An old story ...
It's about a student wandering from town totown looking for enlightenment.At each town he asks if anyone knows of a teacher who can show him the way, but he has no luck finding what he seeks.Finally, the student comes to a town and is told that there's a wise teacher up on the hill,and that he should go and knock on his door.The student goes up the hill and finds the teacher sitting at a table in his temple.The student walks in a takes a seat at the table and asks the teacher if he knows about enlightenment.The teacher says nothing, but puts a cup in front of the student and starts pouring tea into the cup.The student watches as the cup starts to fill up, and then spill over onto the table.The student then says, "Hey, stop. You're spilling the tea."The teacher then says, "That cup is like you."The student is perplexed and doesn't know what to say.The teacher says again, "That cup is like you. It is already full. Before you can take anything more in, we're going to have to empty out what's already filling it."