Avatar, 2012 and Zen Story

"Your head is already full. Nothing will enter there""No my head is empty I want to learn your culture" This is the dialogue from the world hit movie Avatar. A similar kind of dialogue is echoed in the most famous disastrous film "2012" when the young disciple goes to the Dlailama. The western world is often quoting the same story in these two movies.

The story is from Zen tradition. It goes like this. One novice goes to the master and asks for wisdom. Then the master takes a small earthen cup and pours water into it. It gets filled then also the master keeps on pouring the water. The novice tells him "Master, the cup is already full!!".Then master replies to the novice "Dear you are like this cup. Your head is already full with knowledge. First empty your head. Then only you can receive something new." The novice gets enlightened.

I often think the why it is so. Two more reference to the same story. First one is Paulo Coelho's Alchemist and second one is Robin Sharma's "The monk who sold his Ferrari". This story has made a very deep impact on the western world. It stands as the fountain of the wisdom to the western world. These days often scientists also speak about the "Spiritual Quotient", the younger child in the so called 'Quotient "family. Sometimes it makes as boring to listen to the same sort of dialogue. Yet it has great value in even our lives too.

It calls for total emptying of our head and mind too. We often confront with knew ideas from different people. Sometimes we turn our head due to our overconfidence in our knowledge. A kind of Zen humility and feeling of humanity are requisite for opening our minds to the new ideas and teaching. Both these movies are an adventurous journey to this total emptying of mind and opening the window to the wide and vast horizon of the new ideas, imagination and fiction. Surly these two movies will remain in the minds of audience like the spatio-temporal shattering Zen story.