As the roof was leaking, a zen
Master told two monks to bring something to catch the water. One brought a
tub, the other a basket. The first was severely reprimanded, the second
highly praised.
(Koan)
First reaction
A basket will not hold water.
Exploration
The tub will hold water whereas the basket will not.
Is the leaking roof a metaphor?
What is the water referring to?
Can you contain and hold water?
What happens when the bucket becomes full?
Possible meaning
A tub will hold water but will eventually spill over.
A basket will
not hold water, most of it will simply pour through.
The leaking roof represents knowledge and experience, and perhaps life itself.
Trying to contain everything in a bucket is naive and doomed to failure.
No matter how hard you try, life is too rich and sophisticated to be held and
contained in a tub.
The basket demonstrates the realisation that we must let experience pass through
us, without attempting to contain it, without struggling.
If you believe that you can hold an experience, moment or skill in a tub, you
will find yourself mistaken.
A skill gained 10 years ago and then forgotten, will have faded over time.
Look in your bucket and you will find that the water has evaporated.
If you had a private lesson and the teacher promised to teach you every single
nuance of the system, would you honestly remember it all? Would you even try?
This is the realisation.
Page created 19 May 2005