Chopping
Wood And Carrying Water
02/11/06
There is a Buddhist quote: "Before enlightenment
there is chopping wood and carrying water. After enlightenment there is chopping
wood and carrying water."
These two lines are the first of the Buddhist
quotes that I put to memory and I have used them to keep myself grounded. One of
the things that I thought would happy after I started actively exploring my
spiritual life was that I would not experience the physical world in the same
way. I thought that I would become an observer of life, but not necessarily
involved in it. I thought that I would somehow float just above the ground and
that the trials and tribulations of everyday life would somehow disappear.
Over the course of the last six years that I have
been exploring and writing about spirituality I have learned that we are in the
physical world to experience it. While we are physical we cannot escape the
limitations of physicality. We can ignore the body and pretend that we are not
in it, but the body has a way of calling us back to this reality.
The thing that grounds me is the knowledge that we
are here to be physical and there is no other reason or we wouldn’t be here--I
like to state the obvious. I may not be of this earth, but I am in it. So, while
I like to rise above myself, I am constantly pulled to the earth, there is no
real purpose for enlightenment other than to satisfy curiosity or be
enlightened.
I will still go to work in the morning. I will
still laugh/cry. I will still love and feel pain. Enlightenment has brought me a
new vision. I can now remove myself from my body and watch it struggle. With
infinite love and understanding, I can see where I have come from and where I am
going. I can smile and have a little giggle. I can laugh at myself and join in
on all the physical emotions and still love myself for being so stupid, so ugly,
so fat, so skinny, so weird, so myself.
Enlightenment cannot take me away from my place in
time and space, but it can bring compassion and tolerance for all things as they
are. The world is a perfect play ground, it is a wonderful buffet of choices and
I cannot ever make an incorrect choice because I am enlightened and within that
awareness I find my peace.
I thought that with enlightenment I would move a
little lighter; maybe develop some kind of psychic skills, something, anything!
Wisdom has taught me that I am in the correct place in time to experience the
circumstances of my life within the ability of my own awareness to acknowledge
them and use them for my own benefit.
The awesome power that I possess is limited only by
me within my own ability to use it wisely. I have exclusive control over my life
only and I am the creator of all that I experience. I chose to come to this
earth, to be born and to experience the physical life. When I leave here I will
not be able to. I cannot touch the ground while I am busy soaring with the
angels. "When in Rome do what the Romans do."
"Before enlightenment there is chopping wood and
carrying water. After enlightenment there is chopping wood and carrying water."
Roy is a resident of British Columbia, Canada. An international published author, a student of NLP, spiritual philosopher, New Age Light Worker, Teacher and Phenomenologist. Roy's books and articles are thought provoking, and designed to empower your imagination.
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