The empty boat

A Zen master said, “When I was young, I loved to go boating. I had a small boat and I was sailing on the lake alone. I could stay there for hours.

Once I sat with my eyes closed and meditated. It was a wonderful night. A boat was drifting downstream and bumped into mine. Anger rose in me. I opened my eyes and was about to curse the person who disturbed me, but I saw that the boat was empty.

I had no one to direct my anger at. I had no choice but to close my eyes and start looking at my anger. The moment I saw him, I took the first step on my Path. In that quiet night, I drew closer to my inner center.

The empty boat became my teacher. From then on, if someone tried to insult me and I got angry, I laughed and said to myself:

– This boat is also empty.

I would close my eyes and go inward.

And if you want to take the first step towards meditation - see here the magnificent collection of author's guided meditations, created with great love by Milena Goleva