A Cup of Tea

In Japan, more than a hundred years ago, there lived a Zen teacher named Nan-in.

He lived simply. His room had a mat on the floor, a low table, a window looking onto a small garden, and a kettle that was nearly always warm. Visitors came to him from all over the country to ask about Zen, the way of quiet attention and sitting meditation.

One day a university professor came to see him.

The professor was a very learned man. He had read a great many books. He had written several himself. He arrived in a hurry, sat down on the mat and, before Nan-in could say a word, began to talk.

The professor talks

"I have come to learn about Zen," said the professor. "Of course, I already know a good deal. I've studied the old texts and the commentaries. I have my own theories, which I think you'll find interesting."

He explained his theories. He explained where other scholars had gone wrong. He described the books he had read, and the lectures he had given, and the questions he thought the old masters ought to have asked.

Nan-in listened, and said nothing.

When the professor paused for breath, Nan-in quietly picked up the kettle.

"Would you like some tea?" he asked.

"Yes, thank you," said the professor, and went straight on talking.

Pouring

Nan-in placed a small cup in front of his guest and began to pour.

The tea rose in the cup, pale gold and steaming. It reached the halfway mark, and then the top.

Nan-in kept pouring.

The tea ran over the rim and into the saucer. It spilled across the low table. It dripped onto the mat.

The professor stopped in the middle of a sentence and stared.

"It's full!" he cried. "Stop! No more will go in!"

Nan-in set down the kettle.

"Like this cup," he said gently, "you are full of your own opinions and ideas. How can I show you Zen, unless you first empty your cup?"

An empty cup

The professor sat very still. For a while, he did not say anything at all.

Then, perhaps for the first time since he had arrived, he looked around the little room. He noticed the light on the garden outside, the sound of the kettle, the wet tea spreading slowly across the table. And he understood that he had come to learn, and had not yet listened.

Why this story has lasted

This short story has become one of the most famous teaching tales in the world. Teachers use it on the first day of class. Business leaders use it in meetings. In Zen, the idea of keeping a fresh, open mind is sometimes called shoshin, "beginner's mind". As the Zen teacher Shunryu Suzuki put it in his well-known book, the beginner's mind has many possibilities, while the expert's has few.

This is a simplified retelling of a traditional story about the Meiji-era Zen teacher Nan-in.