Empty Your Cup 倒空你的杯子

Empty Your Cup

A university professor went to visit a famous Zen master. While the master quietly served tea, the professor talked about Zen. The master poured the visitor"s cup to the brim, and then kept pouring.The professor watched the overflowing cup until he could no longer restrain himself. "It"s overfull! No more will go in!" the professor blurted. "You are like this cup," the master replied, "How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup."　

倒空你的杯子

有位大學教授去拜訪一位頗有聲望的禪師。在禪師靜靜地給他沏茶之時，教授談起了禪宗。禪師往客人的杯子里倒茶，茶滿而溢，但他仍然不停。教授一直盯著那溢出的水杯，到最後他實在忍無可忍，脫口道：「已經溢出來了！不能再往裡面倒了！」禪宗回應道：「你就跟這個杯子一樣。你若不將腹中騰空，我又如何向你展示禪宗。」

People"s reactions to this story:　

人們看這個故事的反應:

"You cannot learn anything if you already feel that you know."　

如果你覺得你什麼都懂了,那麼你什麼都學不到.

"Preconceived ideas and prejudices always prevent us from seeing the truth."　

成見和偏見總是讓人們看不到真相

"You should open your mind before you open your mouth."　

當你張嘴說話前你應該先開放你的心靈

"The master is trying to tell him to ease back and relax. The　

professor is too anxious about the whole thing."　

這個禪師想讓學者放輕鬆一些.他太急於學到所有的東西.

"Some people want to be taught everything in one sitting. It"s　

not possible."　

有些人想一次就學到所有東西.這是不可能的.

"This story proves to me that you have to unlearn before you can

learn."　

這個故事向我說明了如果你想學習點什麼的話你必須先忘掉些什麼?

"We shouldn"t get too wrapped up in one aspect of life. If we do,　

we close ourselves off to new experiences."　

"我們不應該執著於生活的一個方面,如果那樣,我們就失去了獲得新的體驗的機會"

"Even though you may be full of knowledge, you should always be

open to the fact that there is still more to learn."　

即使你滿腦子知識,你也應該接受這個事實--仍然還有很多需要學習的東西.

"I bet the master did that just to shut the professor up!"　

我敢打賭,這個禪師只是想讓那個學者閉嘴.

"If you want to learn, you have to shut up and LISTEN for a change."　

如果你想學習,你必須閉上嘴巴靜靜地聽

"We should be open to the views of others, and accept them as their

own. Treat each opinion individually, and don"t just add it to

your own."　

我們必須對別人的意見保持開放的心態, 原樣理解他們. 單獨面對這些觀點,而不是把它和自己的觀點捏在一起.

"Sometimes another person has to catch you with your guard down

in order to teach you something."　

有時候,有些人會趁你心不在焉的時候,抓著你向你灌輸一些東西.

"The professor"s understanding of Zen is too intellectualized.　

The master is trying to point him towards a more intuitive

understanding . If you"re too intellectualized about　

ANY subject, often you miss the boat."　

這個學者對禪的理解太理性了.這個禪師試圖指點他多依靠直覺. 如果你對每件事都那麼理智,你常常會坐失良機

"I would tell this story to anyone who believed something about me　

that was untrue."　

我會給所有那些不相信我的經歷的人講這個故事

"I think the master was trying to show him that when you can no longer

take it is time to give - and you must sometimes give in order to

receive."　

我想這個禪師是想要告訴他當你不能再獲取的時候,你應該付出-- 有時候你必須用付出換來收穫.

"This professor probably doesn"t really believe in Zen. His prejudices are

preventing him from seeing clearly. This is what the master is trying to show him."　

這個學者也許並不相信禪.他的偏見讓他不能看清問題.這就是禪師想告訴他的.

"Too much of anything is just too much!"　

任何東西太多了就不好了。

"I don"t think the professor"s reaction indicated that he had a closed mind. It　

was perfectly normal. Wouldn"t you do the same if someone was spilling tea all　

over the place?"　

我並不認為這個學者的反應說明他的心態是封閉，這是很正常的。難道當有人把茶水倒的滿地都是時 你不會有同樣的反應嗎?