There is a saying from Zhuangzi that can almost help you stay away from all the troublesome things

"If a man is crossing a river and an empty boat collides with his own skiff, even though he be a bad-tempered man he will not become very angry."

From "Zhuangzi: The Mountain Tree"

When a person is crossing a river in a boat, if an empty boat crashes into theirs, even a hot-tempered person won't get angry. But if they see a person in that boat, they will shout at them to steer clear. If the first shout is unheard, and the second one too, by the third shout, they will surely be cursing. They weren't angry before, but now they are, because before the boat was empty, but now there is someone in it. Therefore, if a person can wander through the world with an empty self, who can harm them?

The Wisdom Within

1️⃣ Don't be controlled by emotions

In life, people often encounter unsatisfactory things, just like being hit by an empty boat. If one gets easily emotionally triggered by external events, like the person who wasn't angry at first but then became furious, it's easy to fall into unnecessary disputes and troubles. If you can stay calm and not let emotions lead you by the nose, you can avoid many meaningless conflicts and messy situations.

2️⃣ Maintain a mindset of "Emptying Oneself"

"Emptying oneself" means not being too self-centered, and not always viewing everything from your own standards and standpoint. When you face the world with a more open, inclusive, and detached mindset, you reduce many troubles caused by stubbornness and haggling over every ounce. You can treat those people and things that might cause trouble with an indifferent attitude of "it's none of my business".

The "Empty Boat Meditation" in CanMindful

Coincidentally, there is a meditation scene in CanMindful called "Empty Boat Meditation", which is a unique meditation scenario derived from Zhuangzi's "Empty Boat" imagery.

In the "Empty Boat Meditation", you might be guided to imagine yourself on a quiet river surface, with an empty boat slowly drifting towards you. Just like the situation described by Zhuangzi, the empty boat collides unintentionally, triggering different states of mind. In meditation, you can use this to examine your emotional reactions when facing "collisions" (troublesome things in life).

The empty boat symbolizes those distracting factors that appear inadvertently in life. They have no subjective malice, yet they can disturb our inner peace. Through such meditation, it helps us empty our hearts, face the uncertainties of life with a peaceful and inclusive attitude, reduce unnecessary anger and anxiety, find inner peace in the noisy world, and improve psychological resilience and emotional management capabilities.

Have you experienced this "Empty Boat Meditation"? Would you like to share your feelings with me?