Chop Wood, Carry Water

A saying often linked to Zen runs: before enlightenment, chop wood and carry water; after enlightenment, chop wood and carry water. The work does not change. What changes is how you are in it.

Most of us treat ordinary tasks as things to get through. We wash dishes while rehearsing an argument, or eat while reading a screen. The body is here, and the mind is elsewhere. Zen suggests that the task is not in the way of the practice. It is the practice.

To try it, pick one job and do only that. Feel the water, the plate, the motion of the hands. When the mind drifts, notice and come back. The aim is not a special state. It is to be where you are.

The dishes

Mara dreads the evening dishes. She usually does them while replaying the day’s worries, and finishes angry at a sink she hardly noticed.

Tonight she tries the old saying. She feels the warmth of the water, watches the suds on a plate and puts her worries down for ten minutes. The dishes take the same time. She finishes calmer, and the worries are still there to be picked up, but lighter.

Try this today Choose one chore today and do only that chore, with no screen, for the length of the job.