Chopping Wood and Carrying Water.

The Zen Master was asked what changed when he became enlightened.
He answered: Before enlightenment, I chopped wood and carried water.
Now, I chop wood and carry water.

Just what did he mean? Is it a Zen Koan, an unanswerable conundrum? Something to confuse the mind?
In a way, yes.
Because the answer is just beyond the mind.
The place where you just “are”.
Where you are simply Presence.

Eckhart Tolle says it like this:

“Chopping wood and carrying water is the same as folding your clothes or whatever it is that you do. The possibility of doing those seemingly repetitive things – but at the same time be there fully with your attention.

The Practice:
…be aware of that field of attention in you, the consciousness in you, that is perceiving this room… There is a depth in you, an alert stillness…

And you can practice that. Practice it here and in the rest of your life with all the little things that make up most of your life.”

As musicians, we have practised giving a lot of close attention to what we are playing.
Now, just add presence to the mix.
Your presence.
Presence as it plays the music through you.

If you’d like to find that you are not your thoughts, but are the “Presence” in the gaps between your thoughts, listen to this guided meditation with music: