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Water at the Well

"Don't Look for Water at an Empty Well"  


There are several ways to interpret this saying but the primary idea is that you can't find what you are looking for in a place where there are no resources. 


The Well as a metaphor can represent the always flowing Divine source where the well is always full. It's when we look for something or someone to be the Well instead of remembering theDivinity of the Well that we find emptiness, for no person, place, or thing can ever provide us with continuous nourishment in the way our connection to the Divine can. 


Another possible interpretation of this saying is seeing the Well as your own energy that, when empty, can't provide you with the necessary energy for life. I used to have a recurring dream when my energies were drained; I was standing by my car at the gas station with an empty gas tank!  What a great dream message to remind me that it was time to increase my true rest, take some time off from work, and replenish myself. True rest can provide us with rejuvenation and can fill up our own personal Well.


Finally, the Well can also be seen as another person or "thing".  Often times we look to resolve issues within ourselves through our relationships as we create situations where we come face to face with our losses, expectations, and fears; We seek love from a person who cannot freely love us and find the Well empty. We seek compassion from those who are not compassionate, honesty and truth from those who are not honest, integrity from those who do not know themselves. We seek to be filled by substances which are merely substitutions. All of these attempts to find connection through externals will find us with an empty bucket at the Well as no one person or "thing" can ever be the Divine Well which is always present and flowing. 


Our own work is to develop awareness of the Divine Well and to connect to it through daily prayer and meditation, always finding the overflowing source of abundance and grace.

Zero Circle by Rumi

On this most precious day, look to what is beautiful within you and then to what is beautiful without, for the inner will be mirrored by the outer. Open your eyes. Look. Be aware! Know that each day is perfect as it is, that you are perfect as you are. Love fully and freely.

ZERO CIRCLE
A poem by Rumi





"Be helpless, dumfounded,
Unable to say yes, or no.
Then a stretcher will come from grace
to gather us up.

We are too dull-eyed to see that beauty.
If we say we can, we're lying.
If we say No, we don't see it,
That No will behead us
And shut tight our window onto spirit.

So let us rather not be sure of anything,
Beside ourselves, and only that, so
Miraculous beings come running to help.
Crazed, lying in a zero circle, mute,
We shall be saying, finally,
With tremendous eloquence, Lead us.
When we have totally surrendered to that beauty,
We shall be a mighty kindness. "

note: Rumi never put any of his poems into writing, but rather he would spin and as he did, his scribe would listen and write down as much as possible. It is from this practice that the Sufi Whirling Dervishes were born.

Reactions and Perceptions

I hear the dog barking outside and immediately tense up- how can I do my work while he is interrupting me?  I reconsider after taking a breath- perhaps he is alerting his master about something important and serving as protector of his home.


My plans include a trip to the store and once in my car I see that the road is blocked for repair and by the time I wait and resume my trip, the store is closed. I reconsider after taking a breath- perhaps by going another time I will meet the best person to help me in my process, or run into an old friend.


A relationship ends after many years, the loss of which is difficult and emotionally painful. I reconsider after taking (many ) a breath- participating in the relationship itself was draining energy from me on a daily basis creating health problems, anxieties, and depression. Perhaps letting it go will in time allow for more healthy relationships to develop.


All of the above are examples of how we often automatically react to life changes, both small and large. Our first reactions may be fear based but we need not stay in fear and can instead "regroup" by taking a breath, releasing the fear, and then allowing our perceptions to expand which then opens our awareness. Only in retrospect can we easily see what did in fact happen, that it all worked out so to speak, and wonder "Why did I worry so much about that?".


The past teaches us that life unfolds in it's own way and by being in the present while applying this perception of the natural flow of life, we can release the hold of fear and experience more joy. 

Reactivity and Response

"If peace is really what you want, then you will choose peace. If peace matters to you more than anything else and it you truly knew yourself to be spirit rather than a little me, you would remain nonreactive and absolutely alert when confronted with challenging people and situations. You would immediately accept the situation and thus become one with it rather than separate yourself from it. Then out of your alertness would come a response. Who you are (consciousness), not who you think you are (a small me), would be responding. It would be powerful and effective and would make no person or situation into an enemy."


Eckhart Tolle from Oneness With All Life

Reaction to what is happening "to" us versus thoughtful response based on our active participation in life. Gut reactions as opposed to calm. Possible?  Yes. Simple?  Yes, that too. Easy? Not so much.....

At the core of this principle which is so eloquently stated by Tolle is detached awareness, the ability to maintain perspective in the midst of what might be an onslaught of challenges thrown our way by people, places, and things.

We can begin to change our old patterns of reactivity by first becoming aware of and accepting the world as it is rather than maintaining how we want it to be. Faced with a stressful situation, we become alert and aware of our essential selves which are not reactive, not fear based, but instead are responsive and peaceful.

Our essential selves do not need to be right, to be understood, to be heard, to be accepted, to be perfect, in the way our "little me" does. Rather, our essence sees the divine in everyone and knows that we are are connected and that peace and harmony exists in all moments. The mantra "I am aware" is a good starting point for redirecting your attention to essence and away from gut reactions, promoting acceptance of what is and creating more harmony in life which is all to the good.