Sweeper

The meditation center I went to for the Ocean of Peace meditation retreat over Memorial Day is volunteer run. As participants of the retreat we were asked to volunteer to help out around the center. I signed up to sweep the main meditation hall after the meditation sessions.

When I took on this duty, one of the nuns told me the story about Lam Chung. Lam Chung wasn’t the brightest at the monastery. He couldn’t memorize the chants and the prayers. But Buddha recognized he was trying so hard. He had the intent to work through his delusions. So he asked Lam Chung to help sweep the temple. While Lam Chung swept, Buddha asked that he repeat the phrase, “Out with the dirt, out with the delusions.”

Delusions are those parts of our mind that cause us to get angry, hurt, jealous, etc… The idea is if you clear those delusions away, you will achieve nirvana: perfect, unending happiness.

So there I was, vacuuming. This isn’t a task I enjoy all that much at home. But while in the temple I put a different spin on things. I didn’t just recite what Lam Chung recited. I also reminded myself that I was helping to preserve sacred space. I sang a little song about this while sweeping. I reminded myself that I was keeping the space clean for all of the participants so they could enjoy it.

And it felt good!

Someone saw my service and left me a nice little card on my meditation cushion. It was a nice gesture and a nice souvenir of my trip.

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When I got home from the retreat, my apartment needed some cleaning. I’d been gone a couple of days with cats remaining behind to track kitty litter. As I got my vacuum out, I repeated the same process I did at the temple. Reminded myself I was creating sacred space. Reminded myself that I was sweeping away my delusions. There’s a lot more stuff in my apartment than in that meditation hall, so there are still nooks and crannies that need some attention. But transforming that task into one of celebration, reflection, and purification is truly transformational.

After vacuuming I finally did my dishes too, which hadn’t been done in weeks. Dishes are my least favorite chore, but constantly bringing my attention to washing away my delusions helps. When there was something really sticky on one of the dishes that I had to scrape off, it made sense how some of my delusions are the same.

There are so many lessons I’m taking away from that meditation retreat. I hope they continue to show themselves, but more importantly that I can maintain what I’ve learned and put the lessons more fully into practice.