On Work As Practise - Sanghadasa

Sanghadasa worked for Windhorse for many years, starting in the Warehouse, progressing to work as the Chef in our Kitchen, and back to the Warehouse picking orders once again, in the final few months before he left us to return to the Netherlands, his home country.

ON WORKING IN A WAREHOUSE

' It was very routine but I loved it. Basically it was very simple work. I saw part of my task as being mindful and efficient, to be accurate and not to make mistakes. Although we were a team of pickers, the actual work was solitary, so it was bit hard to get a sense of team spirit. The way I engaged in feeling more of a team was to ensure I'd leave the picking location ready for the next person. I'd leave it in the state that helped the next person to pick properly.'

As a team, or individually, people can take on personal precepts, that can become a way of focusing on and deepening their ethical practise. Sanghadasa began by observing the fluctuations in his mental states.

' I realised that before I could formulate a specific precept for myself, I needed to know what I wanted to move away from, and what I wanted to move towards. so I started keeping a diary that I'd carry around with me. after the completion of each picking sheet I'd briefly jot down the mental states, perhaps just one word - for example "engaged", "energetic","angry",or "flat" -and keep it in my pocket. After a few weeks I saw patterns and had more of an overview of my mind. I learned to distinguish between positive and negative mental states, and started to formulate precepts accordingly.'


'During positive states, I recognised a flow of energy and felt engaged and happy, recognising that I was not just doing a boring old picking job, but making money for other people. I'd been to India, and made friends there, so to aid the cultivation of positivity I began to think that every item I pick is contributing to my friends. This type of recollection would keep me inspired. At other times, I became much more aware of the negative, of anger or narrow-mindedness, and times of non-engagement. In a way my reflections were quite private things, though we'd share our experiences in the meetings, and the progress we were making. When I was reacting negatively,I wondered if there was any progress at all, then I began think, well, how do I move away from anger? And I realised that even the thought that I'm aware that I am angry and want to do something to change it is to some degree positive, so I experienced a bit of equanimity.'


'Doing things and doing them well in order to make things easy for others broadens out my perspective. Doing something for someone else even when in a negative mental state is a good discipline and gradually changes the mental state.' ****

ON WORKING IN A KITCHEN

After a few months warehouse work, and without any previous experience as a professional cook, he started working part-time in the Windhorse kitchen with the then chef Amarasiddhi.

'Here was a chance to work more closely with another person. I started to experience some different emotions. It was often hectic and  whole new range of mental states and attitudes emerged, although there was still the same application of mindfulness and awareness. In the beginning, I was very resistant to being trained by him. I had a lot of pride, and would be insulted if he told me what to do. Up surged the anger, and the only way I could deal with it was to be like a block of wood, wheras Amarasiddhi just thought I was being rather quiet! 


At other times we were very chatty and had lots of fun. pride is not a very pleasant emotion to acknowledge, let alone speak about, especially to the person who seems to be the source of it! However, for a long time we were in different teams for meetings so I spoke of my difficulties with my team,as I guess he did with his. I'm sure that before long we were both aware of what was going on. for him it was a new experience to learn how to train someone and engage in positive communication. We never actually talked a lot about it, we just had to get on with it. for there was a deadline to reach every day. the food was important.'

'I now saw how good Amarasiddhi had been, and how much he had learned and improved as the weeks went by. Suddenly I could forgive everything I'd blamed him for, and wrote him a card to say as much, because I could really understand now how he'd done so well with me. Of course he'd made mistakes and wasn't always subtle in his speech, but his intention was to train, to hand on his knowledge, and to befriend me. In retrospect I could so appreciate that.


'We sometimes talk about treading the spiritual path being like cooking the ego. this was a very appropriate metaphor for me in the kitchen. A cooked ego is one that has refined and suppressed the proud and competitive raw ego. Eventually we need to move beyond even the cooked ego to no ego at all! I had to learn to work with another, to play my part and contribute. It was quite stark in a way. If we weren't getting on well together, the lunch wolf come out OK, but not as well as it could have been, and we'd leave the kitchen depressed. Whereas if we were getting on well, we'd leave the kitchen harmonious and satisfied with the meal.'


'There's interconnectedness of which I am just a small part, and I came to realise the whole food cycle is like this too. I had not grown the vegetables, I hadn't dug them up or transported them to the shop, nor delivered them here. I hadn't cleaned the water we used to wash them, and I'm not going to eat all the food myself. So there is a chain and range of activities, and we do them with others.' ****

REFLECTIONS ON WORK AS PRACTISE

'There's lots of opportunity to practise the Dharma at work, to be wholehearted in what I do, to be generous, mindful, and engage in positive communication. Anywhere in the business I can engage with that, it just takes care and effort. Work provides a mirror, because it's very objective. It's not just how I feel,but how I engage my mind and interact with others.'


'One of the lessons I've had to learn is that things won't always be perfect. I have to accept that things won't always go smoothly or as I expect, and that other people have different ideas from me. I can't control everything, especially people, but I can always make an effort!' ****


****  
All text in quotations have been taken from Padmasuri's book - Transforming Work, an experiment in Right Livelihood. Published by Windhorse Publications 2003.