A feature of most Buddhist retreats and certainly an important part of our retreats is work practice. It is so natural an element of what we do that we do not think about the way the practice originated, and we certainly do not think about the Chan Master who instigated the practice as, originally, it was not a part of the activity of Buddhist monastics.
At the time of Buddha and in the Indian sanghas that followed him the monks and nuns spent their time meditating and studying in the 'forest'. On the Ganges Plain they were usually near places that had a population and they would sustain themselves by begging - the daily collection of Dana. Indeed for many monastics work was prohibited, and when monasteries were established the work was done by lay practitioners and/or workers. Hence the way daily work was organised was a result of these Sanghas being near people who supported them by providing Dana. Buddhism then developed in China and there were changes in the way the Dharma was practiced due to this geographical and cultural move. Initially Chan monastics resided in the monasteries of other schools such as Taoist, but gradually practice developed and Chan monasteries were established. These monasteries tended to be in the mountains and not near actively engaged populations and as a result there were few lay supporters who could provide material sustenance for the monastic community. Consequently, there was a need for the monks to become self-sustaining and initially there was a tradition of following the practice of hermit monks in that they foraged amongst the natural resources around their living space. However, monasteries began to grow in size and soon they had to cultivate and produce their own food.
Then along came Baizhang Huaihai (720-814 CE, also known as Pai-chang Huai-hai, or Hyakujo Ekai). He was the third holder of the Chan lineage that comes from the Sixth Patriarch Huineng (638-713). Baizhang was a Dharma heir of Mazu (Ma-tsu), and amongst his own students were Huangbo (Huang-po) and Linji. To function efficiently, people living together with a common purpose need a set of rules to regulate daily life and Baizhang is attributed with constructing the rules for Chan monasteries, usually known as The Pure Rules for the Community. There is in fact no extant copy of his rules, but all subsequent Chan monastic practice is recognised as being based on his rules and also on his design for a monastery's layout and buildings. Baizhang's rules were important in that they established Chan as an independent Buddhist school and so Chan communal practice is taken as beginning with Baizhang.
An important way in which these rules were significantly different from the traditional Ganges Plain approach was the inclusion of work practice. The rules simply say, "all members of the community must participate equally in carrying out the practice of communal labour."i The monks had to work in order to sustain themselves. Baizhang did not actually initiate work practice within Chan communities, as this occurred in earlier generations, but its inclusion in his rules made work a necessary element in monasteries. It also facilitated the practice being seen as an excellent way of expressing the meditative mind in everyday activity.
The traditional story about Baizhang's approach to work concerns what happened when he became elderly and his 'Record of Sayings' tells the story as,
“When the master did chores he always was first in the community in taking up work. The people could not bear this so they hid his tools away early once and asked him to rest.
The master said “I have no virtue; how should I make others toil?"
The master having looked all over for his tools without finding them, also neglected to eat.
Therefore there came to be his saying that "a day without working is a day without eating,” which circulated throughout the land.”ii
There are many stories and encounter dialogues about work practice, as clearly what Baizhang was attempting to do was to institute the principles of zazen and meditative study into work. Many of these stories about work are included in the well known koan collections.iii Stories about Baizhang himself also appear in a number of koan collections.iv
Work practice was therefore an essential element of the activity in Chinese monasteries and as Master Sheng Yen recounts, it was known as 'Universal Invitation'.
"This was a time when everyone was invited to do work at the monasteries. This was sometimes called ch'u-p'o, literally 'going to the mountains,' but it did not necessarily entail field work. It might include various chores around the monastery".v
Here we can see that the 'universality' of the invitation clearly indicates that it applies to all whatever their rank or station and in this way work applies to everyone in the same way that the Dharma applies to everyone. What is also interesting is that chores were called Ch'u-p'o or chupo which harks back to the ancestry of work practice, to the time when being in the mountains meant that it was necessary for monastics to do work.
In our more modern practice, short work periods are essential elements of our meditation retreats. It is a practice that is organised for the benefit of the community (sweeping, cleaning, food preparation, etc.), but it naturally involves our personal activity and in doing this it places the 'self' within its social context. As an activity it links the internal processes occurring during retreat with outside physical activity; it links body and mind by embarking on activity. This is in distinction to other occasions on retreat when mind and body are linked by different processes. Work is also generosity in action. It is an active giving to other individuals; it is giving to the group and it is giving to the universal Buddhist Sangha.
