Page 259 - Mystic Pathways through the Bible

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asking water? I am a Samarian lady and I should not give you water.” Jesus replied, “If you knew with Whom you are speaking, you wouldn’t say that. I am the Giver of Eternal Water—the Water that gives immortality.” She said, “You have no ropes, no vessel to draw water out of the well, yet you say you are going to give the Water of Life.” Jesus explained, “With the water you drink from this well, you become thirsty again and again, but the well of Eternal Water surges with Water that satis es all your thirst forever with ful llment and joy.” She became attentive and said wearily, “I am tired of coming to this well again and again to draw water. I would like to have your Water and you can have mine.” She gave him water to drink and they talked about philosophical matters.
This episode has a profound spiritual meaning. Although the Bible does not mention this, the implication is very clear. The Samarian lady is a symbol of the individual soul, a jiva who comes into the world-process. The well refers to the source of pleasure through the senses, which is the water that people run after in this world. You go after those waters, the perishable pleasures of the senses, and again become thirsty. Day by day you must draw water, coming back again and again. This implies being born again and again—the repeated cycles of birth and death. The jiva visiting the well goes on