I want to speak about samu and why it’s an integral and vital facet of Zen coaching and observe. Samu means “work observe”. When you have been to a retreat at our Middle, you’ll be conversant in samu. However we hardly ever do it outdoors of the context of retreats, so I’m going to be introducing it to neighborhood as an vital a part of our Zen coaching.
Once we do samu we observe being one with no matter we’re doing. In different phrases, the space between topic and object shrinks till there isn’t any separation. This intimacy is on the coronary heart of Zen. We name it “giving life to our life”. So if you do samu, not solely are you supporting the house temple or Zen Middle, however you might be supporting your personal life as nicely. Once we take day out of our busy lives to do samu or to hearken to another person, we’re giving of ourselves in a method that prompts and fulfills our bodhisattva vows. Dana giving isn’t solely finished by donations of cash, but in addition by donations of our vitality and time to help one another.
Nonetheless, some don’t perceive why we don’t simply rent gardeners or cleaners to do that work for us. So let me inform you a narrative about strawberries.
My favourite shirt was given to me by Julie Chisho Kase, and it shows some strawberries with a bee buzzing above them. I like this shirt as a result of it jogs my memory of the generosity of nature and the way I’m part of this reward which brings a lot coronary heart into my life and my relationships. Within the American Indian custom, the strawberry is a logo of generosity as a result of it provides of itself freely with out asking for something in return. So I assume let’s imagine, it’s the final bodhisattva.
In “Braiding Sweetgrass” Robin Kimmerer tells of rising up in upstate New York and the way she would spend summers choosing wild strawberries. They had been the scent of June. In one in every of their Creation tales, the origin of strawberries are instructed. Skywoman’s lovely daughter was cherished by all beings and died tragically when giving beginning to her twins. After she was buried, a strawberry grew out of her coronary heart. So among the many Potawatomi, the strawberry is named “ode min” or the guts berry.
The wild strawberry was valued amongst Indigenous peoples as a result of it gave freely of itself. You acquired this reward by no motion in your half. It was not a reward you earned or deserved. As an grownup Robin Kimmerer says, “Even now . . . discovering a patch of untamed strawberries nonetheless touches me with a sensation of shock, a sense of unworthiness and gratitude for the generosity and kindness that comes with an surprising reward all wrapped in purple and inexperienced.”
As a result of we stay in a shopper tradition, the significance of this reward could also be misplaced on us. A present establishes a relationship, a bond and a way of reciprocity. Whereas, if you buy a commodity, the connection ends as quickly because the cashier fingers you the receipt.
Samu is sort of a wild strawberry as a result of it’s given freely and, like a present, it establishes a relationship between your self and others locally who’re working alongside you. It feels good to work collectively. And it feels good to offer generously of our time and vitality on this method. It brings coronary heart into {our relationships} and into our sangha neighborhood.
The Zen Life & Meditation Middle, Chicago is our religious house. It belongs to all of us. If we’re to keep up this place for future generations, it’s as much as every of us to develop robust bonds of kindship collectively in order that we could also be an oasis within the storms of life and a supply of help and resilience for all who enter right here.
I hope you’ll be a part of me as we start doing samu work observe collectively and discover the enjoyment that comes from fulfilling your bodhisattva vows collectively.
bows,
Roshi Robert Joshin Althouse
Abbot, Zen Life & Meditation Middle, Chicago
