The truth is that we are all trying to be mindful and aware in Buddhist practice, but our usual level of awareness is quite selective. I’m aware of things that are important to me and things I enjoy, and I can be painfully aware of things I don’t like, but there’s a lot going on around us every day that we simply don’t see, because it’s not important to ‘me’. Generally, we humans are aware of very little outside our busy thought streams so it’s a huge challenge for us to awaken, to be present and experience awareness (Sk. Sati). As anyone who has tried to meditate knows, thought streams are very powerful and can be painful as well as distracting. This is why there’s so much focus on daily life practice and working with the body in Zen training. Master Daiyu Myokyo always stressed ‘giving myself into the doing,’ no matter how small the task. Work parties at Shobo-an Zen Temple gave students a chance to practice with the body whilst cleaning and gardening, and, as we give ourselves into the various tasks of daily life, our resistance dissipates and thought streams lose their power.

We are fortunate as Zen students to have daily life training to help us experience awareness, but of course there are many people who aren’t Buddhists also seeking ways to become more aware. Mindfulness practice has become a very popular option, and has proven to be effective as an alternative to drug treatment for modern ailments such as depression and anxiety. Modern mindfulness therapy was started by Jon Kabat-Zinn in 1979. Kabat-Zinn studied Buddhism while a student at MIT, and adapted Buddhist teachings to create his program of ‘Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction’. He is now a successful author (14 books and counting), Professor of Medicine Emeritus, and creator of the Stress Reduction Clinic and Centre for Mindfulness in Medicine at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. Since its inception, Kabat-Zinn’s therapy has become a worldwide phenomenon. If you look on Amazon, you will find hundreds of books on mindfulness, like Mindfulness for Dummies, A Mindfulness Guide for the Frazzled, and a Mindfulness colouring book. There is now an app called Buddhify: ‘The Mindfulness app for people who don’t have time’, with meditations designed to ‘fit our life’. All this shows how the Buddha’s teachings from 2,500 years ago are still being practiced by people around the world today, even if in diluted form such as mindfulness therapy. In her book about addiction, author Catherine Gray describes her first encounter with mindfulness as ‘nothing short of a revelation.’ “It’s all about learning that negative thoughts are like propaganda, they are not real, they are not you.” She writes, “You can learn to observe negative thoughts as they arise, let them stay awhile, and then simply let them evaporate.”

A young man who was having therapy for depression and anxiety sent out a tweet before he went to bed one evening:

“My therapist is teaching me to interrupt my anxious thinking with positive thoughts such as ‘What if things work out? What if all my hard work pays off?’

I’m passing this tip on to you wherever you are…”

When the young man got up the next morning, he discovered that his message had been shared 5,000 times. By the next evening, it had been retweeted 194,000 times had 485,000 likes, and he had almost 10,000 followers. So that gives us an idea how desperately people are searching for a solution to mental suffering, and why mindfulness practice has become so popular.

There is no quick route to developing awareness (Sk. Sati). Mindfulness therapy can alleviate many symptoms of stress and help people disengage from negative thinking, but walking the Buddha’s Way is a lifelong journey. Everything we do as Zen students, the hours of meditation (Jp. Zazen), the rituals of cleaning and daily life practice, the Zen retreats (sesshin) and the bowing down, all of it leads us towards the experience of an open heart. However, we are human and as humans we are full of passions and opinions, daydreams and worries, so, when we start Zen training, opening up and giving ourselves can feel strange and uncomfortable. Giving myself into the ‘doing’ - what does that mean? In the beginning, we don’t understand and if we try to think about it that doesn’t help. We must jump into it!

When I started Zen training many years ago, I had no interest in learning how to clean properly. I honestly didn’t like cleaning; for some reason it made me feel angry and resentful. I would never have guessed that the physical act of cleaning, done wholeheartedly and with reverence, could lead to increased awareness in life. Just by doing the usual tasks with reverence we can open up to life: 2chopping wood and carrying water,” as the Zen saying goes. The first time I went to a work party at my local temple, I was sent downstairs to clean the Meditation Hall (Jp. Zendo). It was the first time I experienced ‘giving myself’ to cleaning, and it was a truly profound experience. To my surprise, I began to feel a real fondness for the old furniture, the smell of the beeswax polish, and I enjoyed bringing a shine to the wooden altar. For whatever reason, my heart had been closed, and the experience of giving myself into cleaning and polishing was a revelation, and an opening. You could say it was the beginning of awareness, of seeing and appreciating what was around me. I discovered that I could clean my own kitchen with the same devoted energy, and the old resentments gradually disappeared.

Not long ago, a book came out called A Monk’s Guide to a Clean House and a Clean Mind. It is written by a young Japanese monk, Shoukei Matsumoto. Shoukei lives in Komyoji monastery in Tokyo and his approach is very practical; “Everyday domestic chores become a way to clean your heart”.

In the first chapter, Understanding Cleaning,  Shoukei explains that in Japan cleaning isn’t just about removing dirt, it’s about cultivating the mind or heart/mind. The instructions on how to clean floors and bathrooms show that monks clean everything with awareness and reverence; they are deeply respectful of everything they clean, including toilets and floors. At the end of the book there is a section on ‘Body and Mind’, with explanations on ‘How to Breathe Properly’ and ‘How to Wash your Face’. It is all one; the care we give to our environment is reflected in our bodies, and keeping both ourselves and our environment clean and well- tended is a devotional exercise that helps us become truly aware and present.

At a retreat a few years ago, we had 16 participants and two members of the Sangha (ordained monk/nun). There was a rota to help with the washing up and kitchen cleaning and this makes for a very good awareness practice. The Sangha have a very clear way of doing things, and helpers need to be observant and on their toes at all times. What impressed me was how smoothly everything was done, efficiently and energetically. When kitchen helpers hesitated or made mistakes, the monk or nun immediately demonstrated what to do, and this was repeated many times over a two-day retreat. In fact, as new people came into the kitchen to clean or wash up, the Sangha tirelessly gave the same instructions until it all began to go smoothly. There was a genuine enthusiasm from all participants there to get it right.

The Zen priest and writer Meido Moore said “Remaining present has nothing to do with time. Rather it is the practice of throwing ourselves wholly into every activity and situation. It is living completely and sincerely with our whole being engaged in the unfolding of life. Whatever we meet with our bodies and minds in the arising and passing away of each moment of existence, we just become one with that.” Master Hakuin said, “In our practice we need not strive to be like a string connecting a series of beads, we must just become each bead.”

A student asked Master Joshu, “If I have nothing in my mind, what shall I do?”

Joshu replied “Throw it out” (meaning throw out this ‘I’ who asks the question).

The student continued “But if I haven’t anything how can I throw it out?”

Joshu said “Carry it out.”