A man goes and finds a master. Usually the story is embellished with a tale of adventure where the guy has to climb a huge mountain and get up to the top. He finally gets there. The master sits him down and says, “Let’s have a cup of tea.”
He starts pouring and pouring and pouring the tea until the tea cup fills up, and then starts overflowing. And he keeps pouring and he keeps pouring with tea spilling all around. Finally the seeker cries out, “Stop it’s full! You can’t put any more in there because it’s full!”
The master stops and says, “Exactly. You are like this teacup. You are so full of ideas. So full of beliefs of what you think spirituality should be, that there is no way that I can put even a drop more in there.
We have to empty you out first.