some guy. Don't remember who he was and I think they were about to rob a bank or maybe it was kidnapping a child, but the show was fantastic". We don't remember what has been said and it slips right through us.
3. A cup that is filled with poison. This is when we have our preconceived notions that dilute the Dharma. Our thoughts are competing and the Dharma can't have it's full impact on us.
Just thought this was really cool and wanted to share. Something to think about if you get the minute.
0
Comments
1) the cup is overturned so it can hold nothing
2) the cup is cracked so that whatever is placed in it pours right out
3) the cup has something else in it, so when you put the teachings in it it becomes polluted and impure
4) the cup contains poison (anger, greed, ignorance) so that instead of receiving the blessing of a teaching, you instead drink poison
5) the cup is pure and whole with nothing in it and is placed rightside up so that the full blessing of the teaching is received and retained.
Basically what you said.
Palzang
The Scholar asks what on earth he thinks he's doing, and the Master explains that whilst the Scholar's mind is filled with set and preconceived notions, there will be no room for fresh and new knowledge....
I love that....
I love that story too Fede.....