Scrub a Clean Toilet

I was cleaning up the apartment the other day when a voice echoed in my head, "scrub a clean toilet". This was a chapter in either an audio series or a book I was reading having to do with Buddhism. At first the whole idea sounds absurd, but when you actually think about it, it makes sense.

The story was told by a gentleman who went on a retreat to learn how to sit and just "be", a fundamental necessity of meditation. The interviewer had asked the gentleman what he did at the retreat other than meditate. The gentleman replied, "Well, we spent a lot of time learning the techniques of breath, learning how to focus our thoughts, and scrubbing clean toilets". The interviewer was confused. He asked the gentleman, "What purpose did scrubbing clean toilets serve?". The gentleman explained "It was a huge part of our stay at the retreat. It turns out, if you spend time scrubbing and dusting furniture and things, they will never become dirty". It took me a while to fully grasp the concept, but I see how this idea applies itself to life in general. Making sure you scrub everything in your life will almost certainly result in constant cleanliness.

It used to be that I would spend 4 hours during 2 days of the week cleaning up the apartment after letting it get to a point where something had to be done. Drinking a glass of water and rushing out of the door, leaving the glass on an end table and not acknowledging it for a day or two was common practice, among other examples. It would have taken 7 seconds to put the glass into the dishwasher. It would have taken 15 seconds to pick up the clothes I left on the floor as I was going into the shower and put them in the washing machine. Well on one of those two days I spend cleaning the apartment, I spend minutes gathering the dirty clothes and separating them into their respective wash piles. It takes minutes to gather the glasses and maybe a small plate and align them in the dishwasher. Had I took a couple minutes out of my life to say hello to a good friend, I wouldn't have lost touch with them for a long time. Then projects wouldn't be so huge if you completed the small tasks ahead of time. It wouldn't even been called a project.

One can apply this to more ideas, though it wouldn't be beneficial to go to the supermarket every time you need just 1 item to keep the fridge stock appropriately.
Every time I clean the place, the saying echoes in my head. I forget it constantly, but how true it really is.