Chop Wood Carry Water
posted by Kali | May 11, 2009
- Login or register to post comments
- Print this page
Delicious
Digg
StumbleUpon
Propeller
Reddit
Magnoliacom
Newsvine
Furl
Facebook
Google
Yahoo
Technorati
Icerocket'Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water, after enlightenment, chop wood, carry water.' is a Zen saying that touches on the importance of work. Karmic yoga कर्म योग is one of the four pillars of yoga and means "discipline of action." It is the principle of doing work for the glory of the Universe rather than expecting a reward. It is no coincidence that these two Eastern practices value the importance of work as a form of service.
Often work can seem like a drudgery we are forced to do in order to make a living. We go through the motions and clock in our time until we can go home and really live our lives the way we want. But if we use mindfulness and become aware that what we are doing is giving service to our community in the form of our workplace, work can become an action of unselfishness, if not a pleasure in itself. We can take the mundane experience of work and turn it into a magickal one which is imbued with a lesson for us in the minute details of performing our daily tasks.
Mindfulness and training our awareness in the moment can also teach us to focus on our work and in the end will make our performance better. Charge yourself with a white light meditation every morning before going to your job and remember always that you are a spiritual being. Try to see the beauty and feel compassion for your fellow workers, especially those with whom you may clash. Every challenge can become a lesson.
It helps to keep a work journal. Not only will this become a tool for your own sanity and peace of mind, but it helps to remember small details of daily interactions and meetings. It will make you more conscientious and task oriented to write in your work journal, and it will be a constant reminder to come back to your center and breathe your way through your work day.
Work can become a part of our spiritual practice, instead of a place we just go to everyday to pass the time and pay our bills. We can integrate our work life into our spiritual practice and the lessons we learn in the workplace will only help us on our path toward inward growth.
Comments
Much needed
— May 11, 2009
Hey, great post btw :)
Iv'e been thinking about this a lot recently, i seem to just flow into work and flow back out again and sometimes it seems like no time has passed at all. But then again, it can sometimes seem like a day has gone on for a week and it makes me go nuts! But i have been thinking just recently that there must be a way for me to be able to incorporate the simple things that make me happy into a working day, but where do i start? I dont think i can get over the endless feeling of imprisonment, but then i felt that when i was unemployed too, becaues i know that all im doing is surviving the way they make me survive, very reluctanatly.
Okay, i know theres no point in just moaning about it so im going to take this advice seriously, ill see what i can do!
First of all, very well done.
— May 11, 2009
The article was well written, conveyed the point effectively and has a very strong content.
I think that it is interesting that it reminds me of the two sometimes competing mindsets that we have to balance. On the one hand is the view of acceptance, the view of taking things as they are being present and aware through negative circumstances and using them through spiritual growth. For individual development, this is invaluable.
However, there is the other side to look at. Sometimes an over all system that an individual inhabits actually IS defective and he/she is playing a part in that defective system(for example, he/she worked for Exxon, Haliburton, Enron, etc.). In those cases, that feeling of "wrongness", tedium, even horror, should be recognized and worked with.
Interestingly enough the techniques in your article can illustrate when someone is in a defective system. The trick is that then they have to do something about it. Thank you
C23
Would he were fatter! But I fear him not:
Yet if my name were liable to fear,
I do not know the man I should avoid
So soon as that spare Cassius. He reads much;
He is a great observer
Thank you!
— May 11, 2009
Thank you to all who commented. Its wonderful to know people are reading.
“Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I will meet you there.” Rumi
