Empty Cup

The vision quest had not gone how I intended.  On the second day of what was to be a four day quest, I hiked down the mountain and hitchhiked back to Boulder.  I walked for quite a while before someone stopped to give me a lift.

Those Eyes.  I'll always remember his eyes.  They sparkled with shades of gold and orange, and had an ethereal quality that seemed to transcend Earthly reality.  They glowed, and they touched deeply into me.  I sat in the passenger seat of his pickup as he told me exactly what I needed to hear.

"You have to empty your cup before Spirit can pour in" he said.  I explained to him my disappointing attempt at a vision quest, and he brought forward the very information that I needed to receive at that particular point in my life.

Today is Christmas.  In the Catholic tradition, the weeks before Christmas, called Advent, are a period of preparing to receive Christ.  They are a period of emptying our cup.

Receiving Christ is an individual inner process.  In the bible we are taught that the kingdom of heaven is within.  We are also taught that in order to enter the kingdom, we must come as like little children.  What does this mean?

Children live entirely in the present moment.  They haven't formulated and stored preconceptions, biases, dogmas, or rigid mental structures.  Their cup is empty.  Thus they can more easily receive of Spirit.  As they grow older, their cups become full with the weight and gravity of society's norms, conditioning, and accepted realities.  These can be blocks to entering the kingdom.

That reminds me of a story.  A student of Zen went to see a revered Master.  They sat down to share tea.  The Master poured tea into the student's cup, not stopping when it was full and overflowing.  "Master, stop!" exclaimed the student.  "Don't you see that the cup is full?"  To this the Master replied, "So too is your mind.  How can I give anything to you when you've come to me with your mind already full?"

Just as the driver told me on our way into Boulder, we must empty our cups so that Spirit can pour in.  On this ceremonial day of celebrating the manifestation of Christ, let us keep ourselves open and as like little children, inviting Spirit to fill us with the Christ Light.  The Second Coming of Christ is here and now, and it is filling the cups of those who have made room.

Have a blessed, safe, and Light filled holiday!

In Light........................TommyD