Let’s look at work practice, Samu, which will be part of our Rohatsu Retreat.

While Zazen is at the heart of our Way, other aspects of traditional Zen Practice are also “Zazen Off The Cushion”. The vital and energetic non-doing of ‘Samu‘ traditional work practice is so.

Samu is well described in this excerpt:

“Samu is manual work done with the same concentration as zazen. All masters of transmission, especially Master Hyakujo (720-814), have insisted on this. Even in his old age, Master Hyakujo worked every day in the field with his students. One day, they hid his tools, thinking that their master should spare himself. Hyakujo declared: “A day without working, a day without eating.” And he stopped eating until his disciples gave him back his tools.　

In zen, work has great value, because it allows us to practise the Way in action. In the dojo and during retreats (sesshins), zazen is followed by samu, which is when we do the chores to ensure the smooth functioning of communal life. Samu also means putting our efforts at the service of the community, without expecting anything in return.” From Zen, by Bovay, Kaltenbach and De Smedt, Albin Michel Publishing, 1993

Yes, Samu is just Zazen in action. It may not look like Zazen, but it is to be done from the same state of mental balance. Couple this with an attitude of goalless, non-striving, ‘just doing’, also a hallmark of Zazen. As well, work is to be performed mindfully, as the only action in and of the whole universe : One engaged in Samu should devote to it all care and attention, never wishing for or thinking of anything else in that moment of action.

The result is a job performed diligently and patiently and with certain goals, but with no thought of anything to achieve (of course, not a contradiction in Zen). It may be a continuing job that just needs to be done without end, but we do it with all care moment by moment by moment for the time we have.

We usually describe Samu in a nutshell as working diligently and carefully at one’s task trying to get it done, all while, simultaneously, dropping all thought of any goal to attain or anywhere to get! (Yes, seems contradictory, like seeing things two ways at once, as one.)

All Good Samu, All Good Practice!

For example, we clean the dishes trying to get them clean (because nobody wants filthy dishes!), all the while dropping all thought of “clean” vs. “dirty” and anything to achieve, thereby achieving a certain purity that sweeps in and through both clean and dirty. Thus, we achieve a clean that cleans up as both clean and dirty!

Those parents and workers with heavy family or employment duties even during a Retreat can make that part of that their ‘Samu’, approaching it with the mindset described above. Treat every changed diaper, cooked meal and bedtime story read during the Retreat as ‘Samu’. Treat every staple stapled, copy made on the copy machine, customer greeted as ‘Samu’ if needing to work during part of the ‘Retreat’.

Jundo Roshi says “In years past, I have gathered fall leaves and cleaned the bathtub (an activity, frankly, I usually do not enjoy!) … Now, if you can, and the weather permits, it is lovely to do some outdoor work for Samu. Or one can clean (beyond “clean vs. dirty”) around the house.“

However, if someone has physical or other limitations, even small tasks are fine. Those with health and other physical restrictions should find some work that they can do easily, seated or without strain, not too demanding on the body. Samu can be small and careful, and need not be too demanding of strength and stamina. ​ We have had folks fold socks in bed, or clean a drawer or polish small coins, but with a sincere and dedicated heart. If someone has a health condition or disability, they can just do what they can and the body allows. No problem. Design your own work project that you feel comfortable with. Here is our Shokai to demonstrate a simple task while seated

Going to the toilet is nature, is life, is Practice, is Zazen. All the Buddhas and Ancestors had to pee and poo, and so do you.But how we do our duty makes all the difference!

Master Dogen devoted an entire chapter of Shobogenzo to latrine procedures (two chapters, actually!) and during our Retreat we should see going to the toilet as a sacred ritual. First, drop all thought of “clean” and “dirty”, flush such discriminatory ideas away! However, even as we drop all idea of “clean” and “dirty”, we try to stay clean (we are always working on several levels in Zen) … so, if wearing a Rakusu, remove it and hang it outside the toilet room before entering. Then Gassho 3x toward the door of the toilet room (or, if you wish, do full prostrations 3x as monks do in traditional monasteries) and recite a ‘Gatha’ such as the following (by Ven. Thich Naht Hanh):

Defiled or immaculate,
increasing or decreasing–
these concepts exist only in our mind.
The reality of interbeing is unsurpassed.

