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Post by blossoming on Sept 18, 2010 13:21:39 GMT -5
i've been thinking alot about how lots of us have issues with the impermanence of housekeeping. that it must be done again each day. people want it to seem more fulfiling and hte fact that it must be redone and is destroyed so quickly seems to negate that. then i started thinking about mandalas. they're circular drawings, often extremely beautiful, that are made for many reasons from the religious/spiritual to fun and artistic. anyway, one form of them is made of colored sand and is INTENDED to be destroyed from the very beginning. this very intricate, very specific form of art or prayer, however you choose to think of it, takes enormous amounts of dedication to design and create. and then, it's destroyed as a symbol of the impermance of life. so, what do we build up each day in our home that is then destroyed and how can we change the way we think of both the production and the destruction? when i wipe the counters or scrub the toilet (both of which  i realize now i do in a circular motion hee hee) what am i building? when crumbs fall and i need to repeat the process over again, what is happening? is it so terrible, this destruction? would it realy be better to live in a place where a crumb never fell and i never had to redo my work? is my housekeeping enough akin to art or prayer to me to make it worth my while to keep redoing it? i dont' know. but i'm been working on ways of reconceiving housework for a long time and this is an interesting one for me. |
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Post by messymimi on Sept 18, 2010 14:44:53 GMT -5
This is a beautiful way of thinking about the things we do each day.
Doing it is a blessing to us, and to anyone who lives with us, or visits.
Also, I think of it as job security.
messymimi
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Post by blossoming on Sept 18, 2010 16:01:07 GMT -5
thanks mimi. that is one of the things i liked about flylady was teh whole idea that tidying your home was blessing it. i am trying to get in the habit of thinking of my home as a sacred place. not so much in the idea that nothing profane can be done there, , but that it is a contract wtih myself that i deserve a nice place to live. |
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Post by WestsideStory on Sept 18, 2010 17:31:15 GMT -5
Blossoming, thank you so much for that insight. Mindfulness, impermanence, praying through doing, all interesting things to contemplate.
here's a link to a monk working on one.
WestsideStory
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petuli
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Post by petuli on Sept 18, 2010 19:33:07 GMT -5
Blossoming your post makes me join you in contemplating these concepts you have put so elegantly in your thread. It's lovely to think that instead of housekeeping being a drudgery, it could be a form of art or prayer or indeed however one wishes to percieve it. I also love how mimi said it can be a blessing. I never thought of it in these ways. I just see it as a monumental blockage to my flow and struggle with resentment and other negative feelings most of the time  . What you wrote moves and inspires me to try to bring a different perception/energy to the work I'm doing at the moment. Thank you for sharing your thoughts.  |
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hopehope
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Post by hopehope on Sept 18, 2010 20:18:26 GMT -5
I think sometimes also they are made from butter.
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Post by blossoming on Sept 18, 2010 20:36:12 GMT -5
hope, salted or unsalted? |
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Post by WestsideStory on Sept 19, 2010 1:32:13 GMT -5
Yak butter, actually. No idea if it's salted. It's mixed with flour to make sculptures for different rituals and holidays. The Wikipedia page has a picture of some Torma (butter sculptures) on a sand mandala. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TormaWestsideStory |
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Post by blossoming on Sept 19, 2010 5:38:56 GMT -5
wow that is super cool. i thought it was a joke.
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Post by dtesposito on Sept 19, 2010 5:59:09 GMT -5
Blossoming, what a beautiful idea!
I think you've pointed out something important, that we all probably have problems with change--I know I do, I have to actively work at accepting change and seeing it as part of life. Wanting things to stay familiar and comfortable is what makes me reluctant to give up the stuff around me--it's what I know. Reminding myself that change is the only constant is helpful in getting rid of things, and in thinking of the natural process of my home getting dirty every day and needing to be made clean over and over again.
We should all think of our homes as our sanctuaries. If we combine this idea with the idea in the thread about "home esteem" (I can't remember the exact term right now) we can work towards deciding what WE want our homes to be--not what others say or what society in general says--and then try to consider the effort that we expend to bring it to that vision and keep it that way as a gift to ourselves.
Very thought-provoking post!
Diane
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Post by BetsyMarie on Sept 19, 2010 19:24:35 GMT -5
I used to have a small zen garden in the yard. I enjoyed making patterns in it. It was a form of meditation, and never intended to be permanent. I dont wish to sound irreverent, but sometimes I'll make patterns in the clean kitty litter after policing the box, knowing it will immediately get disturbed by sweet creatures with their own style of meditation.
I have always resented the impermanence of cleaning house. I never thought of it as part of the natural circular pattern of life. I dont resent having to brush my hair or teeth, or getting dressed or preparing breakfast, or other personal daily tasks. Cleaning up is just another of these.
Thanks.
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Post by blossoming on Sept 20, 2010 2:55:55 GMT -5
. no i think making patterns in the kitty litter is just in the exact right spirit. you can't go wrong with me and a sense of humor. |
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Post by bluefrog on Sept 20, 2010 8:27:16 GMT -5
This is, I think, my favorite approach yet---housework as a kind of spiritual discipline, intended to be temporary, but deserving effort and concentration. I think I can do that.
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Post by moonglow on Sept 21, 2010 13:09:40 GMT -5
Quote from a book The Bodhicaryavatara (The Way of the Bodhisattva) - a translation and commentary of a work written by a 7th century Indian Buddhist monk, Santideva. (Publication notes at end*) This is from the general introduction by Paul Williams, describing Santideva's life at the monastery: "He would have kept his simple, sparsley furnished room tidy and clean, seeing the cleaning as part of his spiritual practice, a metaphor for cleaning the mind of taints". This is my goal - to have a simple space, kept clean on a daily basis. And to engage in the cleaning with meditative absorbtion, expressive of gentleness and respect. Thanks for reminding me of this goal! * The Bodhicaryavatara, Santideva, translated with an introduction and notes by Kate Crosby and Andrew Skilton, with a general introduction by Paul Williams, published by Oxford University Press, New York, 1995, p xi. |
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Post by urocyon on Sept 21, 2010 20:24:57 GMT -5
Very interesting thread, which gave me a lot to think about. I've found mindfulness helps me a lot with repetitive household tasks. Thich Nhat Hanh's suggestions to turn activities like washing dishes into moving meditation have been working well for me. I used to really resent the seemingly endless and repeating demands, but that bit of change in attitude and approach has made things a lot easier. (That is, it's allowed me to be easier on myself! Though it's definitely an ongoing process.  In some ways, the physical decluttering and letting go has been part and parcel of a wider theme of letting go, and I've been thinking in terms of developing outer peace and around me to encourage and open the way for more inner peace and balance. But I hadn't gone that step further and considered the mandala-like, devotional potential in the myriad household tasks which are never really finished. Thank you!  |
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