Learning

“Just as the cup cannot hold anymore tea when it is already filled, how can I give you anything when your mind is already filled?”

—- Chop Wood Carry Water, p.19

This really struck me because it makes sense. There are many times when I would get so caught up on a little detail that I forget what the main point is, and also times when I refuse to bend my beliefs and try to devalue another opposing opinion. I generally consider myself to be open-minded, but now I realize, being open-minded does not mean that you don’t argue with other opinions, or just simply acknowledging their existence, but rather to actually stand on the other viewpoint and experience it. To try and believe the opposing view, and see what it’s like, instead of just accepting it as “something that I think is wrong but I won’t openly try to fight it”. It’s to try to think of it as “right” and really see from the other person’s perspective, then, make that “informed” choice to either stay on my own viewpoint or switch sides.

Another concept that it connects to would be how the more we learn, the more stubborn we become. Now that I learn the laws of physics, my imagination and enjoyment of certain things have been greatly limited compared to when I was a child, when I believe if I pulled feathers off of a hundred badminton birdies and stuck them onto a pair of cardboard wings I would actually be able to fly. Now that I watched videos of how magic tricks are actually done, every time I see a magic show, instead of awing at the mystery and surprise, I examine critically at the magicians every move and the camera’s cut scenes.

There is a passage in Tao Te Ching that can relate to this:

“五色令人目盲，五音令人耳聋，五味令人口爽，驰骋畋猎令人心发狂，难得之货令人行妨。是以圣人，为腹不为目，故去彼取此。”

It says that too many tastes, sounds and colors that we perceive tend to cloud our minds, and make us lose the actual experience. Using eating as an example, it describes that real zen masters knows when to stop eating based on how full they feel, while other people will be distracted and lured by the appearance, smell, or taste of food, and go on to eat more than they need to. Hence, the mindful will experience on the “now”, while the unmindful will look to the “then”.

When we have too much knowledge, we will be clouded by expectations, rules, and laws. We may stop experiencing, but rather looking at everything analytically and trying to predict what will happen next. I think being mindful is trying to break this habit, and train the mind to stop calculating trends and patterns, and just simply process the present moment.