#14 The Empty Mind
The secret to rising above psychological predicament and achieving emotional mastery
“If a man could succeed in making himself empty and, in that way, wander through the world, then who could do him harm?” — Chuang Tzu
In ancient China, there was a man who normally would commute by river every day. One day, suddenly, an empty boat bumped into his ship out of nowhere. He was annoyed by this incident and was about to speak to the other person handling the boat.1
It turned out that it was an empty boat floating aimlessly around in the river. So, he was appeased. How can he be annoyed by an empty boat?
Sometime later, he took another boat to cross the river. However, a ship bumped into him again. And he saw a man on that boat and was instantly triggered.
This time, he shouted out to warn the person on that boat to watch out but did not get any response. He was irritated because that fisherman seemed to ignore him intentionally; at least, this was how he perceived the fisherman’s action.
He shouted again. The fisherman did not respond as if this was something usual. The man did not understand why the fisherman did not apologize for this incident caused by his careless handling of his boat. He expected to reason with the fisherman.
Then, he shouted at the fisherman for the third time with a strong curse. He became angry at the fisherman because he did not expect the situation to become like this. He was annoyed, confused, and angry.
As his heart became filled with emotions, he could not calm down to talk to the fisherman in the usual manner. This incident sabotaged his whole day because he could not live that day with a peaceful and calm mind.
