Chop Wood, Carry Water or Heed the Emotions

8/9/2019 Chop Wood, Carry Water or Heed the Emotions

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pm, 9/6/2009 4th, 11 Flint

CHOP WOOD, CARRY WATER and HEED THE EMOTIONS

Those at all familiar with Buddhism will perhaps recognize the title of today’sblog: chop wood, carry water. It is said that a very large part of life is spent inone’s daily chores, such as, once upon a time, chopping the wood for the fire,carrying the water for cooking and cleaning. Today it is more often go to work,go home, make the meals, go shopping, etc. Same diff.

The tie to Buddhism is in what the master says regarding enlightenment. Beforeenlightenment one chops wood, and carries water. After enlightenment, onechops wood and carries water. Kind of unavoidable, the daily chores. And, evenafter massive internal changes, what changes on the outside? In this sense, notso much. (In other senses, of course, since we are the actual and literal creator

of our world, massive change results.)

There is something very wise about this saying. There is a certain flow andrhythm to life. We see it in nature, all about, when we but look. The bees don’tfirst eat the pollen, then go out and collect it. One must first chop the woodbefore lighting the fire. Very basic, but sometimes missed by the spiritual seeker.There is a fundamental and cyclic order and rhythm to life, and it very muchapplies to awakening.

Oh, yes, I have not mentioned awakening, thus far. Well, I have, really, just notdirectly. It is inherent in the dance, in being danced.

Now, how is this basic life rhythm often missed by the seeker? It won’t bemissed if one first elevates balance to its rightful place. There is true balance inthe fundamental process, cycles, and order of life. What wo/man tends to do,however, is to focus one one thing, one aspect, to the exclusion of all else,thinking enlightenment is somehow hidden within it.

This is admirable, of course. Yes, you are to be admired in this, for your devotionand dedication to awakening. This is what Sri Nisargadatta might callearnestness. Some call it sincerity. Under any name, it is good. Let us agree to

remember to never condemn the self, for anything whatsoever. I don’t care if you have murdered, robbed, or whatever; nothing merits self-condemnation, solighten up on yourself, okay? I will, too.

Balance shows the way to a higher wisdom, of course. Balance teaches us, if wewould but watch and imitate nature (be reasonable, here - no literalists,please ;-) , we would see that it is good to spread the self out in alternatingactivities, and non-activity. One chops wood, carries water, starts the fire, cooksthe meal, eats the meal, cleans-up the mess, then rests and does nothing for a



while--hopefully. This is, at least, a natural progression.

What will be found is a certain underlying wisdom in this. The body knows whatit needs, if one will listen to it. The mind is a useful servant, if one will but keepit in proper perspective. What can happen, however, is that one gets out of balance. If one flows, like nature, this generally will not happen. The inner

wisdom allowed to rule, the self simply flows in the dance.

What does being out of balance look like? Try anxiety. Maybe depression; evenanger. The emotions will be the key that something is amiss. Quite often itsimply takes the form of necessary (note, ‘necessary) chores, gone undone.Subtle, perhaps.

So, let’s say you are writing, like this..and you come upon a block. Nothing elsewill come. You’re stumped. Now, if you’ve the wisdom to know that continuingto write, anyway, is not a good choice, then I invite you to consider choppingwood...or yes, carrying water, or whatever could use doing that will get you upand about. Did I say subtle?

There is that natural rhythm, present in all of nature, that humanity has sodistanced itself from, in its separatist arrogance and pride (which has followed thecall of Newtonian physics), that it sometimes takes a while, and persistence, toget back into the flow. It can be done, though, by one and all; the flow is there,present, always.

All of life is intelligent. A stone is intelligent. A cell is quite intelligent. Until wedump our reliance on the physics of Newton, that looks on life as a machine and

its parts, and wo/man as a separate part, reductionist...we will not know. Thosephysics were outdated by 1910, but most of us were not looking. We wereunable to see the new, being so married to the old.

Ah, thank Source, that times, they are a’ changin’. It’s that mental mind thing,as well, that led us astray. Actually, it is our reliance on it that was the problem.There is nothing at all inherently wrong with the mind. It just it what it is. Ourproblem was making a god of it, of sorts. And identifying with it, of course. Thatwas a rather large mis-step.

