FearlessFreep
Senior Master
OK, I'll bite. I think the Zen Master was a con.
It reminded me of half the dialog from the two Matrix sequals. "I am here because here is where I'm destined to be" What I call 'fortune cookie philosophy' It sounds really clever and profound at first blush but if you really stop to think about it either a) you realize it means nothing or b) you think it means something but you don't "get it" so you applaud the speaker for their wisdom and doubt your own and go off to discover what it means and when you finally put meaning to nonsense you feel proud for your enlightenment and the speaker feels smug for putting one over on you.
Because let's look at the orignal premise. The Universe is *NOT* in a cup, any more than the cup is made of the same electrons, protons, etc...as everything else so that is technicaly true but pretty useless a level to be concerned with so let's not bother. Above and beyond that, the universe is full of majesty and beauty and tragedy and betrayal and loyalty and triump and loss and life and death, and stars and galaxies and rivers and flowers. You will not see that by navel gacing into a tea cup and if you find it there, that's because you brought it with you, in which case the cup really didn't matter. If you didn't have it to begin with, you will not find it in the cup.
So the real meaning of the story is that the Zen Master is a fraud and the Monk realized it, which is why he threw the cup away.
It reminded me of half the dialog from the two Matrix sequals. "I am here because here is where I'm destined to be" What I call 'fortune cookie philosophy' It sounds really clever and profound at first blush but if you really stop to think about it either a) you realize it means nothing or b) you think it means something but you don't "get it" so you applaud the speaker for their wisdom and doubt your own and go off to discover what it means and when you finally put meaning to nonsense you feel proud for your enlightenment and the speaker feels smug for putting one over on you.
Because let's look at the orignal premise. The Universe is *NOT* in a cup, any more than the cup is made of the same electrons, protons, etc...as everything else so that is technicaly true but pretty useless a level to be concerned with so let's not bother. Above and beyond that, the universe is full of majesty and beauty and tragedy and betrayal and loyalty and triump and loss and life and death, and stars and galaxies and rivers and flowers. You will not see that by navel gacing into a tea cup and if you find it there, that's because you brought it with you, in which case the cup really didn't matter. If you didn't have it to begin with, you will not find it in the cup.
So the real meaning of the story is that the Zen Master is a fraud and the Monk realized it, which is why he threw the cup away.