Are you ready for 2012? Is your rice bowl empty?

This is an oldie but goodie that’s worth hauling out of the bloggy mothballs.

The start of a new year is always a good time to dredge up old Zen parables, especially if you live in California. (In my home state of Wisconsin, most parables revolve around 17 Creative Ways To Use Stale Beer or the legend that is Vince Lombardi.)

The tale goes like this: A student went to visit a famous Zen master. The master served tea and rice while the student talked about his desire to learn Zen. The master filled up the rice bowl up to the brim until it overflowed. Finally, distracted, the student blurted: “It’s too full! No more will go in!” The Zen Master sighed, saying: “You are like this bowl. How can I show you Zen until you first empty this bowl?”

You will not be ready for 2012 until you empty those last kernels of rice from 2011.

Here are 3 ways to clear out the rice bowl so you can fill it with new ideas, energy and inspirations in the coming new year:

Take a piece of paper and write down (yes, with an actual pen or pencil) what clogged your rice bowl in 2011. What emotions rose up and overflowed? What feelings did you cram back down? What events filled that bowl? Don’t worry about your penmanship, grammar or spelling — just jot down what-was in your 2011 world.
Now take that piece of paper and read it out loud. Once. Twice. (Privacy is good) Then take the paper and put it in an envelope. Write 2011 on the outside.

And finally — you choose– either take the 2011 envelope and put it in the freezer — or take the 2011 envelope and put a match to it. That’s right. Deep-freeze it. Or burn it. Whether you pick fire or ice, you’ll be cleaning up and clearing out the final remnants of a year you’ve now fully completed.

Your bowl is now gloriously empty and ready to be newly filled by the hope, discovery and energy coming your way in 2012.