One of my favorite Zen stories is the one about a Buddhist scholar who goes to study with a Zen master. He expresses his sincerity about wanting to learn from the master but then proceeds to ramble on about how many spiritual books he has studied and meditation techniques he has mastered. The master listens patiently and then offers the scholar some tea. He continues to pour tea into the scholar’s cup until it is overflowing. “Stop, stop! The cup is full, what are you doing”, the scholar yells? The master replies, “you are like this cup, you are so full of spiritual ideas about the Buddha’s way, there is nothing I can teach you”.