Cleaning House

Every Wednesday our home is transformed into a meditation center. We have been hosting this weekly gathering for almost three years and I suspect that unless we completely outgrow the space offered by our living and dining room, there will be a meditation group here until we move out of this house.

The meditation was originally lead by my long time acquaintance Michael Taft, a widely experienced and uniquely gifted Dharma teacher. Over a year ago, Michael and his partner Penelope left us to relocate to the Bay Area. Filling Michael's shoes seemed like an impossibly tall order but we were lucky in that Jessica, as Michael's main student, had reached a place where she felt comfortable taking on the role of group facilitator. While both Jessica and I had been trained in teaching meditation by our (and Michael's) main teacher, Shinzen Young, At that point I was not yet comfortable working with more than one person at a time.(I have since graduated to group work!)

Besides leading the guided meditation on Weds nights, there are a number of other small chores associated with the gatherings. The first (and in some peoples minds, most important), is including cookies (and tea) for the group in our weekly domestic shopping. The next issue is sending out weekly attendance invitations via our Facebook site (Vipassana at 1501 Scott), and the last, is the cleaning of the space every week before people arrive. Since our Dhamma (Dharma) space is also our home, the cleaning is extra important and takes on an air of ritual cleansing. As we have busy, active lives it's sometimes a juggle to see who can commit the time to doing a proper cleaning job. The funny thing is, its never really felt like a burden. Our teacher often extols us to seek out opportunities to practice "meditation in action" and cleaning and simple household chores are often associated with meditation. I think Jessica and myself both enjoy the opportunity to quiet the mind before receiving the evenings first guests.

Today at school, the topic of Thich Nhat Hanh's Gatha's for mindfulness in daily life came up. Although they have been associated historically with certain forms eastern scripture, a Gatha is simply a poetic verse. Thich Nhat Hanh, the Vietnamese monk and Nobel Peace Prize candidate is also well known by his followers for his poetry and calligraphy, his use of the Gatha is generally associated with hymns to aspects of mindfulness. Below is Thich Nhat Hanhs Gatha on cleaning the meditation room.

"Cleaning the Meditation Room"

As I Clean this fresh, calm room, 
boundless joy and energy arise.


"It is a joy to tidy the meditation room, In its fresh, calm atmosphere, everything reminds us to come back to the present moment. Every sweep of the broom is light and every step we take is filled with awareness. As we arrange the cushions, our mind is still, working in a relaxed way, with a feeling of peace and joy, we become energized. Everything we do can be filled with this peace and joy."




That last line of commentary is key, it reminds us that for that even the "everyday", "mundane", tasks can be filled with worship and mindfulness; Who in attending to our daily "chores" doesn't sometimes find themselves rushing to get on to the important parts of life, the meaningful parts, the overt acts of sanctity, or the "quality time" with the family or friends. It's so easy to forget that we are personally responsible for allowing in and observing the blessing that the opportunity of each moment presents to us. Attempting to be mindful in every moment brings the sacred to all that we do but it also makes us better prepared for those times when we are called on to go the extra mile.

you will find more of Thich Nhaht Hanhs Gatha's here: http://books.google.com/books