A Cup of Tea

A professor commuted from Tokyo to Nanin's temple in Kamakura many Sunday mornings to learn Zen. One morning Nanin served him tea. He poured the professor's cup full - and kept on pouring. The professor watched until he could restrain himself no longer. "Sensei!" he protested, "it is overflowing!" Then Master Nanin said, "Like this cup, you are so full of opinions and speculations that there is no room for anything further."

Often the intellect is a hindrance to enlightenment. One must empty himself before he can learn Zen.