My friend Jeremy shared this counterintuitive quote recently, and it grabbed my attention. It reminded me of the "Empty Your Cup" story from ancient Zen wisdom.
As the story goes, around 800 AD, a scholar, Tokusan, came to the Zen Master, Ryutan, and asked to learn about Zen. At one point the Master refilled the scholar's tea cup, but did not stop pouring when the cup was full. Tea spilled out and ran across the table. "Stop! The cup is full!" cried Tokusan. "Exactly," said Master Ryutan. "You are like this cup. You ask for teaching, but your cup is full. You must empty your cup before I can teach you."
To learn, create, and innovate, we often need to empty our human-doing minds and become human beings again. As Jeremy pointed out, Thich Nhat Hahn's sitting mindful meditation approach can help. His walking meditation approach can also help.
Continuous learning, creativity and innovation are arguably some keys to business success. It's not surprising then that mindfulness meditation practices show up in business. Steve Jobs practiced meditation, Chad-Meng Tan institutionalized it at Google, and there there are many successful entrepreneurs who practice it.
I invite you to try it, if you haven't yet.
