The broken tea cup - zen story

In top of a hill there lived an old monk. He had an old tea cup, which he used to make a cup of tea in every morning. It was such an antique old porcelain tea cup with decorations.

One day a young monk who was travelling to the town, visited the monastery. He stayed overnight and rested. And following morning he was served with a cup of tea. While he was enjoying a cup of tea, he asked the old monk.

A broken Tea cup

That tea cup looks really old and really valuable. I wonder what it would sell for if I were to sell it in the market in the town.

The old monk smiled and replied. "Tea cup is broken. It has no value".

The young monk was perplexed, he wanted to know why? He took the cup in his hand and examined. And claimed, "it is not broken, it looks perfectly in good shape. Why did you say it's broken?"

No. The tea cup will one day slip and fall either from my shaky hands or from someone else. Or else the earth will shake and it will fall. If not it will wear down over the years beyond repair. So the tea cup is already destined to have one of these endings.

So, the teacup is already broken.

The mindfulness is not holding onto your thoughts tightly. It is about knowing what changes and accepting or even loving it as it is. There will be no pain when the teacup falls on the ground.

The young monk stayed silent for the rest of the morning and left the monastery wiser than he had been..

The broken tea cup. Epilogue:

Sometimes mindfulness practise can be tricky. If we do not know what to do. Mindfulness is not merely being aware of the present moment and holding it tight. There must be wisdom at play it to be effective. The wisdom is what identify the changing nature of thoughts and material. It doesn't matter you're a day trader, a writer, an artist or even a president of a country. It doesn't matter where you live currently, in a house, hospital or prison. It doesn't matter you walk with two legs one leg or even wheelchair bound. You can just be aware of whatever which comes to your mind and notice the impermanent nature of it. This thing which comes to our mind was impermanent in the past. In the future. And even the moment we speak it is just there only as long as those factors which govern its existence are helping it.

Let this object be fear, anger, sadness, happiness, peace. An animal, a bird, a sensation or a dream you project about future. Even a cancer cannot go beyond your body. Body is the limit for the disease and death. Just like a tea cup it is already broken. What about the mind? Mind can exist only within this impermanent body. It will disintegrate and may or may not readjust itself. Infact these changing nature of mind is so obvious in the living being than in death.

Once we focus our attention to this impermanence we will be able to live a fulfilled life without ever having to cry over broken teacups of life.