A Monk's Guide to a Clean House and Mind

by Shoukei Matsumoto

We sweep the temple grounds and gardens and polish the main temple hall. We don’t do this because it’s dirty or messy. We do it to eliminate the suffering in our hearts.

We sweep dust to remove our worldly desires. We scrub dirt to free ourselves of attachments.

Zengosaidan is a Zen expression meaning that we must put all of our efforts into each day so we have no regrets, and that we must not grieve for the past or worry about the future. In the context of cleaning, zengosaidan means “Don’t put it off till tomorrow.”

People who endlessly chase after new things have lost their freedom to earthly desire.