# DAY 71. CHOP WOOD, CARRY WATER **Creator:** Dr. Shefali **Platform:** youtube **Duration:** 28m **Source:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2u67nbGESw ## Summary In this session of "Viral Wisdom," the speaker emphasizes the importance of living in the present moment, regardless of external circumstances like the pandemic. They argue that life is a continuous flow of change and that our anxieties often stem from our desire for control over the future, which is ultimately an illusion. - Life is about "chopping wood and carrying water," meaning we must focus on the present and perform our daily tasks regardless of external chaos. - The current pandemic serves as a reminder of our lack of control and the impermanence of life. - Our anxieties are often misplaced, as they can arise from any situation, not just the pandemic; we must learn to manage them in the present. - The speaker highlights the illusion of permanence and superiority, urging listeners to recognize their interconnectedness and irrelevance in the grand scheme of life. - Embracing change and the present moment can lead to inner peace and a better understanding of our existence. - The pursuit of future goals can distract us from living fully in the now, which is the only reality we truly possess. - The speaker encourages listeners to find meaning in their daily actions and interactions rather than waiting for external validation or outcomes. ## Transcript [[0:02]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2u67nbGESw&t=2s) hi everyone hello hello it's me with viral wisdom number 71 hi guys how are you tell me where you're signing in from i'm so happy to be here with you hi guys tell me where you're signing in from [[0:33]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2u67nbGESw&t=33s) i'm trying to fix this thing on instagram hold on it's me with my viral wisdom number 71 and i have something that could help you i think so sign in tell me where you're signing in from give me a word to describe how you are feeling right now what's coming up for you um and before i move on i mentioned last time as well that my [[1:04]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2u67nbGESw&t=64s) luminous sisterhood i have a community of women for women by women and we only open the doors twice a year so the doors are open now and you can register to become part of luminous so i hope i see you there charlotte from texas lasagne from romani romania srabanti from bangladesh nashville [[1:34]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2u67nbGESw&t=94s) south africa portland hi guys okay so i don't know why this instagram one is not working but forget it it doesn't work we dump it so we are in the midst of this unprecedented situation as we know so unprecedented situations can either bog us down and take us under or they can enliven us with a new [[2:06]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2u67nbGESw&t=126s) perspective you know there is a buddhist saying chopping would carry water before enlightenment chalk would carry water after enlightenment chop would carry water what it speaks to for me is that it doesn't matter what's happening in the outer world at the end of the day we still have to do [[2:37]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2u67nbGESw&t=157s) the basics of what we have to do and in a spiritual perspective what that means is focusing on the present moment whether you're enlightened or not whether corona stays or not it doesn't matter the bottom line the end result stays the same that we will still not know the future even if corona leaves us we're not going to know the future even if corona leaves us tomorrow [[3:07]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2u67nbGESw&t=187s) our permanence on earth is not guaranteed so don't blame your current anxieties on corona understand that with corona or without corona we have to chop wood carry water which means be here now in the present here and now in this moment and what that means then is that when you're in this moment here and now there is no guarantee of anything there is no tomorrow there is never an outcome that you can claim [[3:40]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2u67nbGESw&t=220s) so corona may seem to be the cause of your anxiety today and then tomorrow it's something else and whether it's individual or global we will always find a way to stay in a state of discontent and unrest now we can all blame corona yay we can all join together or enjoy split apart against a common enemy [[4:11]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2u67nbGESw&t=251s) called corona seven years ago it was isis before that it was the gulf war it doesn't matter there's always something that we create to stay out of what we need to do moment by moment by moment by moment and moment by moment we need to chop wood carry water it doesn't matter here we are [[4:41]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2u67nbGESw&t=281s) this moment or that moment a happy moment or sad moment it doesn't matter it's a moment we are in the moment so when you approach life with the understanding that the moment is going to keep coming till it's your last moment in this body the moment is going to keep coming so now you have a choice you're like no don't like this moment delete delete delete delete delete till when oh you got a happy moment you're just [[5:09]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2u67nbGESw&t=309s) going to hold on to it till when there is an underlying reality beneath the label of the moment and the underlying reality is that it is just the present it's not a happy present it's not a sad present it's just the present sometimes it looks like this sometimes it comes with cake sometimes it comes with a sword sometimes it comes with a real stench but underneath [[5:41]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2u67nbGESw&t=341s) the labels we put on the moment it's a moment and here we are so life will constantly bring us the stink the the stench the the the threat the fear the ominous presence the disgusting uh realities of human nature and we're going to react that's human but wisdom says that you can be human but understand that these faces of the [[6:15]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2u67nbGESw&t=375s) moment are just faces they're going to keep cycling so you know right now you're very upset because corona maybe is not letting you travel it's not giving you freedom is not giving you access to your parents and you want to go visit them because they're not well or whatever the situation but then