Silence and Laundry

Wonderful, clear, silent, spacious emptiness. The unconditioned. It is there underneath and surrounding everything. I go there sometimes and it is so peaceful. We all do, we just don't always recognize it.

But then I have to start thinking and doing and talking and taking care of business. I treat myself to returning to that silence when I can, but isn't there a way to live fully in that silence without being mindless, without messing something up or forgetting something? I suspect there is a way. I want to find out.

Yesterday I was putting laundry away and I noticed that the silence was predominant and the thinking and doing was somewhat more in the background. It made me think that maybe it really is possible to dwell in silence and still get things done. It has to be. I don't think that fully enlightened beings are mindless blobs that do nothing.

I've been re-reading After the Ecstasy the Laundry by Jack Kornfield and it is really helpful to read the many accounts of teachers and masters of the path. Not so much because of the amazing insights and spiritual experiences they have had but because they are all compelled to act and serve as a result. They are all thinking and doing and being. They have obviously found a way to integrate their spiritual experiences, that silent space, with everyday life, or at least are moving in that direction. I haven't yet read anything though that points out exactly how they manage to do this. Maybe it is later in the book. I don't know.

I've read this book before. But it is funny how you can re-read something and make new discoveries each time.

When we get caught up in our lives it is difficult to notice the space, but it is always there. Even in the busiest of times, there is always space if we make the effort to find it, or if we drop the world for just a moment. Sometimes it takes effort, sometimes it takes letting go of effort, but it always takes courage.