Empty Your Bowl
lobster
Crusty Veteran
... from another thread
In zen I believe there is this empty cup analogy. To free your mind of all preconceptions, so-called knowledge, ideas, ideals, so that you may have insight.
Here is the story with a bit of extra-pouring-Hari-Krishna-devotee-disparaging-women as an example:
http://buddhism.about.com/b/2012/08/13/empty-your-cup.htm
I could have shown the story as attributed to Bruce Lee, who was keen to prove he was a philosophical 'master'. Sadly Yama beat the crap out of him ... 
Tsk, tsk is that me offering over filled opinions? 
It is a wonderful story. To keep emptying our suppositions, assumptions, prejudice, alignments and learn to be tea/fluid.
'Free you mind' ... what does it mean for you?
The older we get, the greater our potential is trumped into the three Donalds/poisons
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_poisons
Who is still chasing their own tail/pouring? [lobster raises claw] Is the solution as the link suggests mindfulness? I would say so ...
http://www.lionsroar.com/buddhas-birds/
Comments
A Timely thread as ever, @lobster.
Methinks maybe a few of us need to look at our cups lest we transform them into poisoned chalices.
Of late, things are getting testy on here.
Do we all need to empty our cups, making sure we do not throw the baby out with the bathwater tea....?
As @fedreica indicated these are timely, good articles, and grounding. My humbled self sees the wisdom in them quite clearly, and will attempt to be more mindful when I post here. I think you should have to hit the post comment button 3 times and each time a pop up window should converse with the poster:
Are you sure you want to post this?
You are really sure (your not going to offend anyone?)
Ok - So be it!
I'm generally a glass half full person
Although the thought of 3 Trumps in the world might make me lean on becoming a glass half empty person!
I was reading a sutra yesterday that said we should strive to cut our desires from many to few.
It hit me in a profound way.
I know I know... Thank you, Captain Obvious.
Oops that's a bit large...
Yet empty of inherent existence.
yet full of something when you think about it!
Yet full of everything in the cosmos.
Nothing is ever full that can be considered empty.
Nothing is ever empty that can be considered full.
All is WuJi.
eh
ahh! aha? ha ha ha...
@federica appears to have studied wu wei...
can't talk about it I'm afraid.. It's just Dhyana club... and we know what the rules of it are now!
cos mos'ly I no nothin!
canned laughter...
Sorry!
Wince, cringe and wonder why there was no questioning 'pop up' window when I hit Post Comment button ...
too dry for most I admit.... lol
And to top it off...
The glass of water is made of non-glass of water elements.
I have bowel moment at least twice a day ...
Oh wait....it's 'Empty your "bowl", not "bowel" ......Oops...Oh well shit happens
On a more serious note...
If @lobster you meant "Free your mind" ...what does it mean for you? ...
Well more often than not, we are "Mental Hoarders" the mind can become full of all kinds of useless junk...
So for me it means....
"Sabbe dhamma nalam abhinivesaya".
Nothing whatsoever should be clung to
Thanks guys.
We are cups AND
startling revelation warning
we can fill them with better tea ... and drink them empty ...
https://www.dailyzen.com/journal/zen-mind-beginners-mind
What a beautiful koan!
When I had no tea to drink...I drank my saliva
When I had no roof...I laid my head in the grass
Now I have a pillow and a roof!
Now I have tea to drink and I shall empty this darn mind
Indeed.
A pillow to cushion our practice and a dharma roof to cover our heads.
A cup of tea. Dharma in motion ...
I eat from a bowl so I certainly empty mine every day... Omnomnom.
Bowl or cup filling is a karmic/life/inevitable occurence in my experience. Emptying is a practice. It is why I value chilling meditation so highly. Meditation is the way we become aware of our condition and its emptying, ideally by acknowledgement and the presence of stillness.
Is our mind full of gibbering monkeys, life worries/distractions or open and free draining ...
You can't paint a clear picture on a newspaper.