The Zen Master poured his visitor’s teacup full, and then kept pouring.

The visitor watched until he could no longer restrain himself:

“It is over full,” he said. “No more will go in.”

“Like this cup,” replied the Zen Master, “You are full of your own opinions and assumptions. How can you learn truth until you first empty your cup?”

Zen Koans are insightful stories designed to defy rational analysis but provide an ‘Aha’ moment when the reader intuitively gets it.

The above story is one of my favourites because, to me at least, it perfectly illustrates how – when we are endlessly, fruitlessly searching for an answer to one issue or another – we forget one of life’s lessons unwritten rules:

You can’t solve an intractable problem with the same mind that created it.

Sometimes you need a fresh pair of eyes.