"Simple Living" - Chapters 15 and 16

[Jundo]

Just jump in if joining, no "catch up" ... just today is today ...

I will include chapter headings, as we discovered some differences between the US and UK editions regarding chapter order.

Chapter 15 - Arrange Your Room Simply - Take some small space of your home or work place ... a desk top or a single drawer, a single kitchen shelf or counter top, that is now very cluttered. (Of course, you can do a whole room if you wish.) Simplify and minimize the space down to none, one or a few bare essentials, so that it is open and spacious. Appreciate the simplicity and openness of the space for a moment each day this week.

Chapter 16 - Try Going Barefoot - In some situation where you normally wear covered shoes, instead wear sandals or just socks or (best of all, if possible) go barefoot. If a place where you wear socks, go totally bare. Enjoy the freedom of your toes. Let em wiggle. Be with the feeling. (Of course, best not in a place where you might step on something "ouch"! :p )

Gassho, J

STLaw

[Ryudo]

gassho2

SatToday/LAH

[Nanrin]

As a low-clutter and barefoot-when-possible kind of guy, I'm not sure what to do for these two. Enjoy life, I guess :D I'll go on an extra barefoot walk this week for 16, and try and find something to clear off or something already uncluttered to appreciate.

Gassho,

Nanrin

Sat today

[Jundo]

As a low-clutter and barefoot-when-possible kind of guy, I'm not sure what to do for these two. Enjoy life, I guess :D I'll go on an extra barefoot walk this week for 16, and try and find something to clear off or something already uncluttered to appreciate.

Gassho,

Nanrin

Sat today

Then clutter something, and put on extra shoes, and appreciate how lovely both are too!

A Koan: When the barefoot Buddha puts on shoes, is she more or less the Buddha?

Gassho, J

STLah

[Doshin]

gassho2

Doshin
st

[Tairin]

I really enjoy being barefoot. Something about really feeling the ground. We just came back from a family trip to Nova Scotia and we walked barefoot along the Atlantic coast beaches as well as at the Bay of Fundy.

Coming back though means unpacking, cleaning clothes and putting everything away so there’s my declutter too

I am really enjoying working through this book week by week. This has definitely been a welcome addition to my practice. Not every response needs to be a grand gesture, just a thoughtful personal response to the exercise.

gassho2
Tairin
Sat today and lah

[Nenka]

15:

5883

5884


16: Yesterday I walked to work--in athletic shoes and good socks--for the first time in a while (it's 3.5 miles). When I came home I experienced the evening barefoot and paid attention to the difference.

Gassho

Nenka

ST

[Shōnin Risa Bear]

My son, 36 who requires extra care, stays with us one night a week. He's been using a room we are now renovating. So I have vacated "my" room and moved his bed in there, taking the opportunity to move about one hundred pounds (not all at once!) to the "to the thrift" pile. I have other alternatives [monk] and did not really need a bedroom of my own, as he does. He needs silence and no lights at all or he doesn't sleep.

It looks nice. Very spare, with no paintings on the walls, etc.

I can go barefoot around here a little bit, but not very far or at night; I'd get spiked by the dried out false-dandelion and Queen-Anne's lace stubs that are everywhere. Made it as far as the zucchinis and picked one.

gassho
doyu sattoday

[Washin]

gassho2

Gassho
Washin
sat/lah

[Kendrick]

Ch 15 and 16 (together): yesterday we (my wife and I) devoted our day to decluttering and cleaning house. We didn’t finish it all but we made serious progress in getting it back to being more organized. It already feels less stressful knowing less clutter is there (even if it came from somewhere normally out of sight).

I normally do always go barefoot at home so yesterday I wore socks and shoes all day (I didn’t even leave the house). The shoes made me forget about my feet.. not having that connection to the surface I’m standing and walking on. I much prefer bare feet. Shoes inside felt restrictive and made me feel unsettled, like I was heading somewhere rather than being home all day. Being barefoot for me usually signifies “I am home” since I’m always barefoot here.


Gassho /\
Kendrick
Sat

[Jundo]

I normally do always go barefoot at home so yesterday I wore socks and shoes all day (I didn’t even leave the house). The shoes made me forget about my feet.. not having that connection to the surface I’m standing and walking on. I much prefer bare feet. Shoes inside felt restrictive and made me feel unsettled, like I was heading somewhere rather than being home all day. Being barefoot for me usually signifies “I am home” since I’m always barefoot here.

Experience the Buddha beyond feet or no feet ...

A Koan ... does this Buddha have feet or no feet, shoes or no shoes?


https://www.britishmuseum.org/collectionimages/AN00035/AN00035827_001_l.jpg


How about in the Lotus Posture?

https://www.2aussietravellers.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/The-Great-Buddha-of-Kamakura-1024x683.jpg

Gassho, J

ST(with and without feet/shoes) Lah

[Kendrick]

Thank you, Jundo. I will be contemplating this. /\

Gassho /\
Kendrick
SatTonight

[krissydear]

15 & 16: decluttered the top of my dresser drawer and walked around with one foot bare since the other is in a CAM boot. Like many here, I usually feel like I can breathe a little more deeply after I have cleaned.

[gassholook]
Gassho
thank you
krissy
sat/lah today

[Teiro]

It looks like I’m a bit of a latecomer to this thread – I just‘ve bought the ebook. Will start right here with these two chapters - I love to declutter. :)

Gassho

Teiro

Sat

[Kotei]

How about in the Lotus Posture?

Sitting the most recent Zazenkai in Lotus Posture made me feel like having no feet too (fell asleep) ;-)

#15 presented me with a usable wardrobe.
for #16 I am walking barefoot across the garden to my sitting place in the mornings. Sand... wet grass... stones... gravel... wooden planks.

Thank you.
Gassho,
Kotei sat/lah today.