Wash the Dishes to Wash the Dishes

Shunryu Suzuki Roshi is famous for his quote from Zen Mind, Beginners Mind, “Wash the dishes to wash the dishes” – see 6 Mindfulness Practices For The Holidays.

Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh says the same thing:

“If while washing dishes we think only of the cup of tea that awaits us… then we are not ‘washing the dishes to wash the dishes’. What’s more, we are not alive during the time we are washing the dishes… If we can’t wash the dishes, the chances are we won’t be able to drink our tea either. While drinking the cup of tea, we will only be thinking of other things, barely aware of the cup in our hands.”
(from The Miracle of Mindfulness: An Introduction to the Practice of Meditation by Thich Nhat Hanh)

Wash the dishes relaxingly, as though each bowl is an object of contemplation. Consider each bowl as sacred. Follow your breath to prevent your mind from straying. Do not try to hurry to get the job over with. Consider washing the dishes the most important thing in life.
– Thich Nhat Hanh

We can take these ideas about washing the dishes to wash the dishes into everything we do in life.When we shower, we just shower. When we eat, we just eat. We don’t shower our projects and we don’t eat our work.

What activities do you do with full attention – so much so that the time slips by and you get a lot done? What activities do you do when you are doing something else? Please share.

Here are two classic books that everyone who meditates should own.

Books by Suzuki Roshi

Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind by Shunryu Suzuki “In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert’s there are few.” So begins this most beloved of all American Zen books. Seldom has such a small handful of words provided a teaching as rich as has this famous opening line. In a single stroke, the simple sentence … [Read More…]

The Miracle of Mindfulness: An Introduction to the Practice of Meditation by Thich Nhat Hanh In this beautiful and lucid guide, Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh offers gentle anecdotes and practical exercise as a means of learning the skills of mindfulness–being awake and fully aware. From washing the dishes to answering the phone to peeling an orange, he reminds us that each moment holds within… [Read More…]