Mind Soap: What Is Mindfulness Practice?

Here's an old Zen saying that I find helpful as a way of understanding mindfulness practice. It is just like soap. We clean the mind like we clean the body. And we don't reach a point of being permanently clean. We get dirty. And then we clean again. Every day.

Transcript

There's an old saying that goes,

Zen is like soap.

First you wash with it,

And then you wash it off.

In spiritual practice or presence practice,

Mindfulness practice,

It's all like this.

You do it again and again,

Not as a means of getting to a place where you're permanently clean,

But just as a daily hygiene process.

You will get dirty again,

The ego will accumulate attachment,

Judgments,

And then you can clean the mind again.

Just like taking a shower every day,

You will accumulate dirt and sweat,

And that's just a byproduct of your action in the world.

And then you can clean the mind again.

Zen is like soap.

First you wash with it,

And then you wash it off.

You wash it off too because you don't keep the soap on you.

You don't deify the soap,

You don't place the soap on an altar,

Because then it's not really serving its purpose,

It's there to help clean you,

You use it,

And then you wash it off.

So I hope this was helpful or maybe just interesting for you in some way.

I do have an entire course on Zen if that interests you,

It's called The Zen Path.

And thank you for your time.

I hope you feel my encouragement to just keep practicing,

Just keep maintaining this mental hygiene every day,

Again and again.

But it's really only ever just this one time.

Time to wake up.

Reviews

That was so accurate and really helped they way I see things now.. thanks so much!

Editing to add that I keep coming back to this one almost every day because it is so accurate and reminds me of the simplicity of things.

Wonderful

A lovely reminder to keep coming back

Good (and helpful) perspective on our meditative practices. Short and sweet. Thanks Charles.

Very gentle reminder that you cleanse your mind each day. I felt comforted by this message.

I so appreciate your thoughts and your voice is always grounding and calming, encouraging me to be in this moment right now. Thank you

I love the thought! And the music was so smooth and calming

I love the analogy, it makes so much sense. Also I was thinking if we did not wash off the soap or put it on an alter, it would no longer be soap or have purpose

Loved the analogy. I am close to finishing your Tao class and will start the Zen one next. Thank you.

Terrific! And yes - the music was refreshing and invigorating. Thank you Charles!

Beautifully said

Loved this! Thank you! 😊

Thank you Charles. Reminded me of: “Wash on, wash off.”

Rinse and repeat. 🙏🏻

What a beautiful, simple reminder. Absolutely loved the Zen course and am on repeat with that as my daily practice along with the course on The Tao. Love these as well as the weekly live events. 🕉️

A sweet little reminder about mind hygiene (so fresh and so clean).

A truly illustrative and illuminating analogy. Loved it.

BTW, I’ve “stepped” more than halfway through the Zen-path course, presently, and I am getting a great deal from it, so, I strongly recommend this offering to fellow IT members and users. 👍🏼

There is one curiosity or question that arose for me at the very end of *this* talk. You insist, “…but there really is only just this one time…”

Not sure that I understand this seeming paradox of maintaining, say, a daily practice, but declaring it to be a singular event—one that’s being done or experienced… “just this once.”
Having difficulty getting what you’re getting at…is it a sort of koan?
Maybe you could expand on this. TY — d•i•y

Wow, I loved this & needed it. So simple...Zen is like soap. I was also feelin' the jazzy vibe in the background. Thank you! I'm Awake...in this moment. 🙏

A perfect description of zen. Thank you

Wonderful little surprise this morning, thank you! ☺️