Becoming an empty cup and allowing the Master, so that he can pour all that is within him.
The Master is not going to become poorer because he shared his bliss with you. It is a treasure that goes on growing. But it is one of the most difficult things in the world to allow and welcome bliss within you, because before that, you have to be ready. osho
I remember the famous story about Nan In. One university professor of philosophy went to see Nan In, a great Master. The professor was full of questions all the way from his university to the hill where Nan In used to live in a temple.
He was just brooding and brooding. There were so many questions, what to ask? The professor had heard so much about Nan In, and one rarely meets such a man. He went in.
The first thing Nan In said to him was, "please come in, but leave the crowd outside."
The professor looked all around; there was nobody. Crowd? — he was alone. Nan In said, "Don't look here and there, look within: the crowd is there. It has been there all the way."
The professor was almost shocked. But a professor, after all, is a professor. He said, "You are right. It is a crowd, but I am a professor; I deal with this crowd. This iS my profession, so excuse me, I cannot leave the crowd outside. It is going to be with me, but it will sit here silently. Don't take any notice of it.
Nan In said, "But you are tired and you are perspiring. Sit, cool down, and meanwhile I will prepare a cup of tea for you." Nan In prepared a cup of tea, brought it in, gave the empty cup and saucer to the professor, and poured the tea from his kettle into the cup. The professor was watching: the cup was getting fuller and fuller and fuller. It was absolutely full and Nan In was still pouring tea.
The tea started running out of the cup into the saucer. The professor tried hard to be patient because he had said the crowd would sit silently, but the crowd was there and it was saying, "This man is just nuts! Is this the way?"
And the Japanese are very particular about tea; it is part of their culture and etiquette — this is never done. But Nan In went on pouring. When the saucer was also full and the tea was just going to spill over the professor's clothes, the professor said, "Wait! What are you doing? The cup is full. it cannot hold a single drop more."
Nan In said, "You have understood rightly. Can you give me a little space in you? Can you have just a drop of me in you? You are overfull, just like this cup and saucer. But you are a sensible man; you understand that by pouring more tea in, it will be simply spilled.
But have you observed how much tea is spilling from your skull? My whole hut is becoming wet. When you come here next time, bring an empty cup; then I am willing to share whatsoever I have. But you are so full that it is useless: I cannot get into you from anywhere. I am looking from all sides — you are overcrowded. There is no space, not a single inch."
This is what the art of being a disciple is:
Becoming an empty cup and allowing the Master, so that he can pour all that is within him.
The Master is not going to become poorer because he shared his bliss with you. It is a treasure that goes on growing. But it is one of the most difficult things in the world to allow and welcome bliss within you, because before that, you have to be ready. You have to clean yourself; and nothing less than emptiness will be accepted as cleanliness.
In the West they say, "Cleanliness is next to godliness."
There is no God so there is no question about that.
But I say, "Cleanliness is just next to emptiness."
In fact, cleanliness is another name for inner emptiness.
OSHO