Dharma HallVolume IXPreparing the Vessel

The Contaminated Vessel: Your Understanding Is Distorted

You listened and remembered — but what you understood wasn't what was said. "Let go" became "give up." "Non-self" became "don't care." Your cup already had something in it — clean water poured in got contaminated. The contaminated vessel is the most insidious: it makes you think you understand, when what you understand is a distortion.