So he was very surprised by his feeling that our organization was somehow different. I didn't bother to mention to him that we too have our turf battles and our pettiness, because our life here at Green Gulch is not so different from anywhere else. And yet I think there is something else that happens at Green Gulch that comes from our commitment to the bodhisattva path, a commitment that isn't just theoretical or emotional, but is grounded in the daily activity of our shared work. I would like to distinguish between two modes of work practice. One is work as meditation and the other is work as giving, or work as love, or maybe simply, work as offering.
Most physical work involves some sense of rhythm or timing.
When you can enter into this timing and flow with it, you can work very efficiently and at the same time be very relaxed. You enter into something bigger than the thoughts inside your head or your distractions and complaints. In some of our work places we have the custom of striking a bell every now and then to bring us back. Just as in zazen, you can be aware of your mind as you work and keep trying to bring it back to the task at hand all the time, even when there is no bell or no special pause. In this kind of work there isn't too much thinking or planning or conceptualizing.