Chop Wood, Carry Water
“Before enlightenment: chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment: chop wood, carry water.”
This famous zen koan illuminates several aspects of spiritual development and our human experience of life:
As we grow spiritually, life goes on - the daily tasks of living still demand our attention. Life doesn’t become easier or more glamorous as we deepen our spiritual commitment. Even the enlightened zen master has to participate in the mundane and repetitive chores of life.
We can choose frustration with the monotony of the chores of living, or practice being “in the now” while doing them - give them our full attention, do them mindfully, and accept that laundry/taxes/dishes are just part of life.
Spiritual expansion can come through simple mindfulness - in other words, how we do one thing is how we do everything.
While you practice this week, notice where you have expectations of progress: the thought that, if I could just get this aspect of my body to change/open/strengthen, this pose would be easier. Recognize that once the pose becomes easier in one way, there will be new challenges, new hurdles, new goals. Climbing to the top of the hill only reveals all the taller hills and mountains waiting to be climbed.
In other words: don’t practice with the idea that achieving any particular goal will create ease in your practice or your life; practice to be at peace with the process of living.