Categories
Japanese Culture

Empty your cup before filling it

One of my objectives for this year is to simplify my life at all levels. I want to run away from any added complexity even though sometimes it is very difficult to resist my impulses and social pressure.

Today I found this Koan that reminds me how important it is to empty yourself before filling again.

Nan-in, a Japanese master during the Meiji era (1868-1912), received a university professor who came to inquire about Zen.

Nan-in served tea. He poured his visitor’s cup full, and then kept on pouring. The professor watched the overflow until he no longer could restrain himself. “It is overfull. No more will go in!”

“Like this cup,” Nan-in said, “you are full of your own opinions and speculations. How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup?”

This is my year of working less, travel less, have less personal projects, read less, buy less, go to less events, watch less movies/series, take less pictures, write less… 2016 being year that I’m focusing on emptying my cup. What about your cup, is it full or empty?

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Categories
Japanese Culture

Sunflower Day – ひまわりの日

Today is Sunflower Day in Japan (Himawari no hi, ひまわりの日). This day has been celebrated since JAXA launched their first meteorological satellite on July 14th 1977. The name of that satellite was “Sunflower number 1″. Since then, during the last 40 years, Japan has launched eight “Sunflower” meteorological satellites to space. The one that is used today to predict the impact of typhoons (like the one that is approaching us this week) is Sunflower number 8.

People usually forget about the origin of the celebration, the important of this day is to have a nice day by being creative using sunflowers. These are some of the images of the day on Twitter:

 

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