Master Dogen, said “Cooking a meal and washing the dishes are none other than the activity of the marvelous mind of nirvana”. Many times I’ve washed dishes and prepared food, never quite understanding how this ‘nirvana’. I’ve even tried being ‘Zen-Like’, washing dishes. Trying, of course, is something other than what is, so I never got it. With thanks to a video by Alan Watts (embedded below), I now see reality through washing dishes.
Considering we only have this dish to wash, we should enjoy it. We should get into it, turn it into a dance, go with the dish, swish it about, observe how the dish looks, and how the water swirls around. It’s this practice that takes us back to Reality, back to Nirvana.
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Lovely post Wade and great video find! Thanks for the link, and I’m off to dance with my dishes.
Ya know Wade, I’ve heard this one over and over….I get it, you explained it perfect but I’ve NEVER been able to enjoy that moment in which I’m washing the dishes. I get the point…but why can’t we use something else like; sex or checking email or even sorting mail. I remember looking at my Master as he explained this same story to me…..the blank look on my face made him ask; “Is there a part you do not understand?” and I was like “no, I just hate doing the dishes”.
Gassho,
Kris
Wade,
You make washing the dishes sound so much fun!!
I do enjoy doing the dishes when I let myself go and just focus on it. It’s a great treat to be able to get so much from such a mundane thing. But, then again that is practice isn’t it? The mundane, the everyday is the profound!
By the way, I’ve sorta brought back an old friend——> follow my link to visit. I hope you don’t mind being added to my links.
take care,
Greg
@Tracy, thanks, and thanks to you too
@Kris, glad it clicked for you visually. In terms of the experiencing of it, that’s the practice/connecting. From my experience it can, and does transform when done mindfully. Why can’t we do other things that we enjoy and use them as practice? Who’s to say it can’t be done? Where is the distinction between any single event?
@Greg, That is practice indeed. We create our own obstacles when we’re outside of practice, we resist. When in reality, when in practice, it’s just. Great to see you back and blogging again. I really enjoy reading your blogging experiences.
Peace to all,
Wade
Many years ago after reading
The Miracle of Mindfulness by Thich Nhat Hanh,
I came to a certain understanding of washing
dishes. He used the dish washing as a point
of holding mindfulness to what was at hand.
A very valuable lesson that I then carried over
to the job I was doing at the time, electronic
assembly. I would sit at my work station and the
better part of the time, besides doing the
assembly work, I was also doing everything in my
mind that needed done in my life. The grocery
shopping, the laundry at home… everything !
What a mind freeing thing it was to hold my mind
to the task at hand… But now, from Alan’s message
along with the now of washing dishes, there is also
the joy in the moment… even washing dishes.
But come to think of it, from the 1964 movie,
Mary Poppins, she said a line that I do say to myself
quite often….
It’s from the song – A Spoonful of Sugar…
“In every job that must be done, there is an element of fun. You find the fun, and – SNAP - the job’s a game! ”
Spoonful of Sugar lyrics – http://tinyurl.com/2dr7yh
Thanks for the reminder Wade.
Hi Deb,
Thanks for the Mary Poppins reminder, amazing to come back to the reminder that it’s all been done, there’s nothing to do, just to be in the moment fully, and it will enjoy itself.
Gassho,
Wade
I was watching Mary Poppins with my daughter a couple of days ago and thought of this post then, so I was delighted to come back here and see Deb’s comment.
Wade,
loved the last sentence of the video:
“There is really no necessity to go on living”
So much contained in that simple statement.
I must admit I don’t mind cleaning dishes, and have been known to be a regular dish-washer at a certain friend’s dinner parties. I find it calming, reflective and completely relaxing. I’m sure the glass or two of wine I’d had by that point helped.
What is the difference between play and work?
How are some able to mesh the two while for most of us it’s a drudgery?
That is the secret that many of us would like to know. After reading this post and watching the article I feel like I’ve come a little closer to making the connection.
Thanks Wade!
