BOOK OF EQUANIMITY - Case 39

[Jundo]

Can I perform "sacred acts" as though I were changing a light bulb? I'd like my practice to be just that mundane. When I change a lightbulb, I don't go around with a feeling that I've been "good", or that maybe I'm kind of special. I don't find a way to work into conversation the fact that I changed a lightbulb today. I don't feel that I belong to a special lightbulb-changing club. I don't compare my lightbulb-changing technique to other people's techniques and feel that my way is the true way to change a lightbulb. I don't need to be in a perfect lightbulb-changing mood in order to change the lightbulb. I don't obsess over the fine details of my stance and what I'm wearing and the exact angle of my eyelids while I change a lightbulb. I don't expect changing the lightbulb to mean I will always have light forever after. I don't hope and wish that my lightbulb will one day change into the sun. A lightbulb goes out and I change it and move on to the next thing.

Change the lightbulb, wash your bowl, go sit for a while.

Gassho,
Lisa

Oh! Wise cracking and Wise! Wonderful.

10,000 Watt Illumination!

Gassho, J

[Mp]

Can I perform "sacred acts" as though I were changing a light bulb? I'd like my practice to be just that mundane. When I change a lightbulb, I don't go around with a feeling that I've been "good", or that maybe I'm kind of special. I don't find a way to work into conversation the fact that I changed a lightbulb today. I don't feel that I belong to a special lightbulb-changing club. I don't compare my lightbulb-changing technique to other people's techniques and feel that my way is the true way to change a lightbulb. I don't need to be in a perfect lightbulb-changing mood in order to change the lightbulb. I don't obsess over the fine details of my stance and what I'm wearing and the exact angle of my eyelids while I change a lightbulb. I don't expect changing the lightbulb to mean I will always have light forever after. I don't hope and wish that my lightbulb will one day change into the sun. A lightbulb goes out and I change it and move on to the next thing.

Oh Lisa, thank you for this ... You made me laugh and smile at the same moment. =)

Gassho
Shingen

[Risho]

That was awesome raindrop. Thank you.

Gassho,

Risho

[Ishin]

Just saw the exercise, will be doing gatha everyday for a week. at exactly noon, I will stop and see what I happen to be doing.

I would like to think I could change a lightbulb as a sacred act. But I rarely do. How many Clark's does it take to change a lightbulb?

#1 "Oh No.. I hope I have enough lightbulbs in my office, I better go get more"

#2 "How come these lightbulbs keep going out, didn't I just replace it? I wonder if there is something wrong with the wiring of my house. I bet those builders screwed up and didn't do this right. Cost cutting expenses to make more money. typical.. Oh wait where was I?...

#3 "My wife will be so happy that I am finally getting to these lightbulbs, that need changing. I hope that she will be more approving of me"

#4 "I am going to light the candle on my Zen altar now.. there now things are much more sacred."

Yes I would say it takes at least 4 Clark's to change a lightbulb. Not 4, not 1..

Gassho
C

[Amy Penne]

Yesterday, I did the laundry with 'no dread.' I HATE to do the laundry. But yesterday, I re-read Case 39, and washed my bowl. I just washed, dried, sorted, folded, and put away. No dread. No thought. Just that.
Gassho--
Amy

[Jundo]

Yesterday, I did the laundry with 'no dread.' I HATE to do the laundry. But yesterday, I re-read Case 39, and washed my bowl. I just washed, dried, sorted, folded, and put away. No dread. No thought. Just that.
Gassho--
Amy

AND now you have clean underwear too!

Gassho, J

[Ishin]

My little experiment, I found quite interesting. First when doing things in a "sacred" way, I found i was much more relaxed and focused. There was less mental chatter and judgement, less multitasking, and I found myself slowing down to do things completely. I also found this practice spilled into other times, not just when I intended.

Gassho
C

[Joyo]

Oh Jundo, I was so wanting to live my life like a Zen-master, and now you just went and burst-ed that bubble...or shall I say lightbulb
I guess I'll go back to cleaning toilets

Gassho,
Joyo

[Byokan]

After letting this koan sit on the back burner for a while, a new aspect has come up for me. I was washing dishes and I thought, why do we wash our bowl? So we can be ready to use it at the next meal. If we leave schmutz in our bowl, we’ll have icky moldy old bits in our gruel next time we eat, and it will ruin the freshness of the meal and could even give us food poisoning. The monk comes in to the temple and straightaway, first thing, asks for instruction. But before he can “fill his bowl,” with new teaching or insight, he must first wash away the dregs of whatever came before. If he thinks he has learned anything before, he has to set that aside and meet the new teaching with a fresh and open mind. He has to start with a fresh bowl every time. This kind of reminds me of that old story about emptying your cup. It’s kind of about beginners mind, I guess.

Gassho,
Lisa

[Jundo]

After letting this koan sit on the back burner for a while, a new aspect has come up for me. I was washing dishes and I thought, why do we wash our bowl? So we can be ready to use it at the next meal. If we leave schmutz in our bowl, we’ll have icky moldy old bits in our gruel next time we eat, and it will ruin the freshness of the meal and could even give us food poisoning. The monk comes in to the temple and straightaway, first thing, asks for instruction. But before he can “fill his bowl,” with new teaching or insight, he must first wash away the dregs of whatever came before. If he thinks he has learned anything before, he has to set that aside and meet the new teaching with a fresh and open mind. He has to start with a fresh bowl every time. This kind of reminds me of that old story about emptying your cup. It’s kind of about beginners mind, I guess.

Gassho,
Lisa

He also needs to learn that "clean vs. dirty" is just a human judgment ... and dirty is just what it is. Same for sickness and health, life and death. They do not truly exist as we think they do.

Nonetheless, we clean our bowl! Why? Because it is dirty and if we don't, we could catch food poisoning, and even die!

Is there a conflict there?

If you think there is ... empty your bowl!

Gassho, J

[AlanLa]

Oh, where to begin…

First thought: When I moved into m first apartment, my mom told me that after my grandmother died my grandfather lived with one set of dishes the he washed after every meal. A great story, very possibly true, but my grandfather by then was also a raging alcoholic about as far from a buddha (though of course he was a buddha, really!) as could be. Then again, maybe he was neat about things like this. Who knows?

Second thought: I let my dishes pile up in the sink until it overflows and then I rinse them (unmindfully) and put them in the dishwasher that bothers me with its sound for over an hour, so I just turn up the TV. Worse than that, I will eat and then just leave my dish there on the table for hours because I would rather sit down before putting it in the sink to sit until the sink gets full.

Third thought: Just how sacred do I have to be with the mundane in my life? Can I just be mindful of holding a lightbulb and turning it in the socket, or do I need to be as Raindrop describes? The middle way, of course! When we first begin to sit it is exhausting to do so for only a few minutes. To treat all our everyday acts as sacred as zazen can feel the same way. But as someone around here likes to say, "It's all practice," so why not treat it as such?

[Meishin]

I am trying to be more aware of doing the daily work with intention.Instead of being governed by restrictions ("it's been 45 minutes and there's a patient waiting outside"), I am trying to be present with a person rather than with a clock. It is not easy at all. I'm conditioned to think in terms of results. Most times I fail. But it puts a new spin to the work. I'm beginning, slowly, to see persons rather than patients, relationships rather than sessions. Baby steps.

Gassho
John