This is Jesse Cardon with another koan meditation for you.
This one is really just about the beauty and the mystery of how the world appears to us out of nothing.
And so find yourself in a position that's comfortable and easy to maintain without much effort.
And see if you can find a spot where no one will bug you for a while,
So you can focus on just this.
Here we go.
In a well that was never dug,
Water ripples from a spring that does not flow.
Oh,
Someone with no shadow or form is drawing the water.
In a well that was never dug,
Water ripples from a spring that does not flow.
Someone with no shadow or form is drawing the water.
It's all right to let this be strange.
It's all right to have images in your mind.
It's all right to have confusion or frustration or delight.
It's all right.
Look inside and see,
Where do your thoughts come from?
I don't mean,
What have you read about where thoughts come from?
What have you been taught about where your thoughts come from?
I mean,
Right now,
Look inside and see.
Where do sounds come from?
If you close your eyes,
What does the bird call,
Or the sound of your grumbling stomach,
Or the cars in the distance,
Or my voice,
Where do they come from right now?
Can you let yourself just be here,
Without a theory,
Or an explanation,
Or an agenda?
Can you let the world just appear to you fresh in each moment?
In a well that was never dug,
Water ripples from a spring that does not flow.
Someone with no shadow or form is drawing the water.
Who is this person with no shadow or form that's drawing the water?
What do they sound like?
If they have no fixed form,
And they give no shadow,
What do they look like?
What is this well that was never dug,
And inside of it,
What is the water that ripples from a spring that does not flow?
Strange as it sounds,
It is a description of your own life,
Right now.
From the mysterious source,
We and the things that sustain us come.
Eating and drinking,
Waking and sleeping,
We walk on the empty sky.
For some reason,
We like to claim that what appears in our hearts,
Our minds,
Our bodies,
Somehow belongs to us.
But if you pay close attention,
You'll notice this is not quite accurate.
In a well that was never dug,
Water ripples from a spring that does not flow.
And right now,
Before your eyes,
This incredible world blossoming out of nothing,
Again and again.
And so after I've rung the bell to end the meditation,
Please don't leave this behind.
In a well that was never dug,
Water ripples from a spring that doesn't flow.
Someone with no shadow or form is drawing the water.
