Emptying The Cup

Emptying the Cup

Whilst watching TV the other night there was a Chinese Kung Fu - type film on. One of the characters said, "Your cup needs to be empty before it can be filled again". I wondered what he meant.

Later as I was driving around, and noticed the daffodils and tulips in bloom, I realised that I was surrounded by growth and new things. The physical change in the seasons representing the never ending cycle of birth, growth, decay and death that are part of this life that I live.

Nature seems to understand the idea of letting go of the old. Decayed leaves drop in Autumn. Mother Earth waits in trust while the bulbs and new plants grow underground, and out of sight, over the winter time. She knows that all will be well, and that in Spring new life will show itself again.

Then I understood what the idea of filling the cup and emptying it again is getting at. It's based in nature. We have to let go of the old, to make space for the new to come through. If the old leaves did not fall off the trees, there would never be any room for the new and shiny blooms to take their place in the world.

So if nature has got the idea of emptying the cup, what makes it so hard for us to follow the same pattern? We should be able to see that if a beer glass is still full of old, stale beer from yesterday, there is no way there is space for new beer, or even that the two can mix!

Why do we try to accumulate more and more stuff in an almost never ending cycle of Spring with hardly any Autumn or Winter in sight? Why is it so hard for us to let go of the old?

Then it occurred to me, as a result of getting rid of the old, we need to live for a time with nothing, We need to live empty. As an empty cup. Maybe that is where the problem is for us? Maybe we cannot contemplate a winter of bare soil, with only trust in our hearts that all will be well in Spring?

In experiencing the winter of the soul, we are tested to surrender to the process and to trust that there is enough for all of us. Ultimately we are shown that the cup will be filled again, but only at the right time, and with what is meant for us.

Maybe we need to learn to accept the ebb and flow of life in all its facets? Whilst some aspects of our physical life are in bloom, it could be that parts of our spiritual life are in decay. Seeing this is recognising the change that is part of our lives, and surrendering to that process in trust and humility.

How can we relax into the change? Maybe it helps to believe in the image that the cup will be full again, when the time is right. Maybe it helps to remember that there is enough of everything.

Maybe most of all we need to trust in ourselves and in our connection with the Divine. Then we can have faith that we will receive, but only when the cup is truly empty.