To you, the saying "Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water" means that enlightenment results in:
A: No causal change
B: Only internal, not external change
C: Only moral, not 'everyday action' change
D: Don't know/care
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It seems like a round trip, but the chopping and carrying feels much higher quality at the end.
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And that physical work spurs thought and introspection...so work is always needed.
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never heard this one, but there's another one I think of a lot that goes (paraphrase):
"before one studies zen, mountains are mountains
while one studies zen, mountains are not mountains
after one studies zen, mountains are mountains"
anyways, I voted B
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I just thought it meant that enlightenment doesn't excuse you from being responsible for your life, it doesn't make you rich, it changes your relationship to consciousness, which very much does have outward effects.
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After enlightenment sometimes people can still be caught not knowing what to do next, the phrase is to explain that even though your internal world is devoid of the suffering you previously had you still need to live life.
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