You may not be able to entirely empty your boat, but don’t keep it overloaded either.AND AN EMPTY BOAT COLLIDES WITH HIS OWN SKIFF,ĪND IF THE SHOUT IS NOT HEARD HE WILL SHOUTĪND ALL BECAUSE THERE IS SOMEBODY IN THAT BOAT.

Every little thing we do, say or think, every thought we brood over, every emotion we harbour adds to the weight. “If you can empty your own boat… no one will seek to harm you.” I know, it’s easier said than done. Shrimad Bhagavad Gita (Chapter 5, Verse 26), Those who are free from anger and all material desires, who are self-realized, self-disciplined and constantly endeavouring for perfection, are assured of liberation in the God in the very near future. Shrimad Bhagavad Gita (Chapter 2, Verse 62) Desire for sense-objects comes from attachment to them, and anger comes from unfulfilled desires. One develops attachment for the sense-objects by thinking about the sense-objects. Chuang Tzu, The Empty BoatĪnger, in any form, is caused by frustration of a desire. If the shout is not heard, he will shout again,Īnd all because there is somebody in the boat.

Then I thought what to do when the other person evokes anger in me even when I am not at fault?Īnd an empty boat collides with his own skiff, It’s derived from a famous Zen anecdote based on the stories of Chinese mystic Chuang Tzu, revitalizing the 3000-year-old Taoist message of self-realization.Īt first, I said that anger is just anger. I received this story via WhatsApp from my classmate Aranjit today. From then on, whenever he comes across someone who irritates him or provokes him to anger, he reminds himself, “The other person is merely an empty boat. At that moment, the monk achieves self-realization, and understands that the anger is within him it merely needs the bump of an external object to provoke it out of him. But when he opens his eyes, he sees it’s an empty boat that had probably got untethered and floated to the middle of the lake. With his eyes still closed, he senses his anger rising, and by the time he opens his eyes, he is ready to scream at the boatman who dared to disturb his meditation. After a few hours of undisturbed silence, he suddenly feels the bump of another boat colliding with his own. He takes his boat out to the middle of the lake, moors it there, closes his eyes and begins his meditation. A monk decides to meditate alone, away from his monastery.

Chuang tzu empty boat