Everyday Cleaning… Everyday Zen!!

When the idea of setting up my own cleaning business was first put to me, I wasn’t sure how to react. Cleaning was not something I had considered as a career path or occupation but as I set out I became aware of a deep connection with this everyday activity.
I found that going into a space that was dirty and neglected and gradually transforming it, with care and attention, to a cleaner, brighter environment was satisfying. At the end of the work, I would stand back and enjoy the transformation and feel a sense of peace in myself and in the room. It was as if the dignity of the space had been restored and I was now bathing in its new ambience.

I chose a classical Japanese mountain scene, a small bonsai like tree standing out against a rising peak, a red rising sun in the background as my logo.
I had unwittingly chosen a picture that symbolises much about cleaning and the cleaning process. I was aware of the Zen connotations with the scene and it was this association that led me into the deeper meaning and mysteries of cleaning.
In the back of my mind were the zen stories “Zen flesh Zen bones” by Paul Reps- a collection of anecdotes that attempt to point, in a profound and often humorous way, to the inner experience of Zen: being fully in the present, awake, alive and alert.
Zen reminds us that this is indeed the challenge that faces us every day: to see our habitual, mundane surroundings and to face our daily routines with a fresh open mind, uncluttered by previous experiences and perceptions. This is difficult for us all. As it is for the cleaner faced with the task of going through the same routine in the morning before office staff arrive and again in the evening after they have left their mental, emotional and paper basket filled trails behind them. To the rhythm of the rising and setting sun this is the situation the cleaner finds him or herself in.
The zen stories also point to the process of enlightenment. Telling of ardent seekers desperately trying to find the answer- the way through to this elusive inner experience.
Ironically there are tales in other Buddhist texts of the activity of cleaning itself. The frustrated disciple approaches his master pleading for the secret key that will unlock the door, only to be told to return to sweeping the courtyard or washing the dishes. “Go wash your bowl!” is the Master’s angry reply.
It is our Company philosophy to pay good wages in order to attract good staff which often means that they are overqualified for the job on offer. When interviewing them I check their motivation to make sure that they really want to clean and that they will be committed to staying a good length of time. They often answer that part time cleaning gives them respite from their other activities or jobs. The relative simplicity of cleaning can be an opportunity to drop other concerns and mental chatter. Like all physical activity, cleaning returns us to our body and gives us a space and a possibility for the mind to rest. This is something the Zen Masters understood. If approached in the right way, cleaning can be relaxing and meditative as opposed to tedious and boring.
Adopting the right attitude to the task is all important. How does the cleaner stay awake and alert while carrying out jobs that she/he may have performed a 100 times before - following a routine that could have a dulling effect on the mind? How can the office be cleaned as if for the first time- in the spirit of every day Zen?
We issue our cleaners with specifications detailing every task that has to be carried out. Certain jobs have to be completed every session e.g. Emptying bins, cleaning toilets. But we always advise that it is best to keep these routines at the back of one’s mind as a basic frame of reference otherwise the cleaner is tempted to slavishly follow the same routine every time which can make them blind to other details in the environment that need attention. It is easy to get lost in routines and to clean mindlessly as opposed to mindfully.
To clean mindfully requires relating to the areas to be cleaned in a total and panoramic way – to embrace, take in the space as if it were one’s own and then go about cleaning it with care and attention in a loving way. It then becomes possible to stay alert to bits that have previously been missed e.g. Pipes behind the toilet that have become dusty, tea stains on the kitchen cupboard door where staff have been making tea. And in between this smaller detail, the more daily routine tasks can be fitted in. Cleaning in this ad hoc, spontaneous way brings greater awareness to the work and with it greater energy. It also means that the cleaning is likely to be more thorough and a better job will be done.
Cleaning is more than the removal of dirt and dust – there is also that unknown, more mystical element that makes the cleaned space feel different when you step into it. This is the energy, care and attention that the cleaner has brought to the job; at its best this energy can transform an environment totally, removing not only the physical residue but also the mental and emotional debris that the occupants have left behind. Clearing and cleaning of this nature will give an office a really fresh feel enabling the workers to go about their work with fresh and open minds. The day starts, the sun rises, the space has been cleaned…we start again, afresh, our spirits hopefully uplifted and awakened by our clean surroundings… ready for everyday Zen!!