I remember sitting in the meditation hall at the ashram in India, listening to our teacher, Saraswati Vasudevan, talk about digging holes. The lesson was so effective that it is still with me today, over a decade later. She was describing what she had observed in many students, an attitude and set of behaviours that serve as blocks to effective practice and transformation. It’s something I witness as well, so I would like to share this lesson with you today. It went something like this (Actually it went nothing like this. I’ve put my own spin on it. 😉 ):
You are told that, without a doubt, if you stand on the spot where you are and you begin digging, you will find water. You are thirsty to your very core and you have no water. It is an absolute guarantee that you will find water right…..there. All you need to do is start digging. With great enthusiasm, you begin to dig. You know the person who has led you in this direction and you trust them implicitly. In fact, you know that they too have been thirsty like you. They have stood on that spot and have dug a hole. They have found water and know, without a doubt, that it is still there. You will do as they do. Why would they lead you astray?
Dig….dig…dig…..
Okay, I’m an inch down now. No sign of water.
Keep digging. It’s there. I promise.
Dig…dig…dig…
One foot down. No water. Okay, I’m getting irritated now. Where’s the water?
(Doubt starts to creep in. Maybe my guide has steered me wrong. Nah, that can’t be right. They wouldn’t do that to me.)
Dig…dig…dig…
2 feet down. No water.
(I start to look around at other spots. Maybe it’s over there? Maybe I heard wrong? Maybe this is all a joke?)
Dig…dig…dig…
6 feet. No water.
(Now I’m angry. THIS IS RIDICULOUS! I jump out of the hole. And run over there ——-> and start digging. Nothing. Then I run over there <———- and do the same thing. NOTHING! No water. NO WATER! What a joke! So I give up and walk away and tell all sorts of people all sorts of stories about how “this stuff” just doesn’t work.)
If only you had known that the water flows freely at 6 feet and 1 inch.
Think about it. 😉
Blessings,
Tabitha
Tabitha Kot 