Art of Receiving

There's an old story about a teacher who poured tea for a visiting scholar. The scholar arrived full of opinions and ideas. To the scholar's surprise, the teacher poured and kept pouring until the tea spilled over the rim. "Your cup is already full," the teacher said. "How can I pour anything into it?"

We've all been that scholar. We arrive at each moment already brimming with what we expect, what we fear, and even what we've rehearsed. We then miss the aliveness of the moment.

An empty cup isn't lacking. It's available. It can receive whatever is offered, whether a real conversation, a difficult truth, or a moment of beauty, because there's room.

In my own work, the pieces that come most alive begin when I haven't already filled the cup with what they should be.

A full cup turns away every offering. Only an empty one is ready to receive.