Hanatsu 放 is a term from Zen Buddhism that means “let go”.

What are you holding onto? Whatever it is, let it go. Just like a cup full of stale tea can’t receive anything new and fresh, a grasping mind that’s clinging onto ideas doesn’t allow us to see things anew.

Hanatsu 放 (“Let Go”), calligraphy by Joe Hunt

We don’t receive by pushing a full cup under every teapot we find. We receive by letting go. When we let go, we’re open to receive. They’re one and the same. Letting go is receiving. Receiving is letting go.

In this way, we may come to see there’s no need to hold onto what we have. Or grasp at what we haven’t got. Because by releasing, we receive. By letting go, we realize our cup was, is, and always will be full.

So, whatever it is you’re holding onto. Let it go.

Allow your cup to be filled.