I had a brief but illuminating chat with Myoki the other day. Apart from working hard in her new role as Myogen's assistant, which meant she had a lot to do for the AZTA, she told me she had just been asked to take over as the third floor women's bathroom co-ordinator. She was not happy that residents had already come up to her to let her know exactly which jobs they were not willing to do...
I thought it was just the guys. I am used to cleaning up after one or two of my fellow bathroom users who seem to me not to pay attention to this kind of thing, and we all notice when the toilets or the floor do not get cleaned regularly. This is the kind of place where my compassion meets my you-must-try-harder streak, though I try to restrict my comments to occasional encouragement of our bathroom co-ordinator to lean on the less industrious among us.
This kind of matter probably strikes a chord with anyone who shares a household, and though it might seem like a trifling matter in the overall operation of Zen Center, really I feel that you can't make those kind of distinctions. We are practising paying attention to every detail and making our best effort on each moment, as Blanche is fond of quoting Suzuki Roshi as saying. I was tempted during sesshin to put up a sign in one of the toilet stalls along the lines of 'leaving the toilet roll holder empty because you cannot be bothered to change the roll or pick it up off the floor fails to be bodhisattva activity'.
I am also reminded of the phrase used by Shundo Aoyama, which I have quoted before: 'When the abbot or any of the teachers is away from a temple for a week or so, the novices think nothing of it. But if there were no toilet paper, they would quickly feel its absence'. The devil, as they say, is in the details.
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10 comments:
Shundo-
I would like to place a similar sign above the toilet in out bathroom, but my wife would probably sock me in the arm - with compassion, of course.
It is funny how the things that annoy us the most tend to be the best opportunities to practice. I do try to remind myself of that when mine and my wife's household habits and expectations collide.
Take a breath as you refill the toilet paper.....
Peace.
Mike
Hi Mike, nice to hear from you again. Indeed, annoyance is a great dharma gate. When I first lived here people would always be saying "it's good for your practice" when you expressed irritation at something - and I usually wanted to punch them as well..neither thing happens so much these days.
the expression "it's good for your practice" is mostly a cop out. While it may be a useful opportunity to look at one's anger/frustration or whatever other response the situation elicits, it is all too often used to justify some less than bodhisattva like action by the person making the statement. It is equally good for the other person's practice to take care of the matter that caused the frustration in the first place.
Thank you, those were often my sentiments when I heard that phrase. Sometimes it was said tongue in cheek, but not always.
It's sort of mind-boggling that people would refuse to do stuff to help out. What are people's reasons for being unwilling to do certain jobs?
Well, yes,"good for practice" meaning that you DO follow the whole thing though. You can just say, "this is practice, this is practice" as you annoyingly refill the tp, but then to follow through with your spouse, room mate, or community and discuss the whys and hows of making everyone's needs feeling valued is practice. But to stuff it all and just say "good for practice," will come back to bite you in the end when you finally do lose it with mr. or ms. I-don't-want-to-fill-the-tp.
Maybe I should have been more complete with my thoughts. I looks hot at the Vuelta.
Mike, my apologies, my comment was not directed at you, but was in response to Shundo's comment. I should have made that clear. The phrase in question was often (and apparently at times still is) used inappropriately at ZC; using an absolute truth to crush/deny a personal relative reality - this is devoid of compassion and not the way of transcendence.
In the first few years after Richard Baker left, some staff would brag about how they got a new resident or guest student to do some task that they considered beneath them and would justify it with that phrase. About as immoral as it gets. I was too naive back then and believed it - not so much now as you can probably tell.
Anon-
Did not take it as such, and thank you kindly for your apology. I agree with you and found this part of your post interesting: "using an absolute truth to crush/deny a personal relative reality - this is devoid of compassion and not the way of transcendence."
Exactly put.
Peace.
I thought this topic might stir up a few things - I'm glad we all seem to be on the same page about it. I think the crucial difference in the 'good for your practice' phrase is telling it to yourself rather than dropping it on someone else.
Mike, I've been catching the end of the Vuelta each day - the heat looks formidable, and what a finishing course today.
Chris, many people's ancient twisted karma is not yet fully unravelled.
BINGO!
The insight of a teacher is useful to make sure we're not just finding new ways to delude ourselves but ultimately we are the only ones who really know what is good for our practice.
Thanks Shundo - wish you could put that take on the phrase up on a bulletin board somewhere....!!
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