In a village there lived a man of knowledge and his neighbor who was a Zen monk. The man of knowledge reputation grew larger each year, until eventually he was known throughout the kingdom. Even the king asked for his advice. But still he desired more recognition.

One day he realized that although the entire kingdom sang his praises, here in his very own village there lived a monk who had not once acknowledged his amazing intellect.

The man of knowledge waited impatiently in a small room overlooking a simple garden. Soon, the wise old monk entered the room in silence, placed a cup on the low table before the scholar and proceeded to pour from an old teapot. The cup filled to the brim and began spilling over the table and still the monk continued to pour.

The scholar cried out in alarm, "My cup is overflowing!" The Zen Monk answered, "Precisely!" and so ended the interview.

When our minds are full of old ideas and thoughts, the momentum of our past sweeps us headlong into a future where options appear distant and limited. Through meditation we learn to empty our minds in order to make room for fresh new ideas, insights, experiences and dreams to enter our lives. We re-discover the freedom of living in the present moment from which infinite possibilities emerge.

Imagine that you are standing alongside a railroad track as a train passes by. The ground shakes and the noise is deafening. You look straight ahead as the train hurtles by. You see a blur of engine, then car after car, and finally the caboose. This is how most of us live our lives-- our minds jumping from one thought to another. We are so close to our thoughts that they become a blur of motion.

Now imagine that you are floating in a hot air balloon high above the train tracks. Looking down you see the entire train, where it has come from and where it is going. Moreover there is a sense of calmness and tranquility, even in the passing of the train. Through the practice of detached observation meditation we learn to separate ourselves from our thoughts.

When we observe our minds from this more detached perspective the overall pattern and fabric of our lives comes into focus and we come to know ourselves, and better understand our place in the pattern of life.

I invite you to take a moment to experience this meditation of detached observation.

Namaste'