A Buddhist monk asked a student, “If you were carrying a cup of tea and someone bumps into you, and you spill the tea, why did you spill the tea?”

The student replied, “I spilled the tea because the guy bumped into me. It was his fault that I spilled the tea.”

The monk replied, “No. Listen to me carefully: You spilled the tea because that’s what you were carrying in your cup.”

The student thought about it and admitted that he doesn’t understand.

The monk lovingly explained: “When life bumps up against you, whatever you are carrying inside is going to spill out. If you are carrying anger, vengeance, fear, jealousy, then that’s what’s going to spill out. But, if you are carrying love, compassion, peace: that will spill out.

When life bumps up against you, what will spill out of your cup? I have thought about this before, and there are times when I am frightened by the thought! In the state that my mind is in, what will spill out of me?

If your mind is full of negative thoughts and feelings, you are not alone! Commonly cited statistics reveal that 80% of thoughts are negative, and 95% of those thoughts are repetitive (no wonder why mantra repetition can be redeeming!).

If your mind is full of negative thoughts, you might be able to keep those thoughts and feelings under control in ordinary circumstances. But when something shakes or confronts you, that negativity will inevitably spill out somehow. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross said:

“People are like stained glass windows; they sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light within.”

Your true beauty is your Divine Essence. It’s who you really are. But if you are filling your mind with negative stuff, that stuff will prevent your beauty from shining through.

Swami Nirmalananda says in this month’s teaching article:

“You must live in the eternality of your own Beingness [Self], so you are undisturbed by events as they pass by. You meet and manage them, but they don’t define you… ” 

Don’t let anything or anyone define you. You are already defined. Your own Divine Essence defines who you really are. Swami continues:

The source of happiness is your own Divine Essence, your own Self. This is also the source of love, creativity, compassion, generosity, helpfulness, kindness and all the other Divine virtues. They bubble up spontaneously when you find your own Self.

Give your Divine traits a chance to bubble up. And keep it going. James Taylor says: “shower the people you love with love.” Take it further: shower your love and light on everyone. Be like the sun: shine brilliantly and indiscriminately. The sun does not decide to shine on only some people and not others.

Make your world brighter. If we all do that together, the whole world will be brighter for everyone.