The Zen Parable of the Empty Cup
Adopting a healthy scepticism towards inherited ideas means “emptying the container of the Self”, or perhaps exercising a kind of trained “forgetting” of that which is extraneous to the essential self. In this state, we become less prone to partaking in the superfluous occupations we impose upon ourselves to cope with the weight of social
... See moreFinding your essential self: the ancient philosophy of Zhuangziexplained
“a friend once told me Buddhists believe that when we don’t know what’s next we’re actually the most enlightened, because we never really know what’s coming”
On a deeper level, I’m always practicing being done, in every sense—because birth, death, love, and life’s turning points arrive unannounced, their timing held close in the hands of the universe. One of my meditation teachers likens us to ships sailing out to sea, destined to sink; we just don’t know when. Another advises, “Stop making stuff.” He
... See moreHe discovered that struggling to find answers did not work. It was only when there were gaps in his struggle that insights came to him. He began to realize that there was a sane, awake quality within him which manifested itself only in the absence of struggle. So the practice of meditation involves “letting be.”