Empty Your Cup

The Story

A university professor came to visit Nan-in, a Japanese Zen master.
Curious and full of knowledge, the professor said he wanted to learn about Zen.

Nan-in welcomed him and began to serve tea.

He poured the tea into the professor’s cup.
It filled up.
Then spilled over.
And kept pouring.

The professor watched the tea overflow, confused and alarmed.
“Stop!” he said. “The cup is full! No more will go in!”

Nan-in calmly replied:
“Exactly. You are like this cup—full of your own opinions and assumptions.
How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup?”

The Lesson

You can’t pour anything new into a cup that’s already full.
You can’t teach someone who already thinks they know.
You can’t grow while clinging to what no longer serves you.

And you sure as hell can’t heal if you’re still holding onto the pain like a prize.

Emptying your cup doesn’t mean erasing your past.
It means making space—for truth, for change, for something better.

It means letting go of “I already know this.”
Letting go of “I’m fine.”
Letting go of pride, defensiveness, the need to be right.

In recovery, this is everything.
Because we don’t just come in with full cups—we come in with overflowing buckets of stories, trauma, rationalizations, and false identities.

And the first miracle isn’t learning something new.
It’s being willing to unlearn.

Street-Smart Translation

You can’t fill a dirty gas tank with clean fuel.
You gotta drain the junk first.
Same goes for your thinking.

Recovery Application

• If you’re full of resentment, there’s no room for peace.
• If you’re full of control, there’s no room for grace.
• If you’re full of shame, there’s no room for worth.

You’ve got to pour some of it out.
Even just a little.
That’s where the light gets in.

Reflection Prompts

1. What have I been “full of” lately that might be getting in the way of my healing?
(Pride? Fear? Control? Know-it-all energy?)

2. What am I willing to “pour out” today to make space for growth?

3. Has there ever been a time when I let go of an idea or belief—and something better came in? What changed?

4. What would it feel like to approach today with an empty cup—open, curious, teachable?

Practice Tool: The Empty Cup Meditation (2 minutes)

1. Sit with a cup in your hand (any kind).
2. Close your eyes. Breathe deeply.
3. Imagine everything you’ve been carrying—stress, opinions, fears—in that cup.
4. Gently tip the cup.
   Imagine pouring out everything that no longer serves you.
   Let it go.

Inhale: I release what no longer serves.
Exhale: I make space for what’s true.

Closing Reminder

You don’t have to come in fixed.
You don’t have to know it all.
You just have to be willing to make space.

An empty cup doesn’t mean you’re broken.
It means you’re ready.