The country was Japan. It was the Meiji era. A professor was keen to learn Zen . He approached a master. The master offered him a cup of tea and poured it in a cup. The tea was filled up to the brim. However , the Zen master kept pouring in tea. And soon it was overflowing. The professor requested the Master not to pour any more tea in the cup . The master replied , that the professor would be able to learn Zen only if he cast away all the self opinionated beliefs , thoughts and emotions like the overflowing cup of tea.
Past baggage and impressions need to be dissolved and a seeker needs to be truly become hollow and empty in order to acquire knowledge , or else we remain shipwrecked our entire lives and remain stranded at a particular spot. Or else there is no progression in life.
To be truly happy and joyous the human mind needs to live in the present and not vacillate or oscillate between the past and future. Past is full of regrets and unfulfilled desires and the future is gripped by anxieties and fears. True enlightenment is to remain only on the present moment.
Happiness is a good habit. It increases our self confidence and aura. William James an American psychologist once said,' that the greatest discovery was the power of the subconscious mind touched by faith.' Faith is the intellectual powerhouse which provides us with the supreme confidence to be in the present and become successful without being attached to the success.
'Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely , whatsoever things are of good report ; if there be any virtue , and if there be any praise , think on these things' . PHIL 4:8
By continuously dwelling on fear , worry , anger, hate and failure, makes an individual depressed and unhappy. Life is the projection of our thoughts. We are subsumed by negative emotions and thought processes.Febrile thoughts like- The world has conspired against me, I do not get the right breaks , I do not succeed , Everything goes wrong in my life normally cannonade our minds. Such negativity drains us both physically and emotionally. Negativity begets negativity.
Human mind has also a bad habit of postponing happiness. Often we hear statements like-' If I was made head of the organisation, If I featured on page 3 of the magazine, If I was married to a beautiful princess.' Then I would live like a king. We end up day dreaming and living in an illusory world. Humans just need to live in the now. We all have cleanly forgotten the power of NOW.
Apart from living in the present moment, humans need to make positive affirmations - ' I choose happiness today, I choose love today, I choose right action today'.
By being regretful we do not count our blessings. We need to feel blessed, grateful , humble and blessed constantly. These imprints and footnotes should be etched deeply in the amphitheater of our mind. The kingdom of happiness and true joy is in our thought processes, feelings and emotions. We need to handle it with skill and dexterity and not be judgmental.
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