Thanks for the reminder on mindfulness. I need constant reminders!
i’ve always loved the dishwashing metaphor; remember how delighted i was when i found it in thich nhat hanh’s book.
such a wonderful feeling when we are nowhere else but in our core, in the moment, doing whatever we’re doing.
others talk of monasteries where only the senior monks are assigned the duties of cleaning the washrooms. same thing, i guess.
i’m not there yet.
(but i guess i’m HERE
)
Following links with no particular purpose in mind can lead to great discoveries, like your blog and that wonderful video of Alan Watts. I was held spellbound.
Thank you.
Nick
Hi Wade – thanks for sharing this. I’ve been reflecting on mindfulness from a number of angles recently, and looking at the ways my moments of spontaneous mindfulness differ from the ones I actively go seeking.
The dishwashing metaphor has given me the beginnings some ideas of ways I can build on the deliberate attempts I make to become mindful… I think I need to let it percolate in the back of my mind for a bit though before I can articulate it.
Blessings and thanks again
STARFIRE
@Tracy, I haven’t been able to stop singing it since Deb posted it, it’s soaking into me now. Hope you enjoyed the time with your daughter.
@Vitor, You’re right, there is a lot contained in there. What do you get from it?
@Tim, That’s a really interesting development, funny how things that we’re programmed not to like, somehow, with no effort are enjoyable. Perhaps the wine, perhaps not
@Karl, Those are the big questions you’re asking there. One thing to understand, another to live and do like Watts does there so effortlessly.
@isabella, whatever we’re doing, when we do it, and only it is so beautiful. Seeing the resistance drop away, and just being, it’s magical. Thank you for your comment too.
@Life Reflections, My pleasure, The bell is my favourite reminder, followed by anything unexpected, and I’m working on seeing red lights that way. They contain a message
@Nick, Welcome, hope you enjoy your stay, hope to see you around.
@Starfire, After it’s percolated a bit more, I’d love to see what comes out in the wash (pun) for you. Please come back and leave another comment. Also, welcome.
May we exist in muddy water with purity like a lotus.
Gassho,
Wade
Hi Wade,
Lovely analogy about the past, future, & the now. Thanks for enlightening us through acts that we would consider mundane.
Your fellow monk, Kenton, also has a beautiful post on the same subject at http://kentonwhitman.com/blog/2007/03/17/doing-dishes/
Thanks to monks like you, we can remain grounded, and believe that it is all fine, and after all a dance of life.
~rahul
Wade,
Enjoyed the post and the rest of your blog here. I added you to my blogroll in hopes others will see your blog and drop by. Hope all is well!
Hey Wade,
Great site you have here. I think the Buddha had a guitar playing friend who was explaining that if the string is too SHARP or FLAT, it’s no good. Only when it’s in TUNE (middle way), shall the resonance (and healing) take place. Love the Alan Watts stuff. You may like this one as well: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERbvKrH-GC4
Thanks,
Alex Kennedy
PS - i hear they’re doing Zen Dodgeball in the states
I used to read Alan Watts when I was young. He always made a great deal of sense.
Sorry for digging up old posts, but this is amazing, I love the whole concept. This can be applied to many things in ones life and I’ve found lots in mine, espically the dishes
! Might even do them now 
Regards
Ad
@Rahul, Thanks for your comments. I continue, and hope you do too, to strive to see the mystical in the ordinary. I’ve read Kenton’s and Tracy’s(Zen Housewife) posts on hte same topic. It’s great to see different enlightening takes on the same subject. It’s nice to see human.
@Nate, Thanks for your kind words and linking. I’ve been to your blog a few times and will pop back in soon.
@Alex, I’m still waiting to read more about Zen Dodgeball
Thanks again for all our discussions offline. Priceless. Bingo on the Guitar playing friend of Buddha. So many applications and ways of experiencing and living The Middle Way.
@David, Watts’ message is timeless. There is never a time where his messages will not find a truth. They exist outside of words and nature. He ability to translate Dharma is humbling.
@Adam, No problems on digging it up, especially with praise like that. Thank you. Hope you enjoyed doing the dishes, it can be a really rewarding experience when entered into, seen and lived as this moment of reality.
May all beings have peace.
Gassho,
Wade