In the Dojo everyone must take a turn sweeping the Dojo Floor, making certain it is in tip-top shape for training before and after each session.
In some schools, as it was in my original school, this duty falls only to the most junior student that happens to be in that class, thus the responsibility is not shared equally among all students, but in my current school, this duty must fall to EVERYONE, from the most junior student to the most senior instructor, yes, I must even take up the responsibility of sweeping the floor.
It does not stop there, however, for floor sweeping is not the lowliest of chores that we had to do in my old Dojo, we also had to clean the dressing rooms, bathrooms, office, and retail space, you can guess which of these was the least favorite among students... That's right, the bathrooms.
My Teacher made it a point to assign this chore to the most senior student near his last years of teaching and often took this chore on himself.
He modeled this on what he had experienced in the heirarchy of Tasajara Mountain Zen Center; the most senior student was responsible for cleaning the bathrooms, a chore that most would find disgusting, but in the Zen Center it was considered an honor, mainly because it was considered the most humble (granted this is an artificial form of humility, but I believe the principle is sound).
The point of this being that we are never above even the lowliest of chores, we each must take on responsibility for everything, not just in the Dojo, but in our homes, at work, and not just literally, but figuratively as well.
Just as sweeping the Dojo floor must be done on a regular basis, so must sweeping the floors of your mind, body, and spirit - everything could use a little spring cleaning every now and then.
Welcome to 'On The Floor.'
