“Which state is my individuality? When I was a baby sprawling on the floor trying to swallow my thumb? Was that the individuality I should be sorry to lose? Fifty years hence I shall look upon this present state and laugh, just as I [now] look upon the baby state. Which of these individualities shall I keep?”
— Swami Vivekananda
The Japanese Zen master Nan-in once welcomed a university professor who was curious about Zen. Nan-in served the professor a cup of tea. Even after the professor’s cup filled up, Nan-in kept on pouring. When the cup overflowed, the professor said, “It is overfull. No more tea will go in!” Nan-in replied, “Like the cup, you are too full of your own opinions and speculations. How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup?”
Whenever your cup was empty, you were a sponge, learning from your parents, teachers, friends, and seniors. When your cup was full, you turned into a concrete block. (Can you imagine how you would’ve turned out if your cup was full when you were a child?)
The individualism we cherish so much today is essentially our identity attached to our beliefs, jobs, and possessions. Rather than helping us grow, this phenomenon makes us oppose new ideas, rigid, and cynical.
A better goal is one that Kevin Kelly suggested: Each year, learn enough about a subject so that you can’t believe how ignorant you were a year earlier. Individualism is nothing but a limitation that stops you from discovering your true potential.