say there was no corona and you got to the airport and the flights were delayed and you missed your flight and the connecting flight and now you got there [[6:46]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2u67nbGESw&t=406s) 10 days later and your parents were not there anymore they either passed away or they went to they went on their plans and you kept missing each other then you blamed the airplane or you blame x or you blame not having enough money it doesn't matter some look bigger and more legitimate some look in innocuous and inconspicuous it's all an illusion it's just a moment it's just a moment [[7:16]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2u67nbGESw&t=436s) so of course we can miss things that have been so brutally taken away from us but it's like saying to the rain i miss i miss the sun rain rain go away come again another day go go ahead tell rain rain rain go away come again another day rain rain go away come again another day it's gonna go when it's gonna go and with life in this dimension [[7:47]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2u67nbGESw&t=467s) because we're so many messed up humans interacting with this situation we can try our best to go become the next virologist expert we can try our best to become the next climatologist we can become the next anthropologist we can try but we have to understand that this dimension is going to always have imperfection because they're bazillion people like us each who thinks that [[8:17]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2u67nbGESw&t=497s) they're amazing so at the end of the day you chalkboard you carry water at the end of the day you find peace with yourself you do you try you dug you get your labels and your degrees and you go and you march and yeah do all that but today it's one problem tomorrow it's another and i'm talking about your fundamental inner peace i'm not talking about not taking action you know i'm all for taking action [[8:48]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2u67nbGESw&t=528s) but i take it with an understanding that the eternal truth is eternal change and if i don't understand that i will get caught in my ego then i will want my outcome i will want my answer i will want my way but when i understand that the eternal way is eternal change then i will i will act knowing even my most amazing action is going to change and another tide will come over today [[9:19]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2u67nbGESw&t=559s) it's me tomorrow it's someone else so we have to understand that we are constantly transforming the entire earth is constantly transforming our bodies are constantly transforming so what is the underlying unity the underlying unity is eternal change today is this tomorrow it's that so it is our desire to cling to hold on to to claim to own to know that actually [[9:50]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2u67nbGESw&t=590s) causes our greatest suffering we are beings that are constantly in becoming we are constantly in flow in flux in transformation in evolution there is no final point the homo sapien is one amongst bazillion iterations and evolutions why do you think that the homo sapien is the last stop because we're so amazing so just like evolution i mean of course [[10:21]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2u67nbGESw&t=621s) if you don't believe in evolution what we're gonna do but if evolution is not something you have to believe in it just is a fact now if you choose to say i don't believe in it all right then then there's no discussion then we just keep moving along but if you are if you understand that evolution is not a belief but a fact because you have eyes that can observe nature um then you you begin to understand your [[10:49]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2u67nbGESw&t=649s) nature you begin to understand your core essence and your core essence is a resonance of the billions of years the earth has been here we the great homo sapien has only been here for the last nanosecond and the earth has been here in its grandeur in existence and survival without us [[11:20]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2u67nbGESw&t=680s) for all 4.5 billion years so it's a joke really that we think we're all that and our views are so important and that we need to be the best and the smartest and the brightest and we keep chasing this allure and in its chase we forget our essence and our essence is only one constantly impermanent therefore [[11:51]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2u67nbGESw&t=711s) constantly dying and therefore there's nothing to attach to it's just in the moment and now we are here again in the moment but it's painful to live in this awareness of constant evolution because we have been conditioned and trained and acclimatized to look in the linear outer future so as long as we've been trained to look outside linear and outcome based i want [[12:22]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2u67nbGESw&t=742s) the number i want the dollar i want the answer i want the box i want the bow we will not be able to tolerate this pandemic this pandemic is the epitome of wisdom teachings at the most exaggerated level like it's as if all the wisdom teachers got together and they're like we're going to teach these homo sapiens [[12:54]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2u67nbGESw&t=774s) a lesson about surrender a lesson about impermanence a lesson about loss of control a lesson about don't attach to the future live in the present moment honor the earth revere your fellow man understand that you are a speck on the speck on a speck on a speck on a speck on a speck on i say the moat of a sunbeam on on on the grain of the grain of the grain of the grain of the grain of the [[13:22]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2u67nbGESw&t=802s) sand and when we understand that we are essentially very unique but really no different than any other species animal classification on this planet that we are very unique but ultimately so blatantly boldly clearly irrelevant we will wake up out of our malays and we will begin to [[13:53]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2u67nbGESw&t=833s) actually treat each other as if we are relevant it's a counter-intuitive truth because it's our belief in superiority as seen in the white supremacist movement here in america so clearly that even our president cannot concede that it's time to go he's like no i'm permanent i'm permanent it doesn't matter i'm permanent so unable is he to release his box [[14:24]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2u67nbGESw&t=864s) of ownership of control of claiming power that that there is no fluidity there is no capacity to have the next government there's no transition we're stuck and this is what we do in our own beings because we cannot understand our irrelevance we seek to make ourselves relevant and we destroy each other when we understand we are irrelevant [[14:54]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2u67nbGESw&t=894s) we surrender the ego and we enter into dependency i mean this is so beautifully exemplified by by trump because trump thinks he's so relevant and he's holding on to his relevancy that he's effing it up for everybody everybody it's a ripple effect of i don't even have the word you know i i have lots of curse words but i just i just i'm stupefied so it's the same with our individual egos when you hold on [[15:25]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2u67nbGESw&t=925s) you actually destroy the others when you release your ego only by understanding that you are irrelevant because a bazillion of you have lived and a bazillion more coming but you're very unique don't worry you then actually live in an interdependent way so until we one by one by one by one choose to live with an understanding that we are [[15:56]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2u67nbGESw&t=956s) eternally becoming there is no end point there will never be an end point even after you die there's no end point you are transforming your energy is transformed right away right if you have a a crematorium death you are ashes ashes gets into the into the soil changes the chemistry the soil changes everything changes you you are smoke you are air you are wind you are fire right you are everything if you are decomposing under the earth [[16:27]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2u67nbGESw&t=987s) sorry to talk like this but just to illuminate that we are constantly impermanent you decompose you're not staying there preserved right and we're trying to preserve it trying to preserve youth in a jar our money in the bank and that's why stock markets they drive us crazy that's why stock brokers have ulcers and cardiac arrest because all day they're like watching the stocks go up right it's like they're obese and have ulcers because [[17:00]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2u67nbGESw&t=1020s) they want predictability in an unpredictable world so we are at odds we are fighting nature constantly you and i in our own ego are very violent it's not just the terrorist who's violent or the jihadist who's violent or the virus who's virulent it's our inner virulence it's our inner poison how by our ego which ego an ego that [[17:31]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2u67nbGESw&t=1051s) refuses to accept that it's irrelevant it doesn't need to it's it's trump trump is everybody's ego not letting go you know i'm not letting go as i said it's toddler consciousness poor toddlers are even wiser really toddlers will let go when the next pretty thing comes so it's only when we understand that we are in a constant state of becoming we are constantly luminous [[18:02]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2u67nbGESw&t=1082s) in our transients we are essence we are energy we are air that's it this is a facade it's it's a persona it's a shell compared to who we really are who we really are is ineffable uh impregnable light energy essence i don't want to be too foo-fu but we are like the beauty of the wind that rustles the leaves what is that what is that that beautiful essence that rustles the [[18:33]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2u67nbGESw&t=1113s) leaves that's what you are what is that color of the sun that comes through a cloudy day that's what you are what is the do on the on the leaves in the morning just sitting there perfectly still about to fall off the leaf that's what you are that's what you are so because we cannot see beyond this we we get so trapped are you a republican or a democrat are you for for trump or pro-trump are you this are you that are you blonde [[19:03]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2u67nbGESw&t=1143s) are you brunette are you black are you white we've created all these constructions to pretend we are relevant all of this is an illusion there's no black there's no white there's no trump there's no non-trump i mean there is a trump but you know what i mean it's i'm saying beyond the it's all an illusion there is though but that's [[19:34]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2u67nbGESw&t=1174s) that's human nature there has to be because the ego is huge the capacity to look beyond the allows you to understand that it's an illusion when you are living in that space the space that rumi talks about beyond good and bad right and wrong that space that transcendent space now we are living interconnected we understand it's all an illusion if you have white skin if i have darker skin if i'm short i'm tall it's just [[20:06]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2u67nbGESw&t=1206s) just my body's adaptation to climate that's it the red beetle yellow beetle the grasshopper or the turtle it's just what those climactic conditions wanted it has nothing to do with superiority or inferiority or or better or less but the reason we have effed it all up is because the ego thinks it is more dominant than who it is we really are who it is we really are [[20:37]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2u67nbGESw&t=1237s) is the dirt the soil the bacteria and the the air that's it even they are better than us because we have this thing called the ego the ego thinks it's more than that the leaf doesn't think it's more than anything else the beetle doesn't think it's more than anything else but we with our ego we think we're more relevant and because we're more relevant we're destroying each other i'm more relevant no i'm more relevant me no me [[21:06]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2u67nbGESw&t=1266s) my religion is better you see my skin color my skin color is better tell me we're not toddlers at some a really insane amusement park going nuts on candy and sugar i mean that's really what we are toddlers in an amusement park high on candy i mean that's really it so we haven't even grown up to become teenagers we haven't even grown up to be adults because an adult would have the brain and the wisdom [[21:37]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2u67nbGESw&t=1297s) to understand that there is no such