I clean inside and outside of my house every day and do volunteer activity a few times a week, picking up gavage and empty cans and plastic bottles around my house. Also, in summer, I weed sidewalks in front of a public hall and around the two empty houses in the back of an elementary school near my house.
The reason why I do the activities is that I am a stay-at-home Buddhist and I believe cleaning is one of the most important ways of mental and physical training.
There is a well-known story among Buddhist monks. When Buddha was spreading his teachings around India about 2,500 years ago, he had many pupils and one of them was Chura Pantaka.
He was so poor at learning that he forgot everything taught by Buddha at once. So other pupils often made fun of him.
He was so disappointed that he decided to give up training and leave the religious society. And then he went to see Buddha and told him what was in his mind.
After listening Pantaka’s talk, Buddha passed a broom to him and told him to clean around the temple every day, saying “I sweep every dust and dirt.”
He continued cleaning for many years and came to know that the dust and dirt were evil thoughts in his mind.
One day, when he swept a small stone with the broom and it hit a nearby tree and made a loud sound. It was the time when he attained his spiritual enlightenment.
Because of this story, Buddhist monks regard cleaning as an important training for body and mind.
I know one chief priest of a temple who spends 4 and half hours in cleaning inside and outside of his temple every day.
In addition, cleaning and weeding is recommended by the latest brain science. Repeated movement without thinking is good for your mental and physical health. It is because human brain goes off hormone called serotonin by the movement. In a way, cleaning and weeding equal to moving Zen meditation.
In this connection, Mother Teresa devoted her life for the poor and dying people in India. She must have been exposed to a lot of germs and viruses, but she lived a long life. I think that her good deeds promoted her brain go off the hormone and strengthen her immunity.
In my case, thanks to cleaning and the volunteer activity, I am also blessed with strong immunity and I did not contract covid 19 when my wife and daughter were suffering from the disease.
I started the volunteer activities 3 years ago. At first, I hated people who threw away garbage, but gradually I came to think that they give me precious opportunity to train myself.
Buddha taught us three poisons and middle way which leads to happiness. The poisons are greed, anger and stupidity. Middle way means that we should avoid extremes.
I enjoy cleaning and the volunteer labor, because I can have a sense of accomplishment after finishing one-day-task. Also I can show my gratitude to the community where I have lived for more than 30 years.