I Don’t Have to Dig the Well Hosted by Alison McCabe

In a well that was never dug, water ripples from a spring that does not flow.
Someone with no shadow or form is drawing water.

— Ikkyu

I’ve heard this koan before. Whose is it?  At first, before deciding, I wanted to focus on something Hakuin said, about silver cliffs and iron mountains. You can’t go on and you can’t go back. This koan about a well came to me in the midst of the search, as more and more koans kept appearing!!

So often I make things more difficult for myself. I come upon an answer, or next step and then doubt it, ask others their opinions, do multiple google searches, read more text, come up with alternatives and get turned in a tailspin.  This koan showed up like a well that has not been dug—out of the blue, not seeking it, or digging around, it appeared before me. Oh! This one, I thought to myself. Something I have been seeking most of my life is ease and here it was.

The more I sat, the more this koan felt like it was accompanying me around—’look, you don’t have to work so hard,’ it seemed to be saying. How delightful!

What part moves you? Let’s sit and look together.

Alison