David Baxter PhD
Late Founder
Finding Meaning in a Broken Glass
by Elisha Goldstein, Ph.D.
August 13, 2012
Over the course of our lives we?ve been labeled or labeled ourselves as a glass half full or empty kind of person. But what if the glass was already broken? That?s the lesson that Ajahn Chah gives to a group of students including Psychiatrist Mark Epstein, author of Thoughts Without A Thinker.
Ajahn Chah was a highly respected Buddhist Teacher, maybe well known to some as Jack Kornfield?s teacher. What was he talking about when he said the glass is already broken and how does that relate to our lives?
He says:
?You see this goblet? For me, this glass is already broken. I enjoy it; I drink out of it. It holds my water admirably, sometimes even reflecting the sun in beautiful patterns. If I should tap it, it has a lovely ring to it. But when I put this glass on a shelf and the wind knocks it over or my elbow brushes it off the table and it falls to the ground and shatters, I say, ?Of course.? But when I understand that this glass is already broken, every moment with it is precious.?
On the surface he was making the statement that if he considers the glass to be already broken then he can open up his mind to be more present with it and appreciate the time he has with the glass. At the same time, if it breaks, he?s not so attached because he understands the natural course of it is to break so he?s not as attached.
We can take a lesson for our lives. The question isn?t is your glass half full or half empty, the question is, are you able to see the glass as already broken? In other words, do you comprehend that our time here is short and eventually will pass? Are you able to see that the label of half full or half empty that you may be so identified with is just a story in the mind that is also already broken and will eventually pass away?
If you understand this you may just find yourself at times lying in a field beyond half full or half empty where your cup is completely empty ready to receive the wonders of life that are all around.
Worth pondering?
by Elisha Goldstein, Ph.D.
August 13, 2012
Over the course of our lives we?ve been labeled or labeled ourselves as a glass half full or empty kind of person. But what if the glass was already broken? That?s the lesson that Ajahn Chah gives to a group of students including Psychiatrist Mark Epstein, author of Thoughts Without A Thinker.
Ajahn Chah was a highly respected Buddhist Teacher, maybe well known to some as Jack Kornfield?s teacher. What was he talking about when he said the glass is already broken and how does that relate to our lives?
He says:
?You see this goblet? For me, this glass is already broken. I enjoy it; I drink out of it. It holds my water admirably, sometimes even reflecting the sun in beautiful patterns. If I should tap it, it has a lovely ring to it. But when I put this glass on a shelf and the wind knocks it over or my elbow brushes it off the table and it falls to the ground and shatters, I say, ?Of course.? But when I understand that this glass is already broken, every moment with it is precious.?
On the surface he was making the statement that if he considers the glass to be already broken then he can open up his mind to be more present with it and appreciate the time he has with the glass. At the same time, if it breaks, he?s not so attached because he understands the natural course of it is to break so he?s not as attached.
We can take a lesson for our lives. The question isn?t is your glass half full or half empty, the question is, are you able to see the glass as already broken? In other words, do you comprehend that our time here is short and eventually will pass? Are you able to see that the label of half full or half empty that you may be so identified with is just a story in the mind that is also already broken and will eventually pass away?
If you understand this you may just find yourself at times lying in a field beyond half full or half empty where your cup is completely empty ready to receive the wonders of life that are all around.
Worth pondering?