thing as permanence there's no such thing as superiority there's no such thing as better than now nature has given you know the alpha male more power but the alpha male needs the beta male two the beta may need the theory the theta needs the omega we need all of it so yes if some could be more superior in strength you could be stronger than me all right all right but that doesn't [[22:05]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2u67nbGESw&t=1325s) mean you're most you have greater supremacy over me we are all interdependent and it's only when we wake up to becoming an adult to waking up in our consciousness that we will let go our toddler ego and realize that we are part of this oneness we are part of this of this community of this union of this one nature and until we get there we will destroy ourselves [[22:36]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2u67nbGESw&t=1356s) and the planet we live on so what does this mean for you and me how do we wake up every day and enter the present moment and say what is my job today my job is to chop wood carry water where's my wood where's my water and sometimes chopping wood could mean giving it to the whole village sometimes it means not drinking your water but collecting it for the sick [[23:08]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2u67nbGESw&t=1388s) decide what your mission is but stop grumbling because it is what it is what it is this is after i grumbled a lot yeah this is after i was grumbling the whole month before the elections i'm morning i'm moaning now i'm like hmm peaceful people be peaceful because my person won so i'm sorry i'm obvious you can leave my page but i talk beyond the the you know the intricacies of [[23:39]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2u67nbGESw&t=1419s) american politics so how do i chop wood carry water how do i understand that all i am is the present moment all i need to do is show up now understand that the surface is an illusion that everything out there is a face it's not the soul it's just the hair not the essence it's just the skin not the heart right how do i keep myself understanding [[24:09]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2u67nbGESw&t=1449s) that i am highly irrelevant what that means is i'm highly interdependent i need you i need the tree i need the earth and therefore i have to show up in this web but if i wake up every day thinking i want the future i want the outcome i want what i want what i want what i want i want the box now i begin stampeding over my present moment and stampeding over my [[24:40]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2u67nbGESw&t=1480s) neighbors and others who i think are obstructing my goal so the pandemic has taught us anything is that there isn't any goal you think there's a goal to this grand thing in your life this grand thing called your life the goal is now the goal doesn't exist there there is no there there is no then there is no tomorrow do not wait for the pandemic to end because when the pandemic ends [[25:11]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2u67nbGESw&t=1511s) the next problem shows up okay maybe a little bit more manageable you think lightning doesn't strike twice uh-huh but if you don't give it a value judgment and you just go we are here now and in this now called the pandemic i'm not allowed to do those things but i can do so many other things and then in the next moment well i lost my job so it's a new kind of curse so i can do those things but i cannot do [[25:37]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2u67nbGESw&t=1537s) these things and so on and so forth and so on and so forth so don't get caught up in the depression of the pandemic even though it's really depressing but know that it's an illusion because underneath the depression of the pandemic is a lot of life how do i know that because we're here either we're dead or we're alive if we're alive we got to live and we're here so there's a lot that can be done [[26:08]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2u67nbGESw&t=1568s) there's so much you can learn about yourself so much you can do you can change your diet you can learn to make you can learn to cook you can learn to rest you can learn to relax you can learn to connect you can learn to sleep more you can learn to walk more you so much so till it's over it's not over but there is no future it's just all happening right here right now right here right now right here [[26:31]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2u67nbGESw&t=1591s) right now right here right now so when your mind goes insane and you're like oh what about tomorrow and how when will i see my parents and when will i go to my country and when will i when when when when you bring all that anxiety to the present moment and go how can i chop wood carry water now oh i'm missing my parents okay i call my parents oh i'm missing this okay i pull it into my life right now [[26:56]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2u67nbGESw&t=1616s) now now now nothing changes right so the same before enlightenment chop would carry water after enlightenment chop wood carry water it means enlightenment is an illusion get up and be in the present so you who are waiting for the coronavirus to finish and praying to the high gods please you know i need it before before pandemic [[27:27]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2u67nbGESw&t=1647s) you're going to realize no control after pandemic no control it's all one and the same there is no difference so our waking up to that frees us go why am i bloody thinking about the future i have no freaking control didn't this pandemic teach me i have no control so now what do i have i have now and bloody hell i'm going to live in my now whether it's eating ice cream or talking to my friend [[27:55]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2u67nbGESw&t=1675s) or taking a really lovely relishing nap whatever it is do it fully breathing large big now the moment is now so don't look for the future don't look for the future it is incoming only the now becomes the next noun only the now that becomes the next now then now oh it's gone [[28:26]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2u67nbGESw&t=1706s) where is it it's gone we're in the next now now we are in the next now and that future when you arrive at the future it's not called future it doesn't say hello and future it's called the now so we're only in the now so now open now big now present now chalkboard carry water okay guys live in the now i'll see you when i see you in the next now