Rebecca Hines shared the following parable in class this week:

A Zen monk asked his students, If you’re carrying a cup of coffee and someone bumps into you, why did you spill the coffee? 

All the students answered because someone bumped into me. But he said, No. You spilled the coffee because coffee was in your cup. If you’d had water in your cup, you would have spilled water. If tea was in your cup, then you would have spilled tea.

He said, when life shakes you, you encounter challenges and adversity, whatever’s inside of you will naturally spill out. If you carry anger, fear, and pain, then that will spill out. But if you carry peace, compassion, and courage inside you, then benevolence will flow out.

So, ask yourself: What am I carrying in my cup? And on a daily basis ask, What am I filling my cup with?

Thank you, Rebecca! Such a brilliant little (and big!) lesson.

Click below to listen:

 

Photo by Olena Bohovyk