As you progress through the training at MAPLE and demonstrate increasing trustworthiness, you are given more responsibilities in the day-to-day affairs of the organization. This is not simply because you know how things work around here, or you have better ideas about what to prioritize, but because you’ve seen the value and developed the skill of maintaining your mindfulness practice in a variety of contexts. Forall clarified this for me one day in a typical fashion, in an offhand remark as he walked out the door.
When I was an apprentice, I moved rocks and shoveled dirt, and even those activities were directed by a supervisor. But after a few months as a resident, I was put into the very role that once relieved me of the burden of planning out my labors and holding a larger vision—Buildings and Grounds Lead. Now I was the one with the plan and the vision. I even had to run the meetings at the start of the work period.
It was during one such meeting that Forall offered me the advice I mentioned earlier. The meeting, at the tables in the main hall left over from breakfast, wasn’t going very well—my collaborator, the property manager, was off schedule for the day, I hadn’t been able to check in with her about the task list, and my head was full of racing thoughts about how to divide up the team and what to focus on. I tried to buy some time by starting with a check in, but that only made matters worse. We were all in various states of moroseness and lethargy. The best thing, I knew, would be to get down to work, but what work should we do? I had to decide!
Forall, on his way out the front door, took the situation in at a glance and gave us a little nudge. “How are they doing, Renshin (our renunciate, and the seniormost trainee on my team)?” “Getting through it,” she replied with grim determination. “Very good!” he responded, “Don’t give up!” He opened the door and stepped out, but turned his head for a closing remark. “Giving up means abandoning mindfulness of the body and the mildly pleasant sensations associated with it.” With that, the door closed behind him.
I realized then that I had been going about the meeting in the wrong way. Forall often reminds us that “mind is chief,” but I had been acting like the world was chief. The task list, our feelings, my plans—none of these phenomena should be running the meeting. This practice of mindfulness could be allowed to run the meeting. With that, I grounded into my body awareness. It was, in fact, mildly pleasant. With it came clarity about the situation—we all wanted to be helpful and make the most of this opportunity to purify our minds through meritorious efforts. We could begin with something simple, like some unfinished chores from the day before, and the next steps would present themselves. I handed out the assignments, and we got to work.