"What Seems to Be the Problem?"

What seems to be the problem is often, not in fact, THE problem.

“What seems to be the problem?” the plumber asked my landlords when he arrived.

I was happy to hear his voice outside. We had been waiting the night before and all day, and it was now after 3 pm. While waiting, we had no water and could not flush our toilets.

What seemed to be the problem was that the toilets were draining into the basement, where the landlords have their little workshop, instead of into the proper place where sewage should drain. This is a problem indeed. The cause of the problem was a failure of the outside plumbing, a 25 year old pipe that had somehow detached itself and fallen down a hole and now the plumbers have applied for permits from the city to fix it (because in a deep blue city you have to apply for permits to fix the plumbing, I suppose) and they will dig it up on Thursday. In the meantime, the landlords turned back on our water and said we can proceed as normal, as long as we refrain from long showers and “multiple flushing.” What qualifies as multiple flushing I did not inquire further. I’ve gone about my business and nothing bad has happened since then, as far as I know.

One might wonder: if flushing the toilet was so detrimental before, but the underlying problem won’t be fixed until Thursday, why is it okay to flush the toilet now? As I said, I didn’t inquire further. I am a huge fan of indoor plumbing and wish nothing to come between me and the successful utilization thereof. I also enjoyed washing the dishes I had hidden in the fridge to prevent them from attracting vermin. I never leave dishes in the sink or anywhere else, and I didn’t plan to yesterday, even when it was not possible to wash them.

I doubt that my landlords’ (they are two brothers who own the house that has been in their family since 1948) explanation of the problem is quite the whole picture, but I neither need nor want to know any more. Much of time time in life, this is a good stance to have. If one does not need further detail, why clutter the brain with it?

One of my favorite books, Love is Letting Go of Fear, has a chapter called, “I am never upset for the reason I think.” The book consists of a series of lessons, to be done repeatedly in order, that really do help clear the mind of fear. The example the author gives of being upset but not for the reason he thinks is that he had terrible back problems for years. He was even told he needed major surgery for a congenital condition, but he did not want the surgery. Yet he had been in pain and unable to do things he loved, like gardening and tennis, for a long time. Through meditation he started to have insights into how to improve his personal relationships. As he did, his back pain went away. Was the pain caused by the tension in relationships?

Often I figure out what the problem was when the problem suddenly goes away. Financial anxiety - an infusion of cash or a prospect of long term security makes it go away. On a deadline? Project done = problems disappear (I like to finish early and work ahead. Like if it’s not early it’s late.) Tired? A good night’s sleep or even a nap often makes things look a lot better.

Snow, as you can see, is currently a problem. But is it really the problem?

It is a problem for me, primarily, because schools are still out and as a substitute I am not getting paid. I miss the kids, I miss my colleagues, and I miss the paycheck. If I were full time, I’d not find this as much of a problem.

If I had to drive somewhere, I’d find it all a problem. But I don’t. Loviefluffy loves having me home, so she’s not in the slightest bit concerned about the snow. It’s stayed warm in our house thanks be to God, her bowl is full and her mommy is available for petting. No problems for Fluffy.

When we sit zazen (Zen meditation), we try to let go of the idea of problems. Things just are what they are. It’s our minds that make them good or bad, or so it is said. But in practice, there are real difficulties. Discernment is figuring out what the problem is vs. what seems to be the problem.

I once had roaches in the sink, and though I never left a dish in the sink and cleaned it every night with Lysol, they wouldn’t stay away. I looked up “What kills roaches” and found out that geckos like to eat them. So I thought, “Maybe I should get a gecko!”

There is an entire cottage industry it seems in advice on how to get geckos OUT of your life, whether they are in the house, car, or otherwise. While this might sound cute and entertaining to those of us in northern climates with piles of gecko-unfriendly snow, this is clearly a serious issue in the southwest. So I concluded that while getting a gecko might solve the roach problem, it would create a host of other problems that I don’t want.

And I don’t think that Loviefluffy would like a gecko.

I got rid of the roaches (knock on wood, clean all surfaces) and got no gecko.

This little fellow is awful cute though.