There is a kind of failure called busy

There was an old Zen master in a meditation room in a valley. He found that he had an apprentice who was very diligent. Whether it was going to beg for alms or washing vegetables in the kitchen, this apprentice was always busy from morning to night.

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The little apprentice was struggling in his heart, his eyes were getting darker and darker, and finally, he couldn't help but come to the master.

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He said to the old Zen master, "Master, I'm too tired, but I haven't seen much success. What's the reason?"

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The old Zen master pondered for a moment and said, "Bring the bowl you usually use for almsgiving."

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The little apprentice took the bowl, and the old Zen master said, "Okay, put it here, you can go and bring me some walnuts and fill it up."

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The little apprentice didn't know the master's intention, so he came in with a bunch of walnuts. As soon as the dozen or so walnuts were placed in the bowl, the entire bowl was filled.

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The old Zen master asked the younger apprentice, "Can you put more walnuts in the bowl?"

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"I can't take it anymore. The bowl seems to be full. If you put walnuts in it, it should roll down."

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"Oh, the bowl is full, isn't it? Bring some more rice over here."

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The little apprentice brought some more rice. He poured the rice into the bowl along the gaps in the walnuts, and even put a lot of rice in it, and it started to fall out. The little apprentice just stopped, and suddenly seemed to realize: "Oh, so the bowl wasn't full just now."

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"Is it full now?"

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"It's full now."

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"Go get some more water."

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The little apprentice went to get water again. He took a spoonful of water and poured it into the bowl. After pouring half of the water into the bowl, even the gap was filled up this time.

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The old Zen master asked his younger apprentice, "Is it full this time?"

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The little apprentice saw that the bowl was full, but he didn't dare to answer. He didn't know if the master could still put things in.

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The old Zen master smiled and said, "Go get another spoonful of salt."

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The old Zen master dissolved the salt in the water again, and the water did not overflow at all.

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The little apprentice seemed to realize something. The old Zen master asked him, "What do you think this shows?" The little monk said, "I see, it shows that there will always be time as long as it is squeezed."

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The old Zen master smiled and shook his head, and said, "This is not what I want to tell you."

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Then the old Zen master poured the contents of the bowl back into the basin, freeing up an empty bowl.

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The old Zen master moved slowly, and said as he fell: "Just now we put walnuts first. Now let's turn it upside down and see what happens?"

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The old Zen master put a spoonful of salt first, and then poured water into it. After it was full, when the rice was added to the bowl, the water had already started to overflow. When the bowl was full of rice, the old Zen master asked Little apprentice: "Look, can you still put walnuts in the bowl now?"

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The old Zen master said: "If your life is a bowl, when the bowl is full of these small things like rice, how can you put those big walnuts in it?"

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This time, the little apprentice completely understood.

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If you are running around all day and are very busy, then it is necessary for you to think: "How can we put walnuts into life first? If life is a bowl, how can we distinguish walnuts from rice?"

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If everyone knows what their walnuts are, life will be simple and easy. We have to put walnuts into the bowl of life first, otherwise, we will spend our whole life in such small things as rice, sesame seeds, and water, and walnuts will not be able to be put in.

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Life is an empty bowl, but what should be put in first? What are your walnuts?