The Two-Pot System: A Tale of Past, Present, and Future
Delving into the intricate connections between the past, present, and future to enhance the vibrancy and novelty of life
Daughter: Mother, I noticed there are two containers of milk in the kitchen. Could you please advise which one to use for making tea?
Mother: My dear daughter, please use the milk from the smaller container otherwise it will get sour.
Just so you know, the milk in the smaller container was purchased yesterday morning, whereas the one in the larger container was delivered this morning. As the daughter is making tea this morning, she could not understand why the milk is kept in two different containers.
Every evening after dinner, the mother dutifully serves each member of the family a refreshing glass of milk. However, tonight, she is feeling under the weather, leaving her unable to carry out this task. In her absence, the responsibility of milk service has been entrusted to the elder son of the family.
Son: Mom, I’m seeing two milk containers in the kitchen. Which one should I use for serving?
As expected, the mother responded in her usual manner…
Mother: Son, take milk from the smaller container first, and if you need more, take it from the bigger one.
But this wasn’t the end of it. The mother went on to say…
Mother: And son, please pour the milk from the bigger container into the smaller one and leave the empty bigger container in the sink for washing.
Although the son didn’t quite comprehend the reason behind this elaborate set of instructions, he followed his mother’s guidance dutifully. He didn’t see the point in putting too much thought into something that wasn’t particularly interesting or crucial, after all.
The mother’s reason for instructing her son to empty the bigger container was to ensure that it remained clean and available for tomorrow morning’s milk supply. Let’s reflect on the story above and draw some conclusions…
In this story, the tea is always fresh, but the milk used to prepare it is always stale. Although fresh milk is delivered every day, yesterday’s milk is used for today’s tea, and today’s milk will be used for tomorrow’s tea. It’s a confusing affair that raises the question of why this unnecessary complexity has been introduced for such a simple task. If fresh milk is delivered every day, why not use it on the same day instead of transferring it between different vessels and storing it in different places?
This whole complexity is introduced by the past and the future. And as a result of this complexity, the Present suffers from a lack of freshness. Let us discuss the past and the future a little more…
Neither yesterday’s milk supply would have been saved nor would it have been used today. Similarly, today’s milk supply should not be kept for tomorrow’s use.
As we step into the present, we carry with us the remnants of our work, relationships, experiences, and emotions from the past. It is impossible to live in the present without these remnants. Therefore, it is quite clear that the foundation of our present is built on top of our past. While yesterday’s milk supply will inevitably be saved for today, the question of how much to save and how to use it today is certainly up for discussion.
Let’s imagine for a moment that we buy the exact amount of milk needed for the day. However, in reality, it’s impossible to know how much milk will be needed for the day. Who can predict how many cups of tea will be made or who will consume milk at night? Only time will reveal these answers. And perhaps the solution to this problem is the mother’s two-pot system.
So the two-pot system devised by the mother serves as a way to prepare for the future while existing in the present, but it is also the root cause for the present being affected by the past. However, the constant reliance on this system is leading to the degradation of the freshness of the present moment. Hence, the question arises: is this system appropriate or inappropriate?
The past is a chapter of our lives that we cannot rewrite, but we can choose to take only the positive elements with us as we step into the present. It’s crucial to leave behind all the negative aspects of the past and only carry the valuable lessons and insights with us as we move forward. If we fail to do so, we will be living in the past even while being in the present.
We must also invest a portion of our present, which is built on the basis of our past, towards our future. However, we must keep this investment separate from investments in the stock market, as the origins of both are distinct. While investing in the stock market is focused on our future, investing your present into the future should only be focused on our present. Our sole objective should be to live today to the fullest.
We explored the past, present, and future, and also explored their interconnectedness. While our discussion was insightful, there is one question that still remains unanswered: are these three truly distinct entities? If we exist in ‘Today’, then all that remains is ‘Not Today’. This implies that there are only two — ‘Today’ and ‘Not Today’. But what is ‘Not Today’? It was yesterday and it will be tomorrow, both of them belong to ‘Not Today’.
Okay, let’s put aside these complexities of the past, present, and future, we will discuss it again some other day. What’s important to conclude for now is that if we divide our life into three parts — the present, the past, and the future — then the present comprises only one-third of it. However, if we divide it into just two parts, namely ‘Today’ and ‘Not Today’, then the present makes up half of our life. One thing is certain — if we reduce the parts to two from three, the portion of the present increases. Ultimately, everything hinges on our thinking, as it is the foundation of expression.
