Zen Mind

It is said that one day a Zen Master was pouring tea when a renowned professor came to see him and requested to be taught Zen. The Master remained silent and continued pouring tea into the professor’s cup, even though it was already full and overflowing. The professor finally remarked that when a cup is full, there is no use in continuing to pour. The Master responded, “If you want to have tea, your cup must be empty. To study Zen, your mind must be empty—free from preconceived notions or perceptions about Zen.” — V.S. Sardesai, Amartya Sen’s Hindu Bash, Readworthy Publications Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, 2008, Preface, p. v.1

Whenever I encounter thoughts like “emptying the mind” or “silencing the mind,” I find myself puzzled. The first question that arises is: What is the mind? Clearly, it’s not the material brain inside our skull. If the mind is something different, what then is “intellect,” “conscience,” “ego,” “intuition,” or “inspiration”?

This becomes even more complex when I try to interpret these concepts in Tamil, my mother tongue. There are many Tamil words that describe our inner faculties—‘manam,’ ‘nenjam,’ ‘ullam,’ ‘idayam,’ ‘arivu,’ ‘pakuttarivu,’ ‘mana sachchi,’ ‘unarvu,’ and ‘ulunarvu.’ But when I attempt to translate the English terms, I struggle to find precise equivalents.2

Then comes the question: How does one “empty” the mind? How can a mind empty itself? For example, if I want to empty a glass of water, I have to pour it out—the glass can’t do it on its own. But this is not a fitting analogy for something as non-material as the mind.

Even if someone manages to “empty” their mind, how would they—or their mind—know that it is now empty? And how would this empty mind receive new thoughts without relating or comparing them to something already known? For instance, if I try to explain to someone that “Idli” is a delicious and healthy South Indian breakfast, I would need to compare it to something they’re familiar with, like saying it’s a kind of steamed rice cake.

Similarly, how is it possible to understand Zen without any preconceived notions or perceptions? If I want to learn about Zen, it implies I already recognize that I don’t know much about it—this very lack of knowledge is itself a preconceived notion.

This confusion grows because I’m reading these ideas in English, without understanding how the original Zen masters might have expressed the idea of “emptying the mind.” I have personal reservations about this notion. As I noted earlier (though the analogy is imperfect), when we empty a glass, air fills it instantly. When we pour in milk, the air is displaced. Nothing remains truly empty. But since I don’t fully grasp the nature of the mind, I can’t say with certainty what “emptying” it means.

The concept of “sunyata”3 (often wrongly translated as “void” or “vacuum”) does not imply a complete emptiness in the sense of nothingness. However, I admit that I don’t know much about sunyata as discussed in Buddhism, and I’ve not studied it in depth. Therefore, I’m not qualified to speak about it here.

So, I ask this question with the humility of someone who is ignorant of the subject and wrestling with the difficulty of reading it in translation, unable to grasp the nuances of the original language.

27-9-2021

Gurukulam

1 I think this is from but I am not sure:  The Best of Speaking Tree, volume I, New Delhi, [The Times of India], Bennett, Coleman & Co., Lid. Fourth reprint (2004) 2007,

2 Manam (மனம்) – Refers to the mind or intellect, often connected with thinking and intention.

Nenjam (நெஞ்சம்) – Refers to the heart, metaphorically related to emotions and feelings.

Ullam (உள்ளம்) – Refers to the inner being or heart, often emphasizing deep emotional and mental states.

Idayam (இதயம்) – Refers to the physical heart but is also used metaphorically for emotions and affection.

Arivu (அறிவு) – Refers to knowledge or awareness, often linked to wisdom or intellect.

Pakuttarivu (பகுத்தறிவு) – Refers to analytical or rational intelligence, discernment, or critical thinking.

Mana Sachchi (மன சாட்சி) – Refers to conscience or the moral sense of right and wrong.

Unarvu (உணர்வு) – Refers to feeling, emotion, or sensation.

 Ulunarvu (உள்ளுணர்வு) – Refers to inner feeling or intuition, often tied to deeper emotional or spiritual awareness.

2…As Garma C. C. Chang discusses in his book The Buddhist Teaching of Totality: The Philosophy of Hwa Yen Buddhism [University Park and London: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1971), 60]:

..Śúnyata is a combination of the stem sunya, “void or empty,” and a participle suffix, tā, here rendered as “ness.” Śünyata is therefore translated as “Voidness or Emptiness.” It is believed that sunya was originally derived from the root svi, “to swell,” and sunya implies “relating to the swollen.” As the proverb says, “A swollen head is an empty head,” so something which looks swollen or inflated outside is usually hollow or empty inside. Súnyata suggests therefore that although things in the phenomenal world appear to be real and substantial outside, they are actually tenuous and empty within. They are not real but only appear (p.114) to be real. Sunyata denotes the absence of any kind of self, or selfhood. All things are empty in that they lack a subsisting entity or self-being (Svabhava). [Garma C. C. Chang, The Buddhist Teaching of Totality: The Philosophy of Hwa Yen Buddhism (University Park and London: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1971), 60].— Masao Abe, Buddhism, pp. 71-137, pp. 114-115, in, Arvind Sharma, ed. Our Religions, Harper San Franciso, 1993,