Of course, maintain silence in the bog. No reading material and, while one need not assume the full lotus posture on the commode, one should do one’s business with the sense of stillness-in-motion and non-attaining that is Zazen. Go with the flow!

Truly, peeing is the only action in that moment, a perfect, shining golden act complete unto itself. It is not you peeing, or even the whole universe peeing in that instant (although it is that too), for ’tis Just Peeing. On exiting, bow again 3x to the toilet door and recite a Gatha such as …

Using the toilet I vow with all beings
to eliminate defilement,
removing greed, anger and ignorance.

Then be sure to wash your hands (there is something to recite for that as well). By the way, a similar ritual should be performed prior to entering the bath or shower. In that case, please recite a Gatha such as …

Bathing the body,
may all living beings
be clean in body and mind,
pure and shining within and without.

We will have similar recitals of “Gatha” for use when brushing the teeth, washing the face and hands, and like times. They are printed in our “Chant Book”, which is available for download for use during the Retreat.

For our upcoming Rohatsu retreat, if you can, please print out the gathas and place them around the bathroom. IT IS ALL SACRED!

Here is an image of a traditional Tosu (東司, the “Eastern Hall” Toilet) in a Zen Monastery in Japan. As you can see, it has an Altar too.

The image there is the Buddha Ususama-myoo (烏瑟沙摩明王, seen below at the entrance to another Tosu and bath house), also called Katokongoo, who symbolizes the virtue of purification, and is said to transform impurities. It is also said that the origin of Ususama Myo-oh is the Indian god Agni, able to burn away all impurities with fire.​

We have some bowing and prostrations during our annual retreat. To be more precise, there are times of prostrating (Raihai) which can be replaced with standing bow (Gassho) if physical need, and these are done in a series of three (Sanpai)

Many Westerners don’t care for it, because it is not part of our culture generally. We see it as humiliating, embarrassing, somehow “idol worshipping” or undemocratic. The most often asked question is to whom or to what we are bowing. Is it to some thing, god, place like Mecca, person or effigy?

The answer is that there is nothing that’s true that is omitted from our bow. We might consider that we’re simply bowing to the whole universe, and to ourself and the other people around us … after all, ‘All is One’! The hands, palms upwards from the ground, are raised in a gesture traditionally symbolic of lifting the Buddha’s feet over one’s head, but that truly means lifting all things of the universe over one’s head as all things support you in turn. It’s appropriate to cultivate an attitude of emptying, letting go, receptivity and gratitude in our bows.

We do not necessarily need to think anything when bowing … although we might feel in our hearts that “Great Gratitude” we sometimes mention.

If there is some physical or personal reason not to prostrate, a simple deep standing Gassho can be substituted. For those who must be in bed, a sincere hand gesture or wink can hold all the sincere heart of a full bow if the heart means it so. All that matters is that there is present the sincerity and the humility of the prostration.

No less, are we raising something up or … seen another way … is the whole world raising us up at the same time?

Here is a graphic explanation of how to perform a prostration. This is one of the essential forms in our tradition:

Many Tibetans (many Christians pilgrims too) will travel for hundreds of miles, prostrating with each step …

If you would like to watch a brief video of formal Sesshin atmosphere (not much different on ordinary days there in fact) at Eiheiji Monastery, including such customs as Samu Work and Oryoki …

As Jundo Roshi always tells our priests-in-training here at Treeleaf, the seriousness of the Practice depends on one’s own diligence, care, persistence, sincerity and attention to the Practice before one in this moment.

Zazen is not a matter of long or short. One must sit dropping all measure, tasting in one’s bones that every single instant of Zazen is all time (and all timeless too)! One must sit throwing the clock away! And yet, and yet … sometimes, we need to practice a bit long and hard, morning to night, sitting and wrestling with ‘me, my self and I’, all to attain ‘Nothing More to Attain’, and to taste ‘Just This’. It is also not a matter of place … s we should “sit Zazen” too in the hospital bed, death bed, nursery room, grocery line, city bus. Nonetheless, we go to the Retreat sometimes to sit in a room on a Zafu, precisely because it is not a matter of “where” or “place.”

Our Retreat may be short by the clock and held from home, but can be a serious endeavor nonetheless. And, no…we will not be hitting anyone with the Kyosaku stick