Today I decided to clean the meditation hall. I haven't been there a lot recently because it is so cold. It is an open hall. It has a good solid roof. It used to be barn and has a big barn entrance, but with no door. This means that it is open to the air and very cold in winter.
Dust the Buddha
I sweep all the carpets and dust the Buddhas including Quan Yin. There are shrines to different Buddhas – Amida in the middle, then Quan Yin, Samanta Bhadra and Buddhas of the future. There is also an ancestor shrine. I bring some fresh bamboo in for the ancestor shrine and some blossom for Kwan Yin. There are still daffodils flowering in the vase near the Buddha shrine.
Delicate
I take Quan Yin in my hand when I dust her. She is very light and I realise she is made out of wood. I bring her into the daylight and I see how delicate the woodcarving is. Suddenly I start to cry. I have no idea why. With my fingers I follow all the fine lines of Quan Yin, her face with the half shut eyes, her arms loosely near her body, one hand on her knee. I dust her and bring her back to her shrine.
Namo Quan Shi Yin Bosat.
Feminine
The only thing I can say about my tears now is that it has something to do with a longing, a longing I can't catch in words. Maybe I was moved by this image of Quan Yin, because I saw in the daylight how beautifully she was made. Someone carved her out of this piece of wood very carefully and with great skill. There is also something in the posture of this particular Quan Yin; She is very feminine, delicate and at the same time her body language is so at ease, so calm, so full of confidence, so strong!
Quan Yin speaking with unspoken words the language of the heart.
Namo Quan Shi Yin Bosat
I go on with my job. While I clean one of the carpets outside of the hall it starts to snow – the sky full of slowly whirling snowflakes, very gently falling on the carpet.
No Lotus No Cushion
In the attic I find a proper chair for David. He has his own spot in the meditation hall. In fact it was one of the first things I did when I started this morning. I started with cleaning his spot and put a chair on David's place instead of a cushion. I know he is struggling with the fact that he has to give up sitting in lotus position and also with the fact that sitting in this position is probably a cause of his current health problem.
Resonance
I enjoy my time in the hall. It is a lovely place with a very nice energy. Although it is quite cold, it is very special to experience the elements of outside life in the hall, to hear the wind blow, the sounds of the birds, and to feel the freshness of the air. I meditate for a while.
During dusting and sweeping I, almost automatically, start softly chanting. Maybe it is a resonance of the other people who have chanted many, many hours for many years in this meditation hall? Maybe this is also a form of other-power?
Later David comes to the hall to see the small changes I have made. He notices that I have removed the small bowing mat from the main shrine. David returns it to its place and makes several prostrations to the Buddha.
I enjoyed my time among the shrines very much. Despite the cold, I think you may find me there again tomorrow.
Replies
Lovely.
Thank you Nancy :-)
What a beautiful post! Thank you. Namo Amida Bu.