Drinking My Cup of Tea

There is the story of the Tea Master who was hosting a visitor at his home. The visitor was a scholar of great depth of knowledge and much experience in many fields. The Tea master and his visitor were discussing different schools of Cha-no-Yu (the tea ceremony). Each time the Tea Master tried to explain something about the history and method he had been taught, the scholar would say, "Yes, yes, I know that already. We have the same things in this philosophy or process, or school," or, "I am familiar with this method, as we do the same things in our school." After a time of being interrupted and having his concepts so rudely pushed aside, the Tea Master began pouring tea into the visitor's cup. He continued pouring tea even after the cup overflowed. The visitor cried out, "Stop! there is too much in my cup!" The Tea Master said, "Yes, I see. If you want to drink my tea, you need to empty your cup first."

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