Zen Buddhists — Chop Wood, Carry Water

Off late, this phrase has been going on in my mind which I had read a long time before and made an impact in my life. Given how mainstream spirituality has become, given Instagram’s presence, I think everyone today follows certain principles in their life. And the mainstream message basically is: You don’t need anyone. You don’t need to depend on people. You don’t need any material pleasures. Love experiences, not materialistic pleasures. You are, as a person are whole and desires are a sign of weakness.

The most popular teaching of one of the many philosophies available I.e. Buddhism ; is to alleviate suffering is non attachment with people, places, objects.

Let’s look at the teachings of Lord Buddha with a deeper lens of the life and understanding where Lord Buddha came from. Lord Buddha / Prince Siddhartha had everything from get go as he was a prince. He had not known lack in his life. He had a certain knowingness being a prince that he could get anything, anytime. There was a great prediction on Prince Siddhartha’s life given by a sage. He would either be a great conqueror or a great teacher. Siddhartha’s father of course wanted him to be a great conqueror and he surrounded his life with luxury, large palaces, gardens and all the materialistic pleasures. He got married when he was 16 and was blessed with a child whom he named Rahula. His first experience with suffering was when he was 29 years old. Bored of the materialistic pleasures, he ventured outside his palace and he encountered an old man, who was losing his teeth and was battered. He saw a dead man.

Experiencing suffering for the first time, he renounced his family life and materialistic pleasures and meditated for 49 days. After this he started sharing his philosophies with everyone which basically said that at the end of life there is only suffering and his philosophy has 4 pillars:

They are: (a) Life is full of suffering (Duhkha), (b) There is a cause of this suffering (Duhkha-samudaya), It is possible to stop suffering (Duhkha-nirodha), (d) There is a way to extinguish suffering (Duhkha-nirodha marga).

Now, as always — Offering a counter view / rather my understanding on the subject — A lot of times, Buddhism when adopted by people for non attachment is also because one does not know how to achieve the desires that they want.

Let’s take multiple examples across different buckets of desires that we largely fall into:

1. Money
2. Health
3. Relationships
4. Work

Example A — Money:

A person who has lived below poverty line / either income bracket, wants to win a million dollars and the only way he knows is to achieve via lottery. In this case, telling a person, don’t have an attachment to money is not a solution. Rather, as per me it would be better to teach the person to how to get the money and rather release an attachment to the idea that it can be won via lottery only. It can be achieved via different avenues and by creating a solution that people are willing to pay for.

Example B — Health:

A person who is in a severe health condition or maybe weights 200kgs which is detrimental to his/ her daily activities. Somehow, health is a place where desire to be fit and healthy is not shamed and that is a win for us as a community. Here we would encourage a person to take different steps to heal themselves rather than saying accept yourself as you are, or remove the desire from your being itself. We would rather encourage people to take different routes and be at their optimum peak. An individual may give up, but a desire to be in peak health is not looked as something to be shunned on. We can fail a 100 times, but we will still try the 101st time.

Example C- Relationships:

Relationships fall under several buckets:

1. Immediate Family ( Mother, Father, Siblings)
2. Friends
3. Romantic partner / Significant other
4. Children
5. Extended Family
6. Relationships created at work
7. Acquaintances

Relationships is an area where we tend to give up sometimes. But haven’t we seen people flourish in this area and we have countless examples? It requires a certain nuanced dance of give and take. In certain parts of the world, parental relationships are difficult, certain generations and folks are struggling with romance and marriage and the new age world of dating, certain sections are facing difficulties due to a certain entitlement present in children.

Sometimes in all relationships, when the taking is a lot, or giving is too much at the detriment of personal wellbeing is a norm, is generally when a relationship deteriorates. Now, non attachment in this area has come to a conclusion by a lot of people that we don’t need people, or we have people to use them as resources for our wishes and desires. There is a certain respect which is necessary in relationships without which they cannot flourish.

Man is a a social creature after all and there are certain norms and etiquettes, As long there is respect and dignity in all relationships, all of them will flourish.

Example D — Work:

If I do X, I will earn Y amount. If I do X, then I will be recognized more or have a greater social standing. Having an attachment to the identity at work and the nature of work. No one knew Medium ( Not in India ) was an option where thousands of people would make some money, no one knew that you could eat, travel and write about it and make money. Releasing the idea to what can lead to work and income. This in my opinion is non attachment. Yes, there are tried and tested paths and then there are unchartered territories.

I feel that of course Buddhist philosophies hold ground, I am no Zen. But I choose to follow the theory of “ Chop Wood Carry Water”. It basically says, that before and after enlightenment, you will do the same activities, but with a certain sense of wonder, with an acknowledgement that the activity you are conducting is not permanent, hence you will not be attached to the outcome and you will do it with high integrity, in a way that you do not cause suffering in other beings with your actions.

Love and Light ❤

Ritika