After a few years the new monk came back and asked what else he must do. The answer, chop wood and carry water.
Doing yoga at this stage in my life made this story come back to me as I am told by my teacher to do Downward facing dog - a lot! This is a basic pose and I am still struggling and maybe in a few years I will get it right or maybe not.
But it is not important that I get it perfect, in life we have to do the basics right and keep on practicing it otherwise the other things will not work as it should.
In yoga, the same principles that is applicable to the downward facing dog pose is applicable to all the other poses. Basics. Chop wood carry water!
In life we have to serve our fellow human beings (and the environment) in whatever we do and we have to practice it every day our whole life. The problem is that this wisdom comes so much later in life. In the beginning we are so arrogant and driven to serve ourselves that we don't consciously serve others and the environment- we tend to be takers and not givers.
Service is what life is all about and to do this we have to do the basics over and over - love, peace, patience, joy, good, kind, gentle, faithful and self control to name the important ones. We can never do it well enough so that we can say I have mastered it. Chop wood, carry water.
Enlightenment only comes when I realise that it is really not about me. When you practise the basics the Universe seems to open up to an abundance that blows your mind.
