To live each day fully,
is to live each life fully.– Shilashanti
‘Zengosaidan’ is a Zen expression meaning that we must put all our efforts into each day so that we have no regrets, and that we must not grieve for the past or worry about the future. In the context of cleaning to cultivate the mind, zengosaidan means ‘Don’t put it off till tomorrow’.
People today are busy, and we have all experienced going home tired, then leaving dirty dishes and laundry untended as we go to bed. But did you begin the next day feeling refreshed? Was it not depressing to wake up to the next day with yesterday’s chores still to be done? It isn’t just the moment you realize these things are still pending that you feel depressed. When you go to bed thinking, ‘Ugh… I still have to do those things but I’m too tired,’ you retain this gloomy feeling in your consciousness all night. Some people even dream of working hard to finish their chores before waking up to find they have to do it all over again in real life.
Zengosaidan. This isn’t just about how you feel. Do what you need to do without delay. Eliminate the seeds that distract your mind with unnecessary thoughts about things you will be dealing with tomorrow, or things that went wrong yesterday. The longer you neglect the impurities of the heart, the harder it is to remove them. Never put off what you need to do until tomorrow, and enjoy each and every day.
A Monk’s Guide to a Clean House and Mind
Shoukei Matsumoto
