“Chopping wood, transporting water”, says a famous “Zen” saying. What does it mean?
Eckart Tolle in his speech “Findhorn Retreat: Stillness Amidst the World” explains that it’s about finding the sense of our identity becoming ordinary. Nothing to demonstrate, nothing to show, without the desire and the need to be someone. Just happy to be none.
Letting go the desire to be special, the compulsive thinking disappears. You become ordinary, without the need to find your identity in the form. You’re already in contact with this preciousness: it’s the essence of what you are.
“Chopping wood” and “transporting water” were two of the most ordinary activities of that time.
Whatever you are doing now, there’s nothing more than now: chopping wood, transporting water. It’s the mindful action in the present moment. Simplicity and focus on a single action at a time.
Peace, vitality, no interference of the mind that asks: “For how many weeks or years shall I have to chop this wood?” The illusion of time is back. On the external level, the clock keeps ticking. This is not the end, there is no end.
Enjoy the freedom of being ordinary.