When confronted with a cocky student who acted like he already knew it all, he invited the young man to join him for tea. When the student sat down, the master set a cup in front of him and filled it up. He didn’t stop, though: he kept pouring until the tea flowed down the sides of the cup—and he kept pouring. The student watched in surprise until the tea splashed onto the floor. “Master,” he cried. “What are you doing? You can’t pour tea into a full cup!” “Precisely,” the master replied, and showed him out.
