Samu: join the work period as practice

Do the centre’s cleaning, cooking or garden work in silence and full attention, the way Zen monasteries have treated work as training.

Por qué funciona

The Rinzai and Ōbaku council defines samu as manual labour in the monastery, “a part of training equally important to zazen,” and names zazen, kōan training and samu together as the means by which its schools awaken practitioners to their Buddha-nature. The tradition traces this to the Tang master Baizhang, known for the saying “a day of no work — a day of no eating,” whose monastic rule no longer survives in its original form; the Rinzai council says his ideas influenced all later Zen monasticism. Thich Nhat Hanh’s biography describes the same principle of “no work, no food” at his Vietnamese temple, applying to everyone from the highest monk to the newest member. On the Sōtō side, Dōgen taught that everyday activities have the same value as zazen when done as practice. Work done in silence and without choosing likes and dislikes tests whether the attention of the sitting continues when the body is busy and the task is ordinary.

Cómo hacerlo

1. At a centre or retreat, accept the job you are given — sweeping, washing, chopping — without trading for one you prefer.
2. Work in silence, speaking only when the task requires it.
3. Give the task complete attention: the feel of the broom, the water, the weight of what you carry.
4. When your mind starts judging the task or the people around you, notice that and return to the work.
5. At home, choose one daily chore to do in this way, and stop it when it is done rather than rushing on.
6. For informal mindful chores without the Zen setting, see the work-as-practice section of the Zen practice page.

Evidencia

The definition of samu and its place beside zazen and kōan training are from the Rinzai and Ōbaku council’s terminology and basic-stance pages; Baizhang’s saying and the fate of his rule are from its History page. Foulk’s chapter traces how Japanese Zen adapted the Chinese rules of purity attributed to Baizhang. The “no work, no food” principle at Từ Hiếu Temple is in Plum Village’s biography of Thich Nhat Hanh, and Dōgen’s teaching on everyday activity is on the Sōtōshū’s school page. (anecdotal)

Baizhang’s authorship of the rule is the tradition’s attribution; scholars such as Foulk treat the rules of purity as texts attributed to him. Samu has not been studied as a practice in its own right.

Fuentes

• Joint Council for Rinzai and Ōbaku Zen. What is Zen? — Terminology. Rinnou.net.
• Joint Council for Rinzai and Ōbaku Zen. What is Zen? — Basic Stance (the Rinzai school, Buddha Mind School, Bodhidharma School). Rinnou.net.
• Joint Council for Rinzai and Ōbaku Zen. What is Zen? — History (Shakyamuni to China, the Five Houses, transmission to Japan, revival movements, the Ōbaku school). Rinnou.net.
• Foulk, T. G. (2005). “Rules of Purity” in Japanese Zen. In S. Heine & D. S. Wright (Eds.), Zen Classics, pp. 137–170. New York: Oxford University Press.
• Plum Village. Thich Nhat Hanh — Full Biography (novice training at Từ Hiếu Temple in the Linji / Liễu Quán lineage of Vietnamese Zen). plumvillage.org.
• Sōtōshū (Soto Zen Buddhism). The Soto Zen School’s Zazen. SOTOZEN.COM.

Error común

Treating samu as free labour to get through so that “practice” can resume — or doing it slowly and theatrically to look mindful. In the tradition it is simply the work, done fully.