The Porch is for Meditation

At MAPLE in the early spring of the 12th year of training, the community was welcoming spring by placing outdoor furniture on the porch. I, Virabhadra helped placed this furniture and Renshin made the final arrangement.

The furniture was placed in such a way that someone walking by would be obstructed.

The head teacher, Soryu Forall, said: the porch is for sitting (meditation). Soryu said if the porch furniture was left out in a way that blocked walking or sitting meditating on the porch, we would take away all of the furniture.

In laying all this out, I found a clearer sense of how meditating on the porch and tidying the porch should be prioritized over lounging and socializing.