No worries, though; all is well. Peace, internal peace is a choice we can make.Which is not to say it will arrive all in a bundle, all neatly packaged, and open upinto instant peace...whatever that is. Not. It’s more subtle than that. You call athing forth, you set your intention, and then you let it go, and begin watching,observing. Your thing will come to you, but you must be alert to signs of itscoming, and cooperate. Yeah, this is a community thing; no such thing as alone.Rather, we are all-one.

Now, I would like to point out that I have found the emotions, not the mental



mind (for there is a Higher Mind), are the way to go if one wants to return toSource. Gosh, don’t listen to the words; they’re terrible. Of course we are andhave always been one with Source. Source never went anywhere ‘else.’ We left,however, in consciousness. On the out-going breath we went out and about,here reaching the farthest point, in the Kali Yuga. Now, it’shooooooooooooooooome we gooooooooooooooooo!!! Wheeeeeeeeeeeee!!

Yeah, let’s have some fun with this. Why not, after all? And what’s the hurry? Has hurry gotten

anyone anywhere that we want to go anytime sooner? Yeah, I make the assumptionthat you are on the spiritual path, and headed Homeward, to Source, but that’snot such a great stretch, for if you’re following this blog, you must be. Don’t seehow you could stand it, otherwise!

So, once one has seen through the mental mind, realizing its complete inability toenter the sacred spaces of Higher consciousness, one is ready for the trek. Mynext step was heart-centering, which proved very helpful. There is somethingboth sacred and unique about the heart space.

This includes both the centrally placed heart chakra, with which all are prettyfamiliar, and the other, even more sacred space of the Secret Chamber of theHeart, another chakra wherein is anchored the three-fold flame of each one’sidentity. Since this is not an esoteric blog, and I am no one’s teacher, justanother walker along the Way, I will leave it at that.

For those who are curious, The Summit Lighthouse [insert link] has someexcellent teaching on this very special chakra, called a secret-ray chakra. Youhave visited this space if you ever found yourself in a chamber where the ‘air’

itself seemed to be both pink and yellow, simultaneously, yet each color somehowretaining its own identity.

Onward, to the emotions. Once one no longer identifies, or identifies so strongly,anyway, with the mental mind, one becomes more alert to the feelings, theemotions. Again, being heart-centered helps. It acts as a steady anchor, forexploring the emotions can get ‘interesting.’ An anchor can come in handy. Socan grounding into the earth.

So, what’s so special about the emotions? Indeed, since we’ve been practicallyprogrammed to either ignore them or stuff them since childhood, that’s a fairquestion. Haven’t you found, however, that whatever society tells you is bad,you later find out was actually good? Yeah, something downright sinister lurkingthere.

Anyway, while the mental mind connects to the soul through the body, the Spiritis connected through the emotions. It is the only way in, do not pass Go, norcollect $200 (for those old enough to remember Monopoly). Furthermore, theemotions are tremendously wise. Yeah, I know, that sounds ludicrous, maybe,



but I’ve found it to be so.

One thing is certain: the emotions will signal you when something is wrong. That is where tostart, just that. Observe the emotions, begin to note the unsettled feelings, the little things

generally ignored. Just begin to watch. You will be amazed, once you set out on this path, at

what will unfold for you. Your very own inner guru. No, I’m not saying the emotions are theguru; just that they lead in that general direction...to Source. Source, or the G-word, is ever the guru. While It may use other things, other people, at differenttimes to guide you, the real guru is always the Inner Self, or Source.

So, learn to take a break. When you’re paying attention to the emotions, andyou notice something beginning to bother you, take a break. Go get a glass of water, take a walk, take out the trash. Give it time to come in all the way, timeto make itself clear to you...for there is a message there. This is a wise anduseful function of the emotions, so pay attention, and give it time. Quitenaturally, everything won’t always come in loud and clear at first. Go chop somewood. :)

Blessings be on your day, your night. Good-bye, for now.

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The book I referenced is Catherine Ingram’s lovely work, Passionate Presence

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Chop Wood, Carry Water or Heed the Emotions