With the idea of generosity contained in work, we not only recognise the historical change in Dana practice but also the significance of morality and ethics (sila) that underlie work practice. The emphasis has changed from Dana being offered by lay practitioners to the monastics to Dana being given by all to all. We need to see all our labour as Dana, as giving. It is a practice of generosity. Unfortunately a talk on giving and generosity is usually left to the end of a retreat, when requests for donations are made on behalf of the Sangha and teacher. Although undoubtedly there is a value in this it has the untoward effect of separating the work necessary for communal living from its basis in giving - it makes it seem as if 'work' and 'giving' are different activities at different times. They are not separate, they are both manifestations of Dana, one of the six perfections (paramitas), it is the danaparamita. Both work and giving are the same activity of supporting others and the offering up of yourself to the practice that is all around you. Indeed to speak of generosity at the beginning of any Dharma activity would be following in the Buddha footsteps, as in the Pali sutras the 'talk on giving' (danakatha) was invariably the first topic discussed by the Buddha. He would start many talks by emphasising the value of generosity and his discussion of this virtue would precede his introduction of other Dharma topics.
The practice of giving that is involved in labour for the community is important because its cultivation undermines self concern and it does this by the offering of the self to the community. In undertaking our communal chores there is no basis for making any comparison - "am I doing it better than" ... "is somebody watching me" ... "am I getting it right" etc. Work as an act of giving occurs when the giver and the receiver are non-dual, when there is no separation between the 'I' and the 'us/we'. It decentralises self-importance by focusing on the total environment surrounding us. Work is undertaken for its own sake and the benefit of others, thereby creating a freedom from duty and obligation. It is undertaken without any expectation of receiving something in return. It is to serve rather than to help and this serving is inspired by compassion and caring. It comes naturally from the heart and it conveys joy and freedom.
Work is a meditation and is equally important as sitting and walking meditation. The focus is to undertake the task mindfully and not see it as an obstacle getting in the way of us sitting or resting. It is simply meditation in action within an atmosphere of mutual support. It is an opportunity to observe reactions and responses to doing something active and therefore available for investigation later. In this way, we can move toward an appreciation and indeed a realisation of moment to moment mindfulness in our everyday lives. The message here is the need to actualise doing what you're doing, while you are doing it. As work takes up a substantial part of our lives there is great value and benefit in mindfully realising that our day-to-day labour also has a quality of giving. There is a way in which we can develop the tasks of work into goalless activity. With this attitude, work becomes 'continuous practice', it becomes a part of the 'circle of the way' written about so eloquently by Dogen.
"...continuous practice is undivided, not forced by you or others. The power of this continuous practice confirms you as well as others. It means your practice affects the entire earth and the entire sky in the ten directions. Although not noticed by others or by yourself it is so. Accordingly, by the continuous practice of all Buddhas and ancestors your practice is actualised and your great road opens up."vi
Continuous practice is pointing us towards the realisation that all activity is permeated by the Dharma and all activity involves The Great Matter, which brings us directly back to Baizhang and work. We are able to appreciate the nature of this continuous practice from a koan involving Baizhang.
One day Baizhang addressing his assembly said. "Plough the rice field for me and I'll instruct you in the fundamental principles of the great matter."
After the monastics had ploughed a rice field for the master, they said, "Now master please instruct us in the fundamental principles of the great matter."
The master spread open his arms."vii
In his gesture of 'That's it', Baizhang is inviting us to recognise that ploughing a field is instructing us in the Dharma. In the same way, sweeping, cutting vegetables, cleaning toilets, etc all provide Dharma instruction and through this work we enter into continuous practice and our great road opens up. It is a teaching of how to live our lives - engage in your activity and fully enter into its practice.
Footnotes
[i] trans Steven Heine p221 in S. Heine (1999). Shifting Shape, Shaping Text. Honolulu. University of Hawai’i Press.
[ii] trans Thomas Cleary p 26 in T Cleary (1979). The Sayings and Doings of Pai-chang. Los Angeles. Centre Publications
[iii] For example koans numbers 23 68 70 83 93 126 128 149 216 267 268 271 275 Master Dogen’s 300 Koan collection see in Kazuaki Tanahashi & John Daido Loori (trans) 2005 The True Dharma Eye. Zen Master Dogen’s Three Hundred Koans: Shambala. Boston
[iv] See koans numbers 2 54 102 108 110 118 128 182 in Tanahashi & Loori op cit
[v] Chan Master Sheng Yen ‘Life in a Chan Monastery.’ New Chan Forum No 5 Autumn 1992. p2
[vi] Dogen. Continuous Practice Part One p332 in Kazuaki Tanahashi (ed) (2012) Treasury of the True Dharma Eye. Zen Master Dogen’s Shobo Genzo. Shambala. Boston
[vii] Koan 268 p364 see in Tanahashi & Loori op cit
