How open-minded are you? A short story from Bruce-Lee

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There is a story from Bruce Lee which begins with a learned man approaching a zen teacher. The teacher starts to share many philosophies, but the learned man keeps interrupting the teacher to give his opinion about what he thinks is correct or not. 

To respond to this, the Zen teacher fills the man’s teacup until it overflows, and stops only when the man cries “ENOUGH!”.

The teacher then asks, “If you not first empty you cup, how can you taste my tea?”. Bruce Lee uses this as an example, “in order to taste my cup of water you must first empty your cup. My friend, drop all your preconceived and fixed ideas and be neutral. Do you know why a cup is useful? Because it is empty.”

This story is short, but it has a big message.

How open minded are you? Are you still affected by ideas that you may have had before? Or are you totally open to new experiences?

Richard Coward
Richard Coward
Founder and CEO at China Admissions. Originally from UK🇬🇧, based in Beijing. Studied at Peking University & BLCU. Preparing for HSK 6. Hope we can help more talented international students have the same amazing experiences and opportunities that I have had
Richard Coward
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