Samu and Soji

We don’t use these terms so much any more. But when our Japanese teachers were with us in the 60s and for some years after, Japanese terms were used for positions and various activities, including Dharma names.

Soji refers to cleaning up: sweeping, mopping, putting things in order after some activity. Every day after morning zazen some of us sweep and mop the zendo and adjust the cushions, leaving it as it was when we came. Others sweep the central area and the paths. This is our first activity together after zazen and service. So refreshing! At SFZC when Suzuki Roshi was abbot, his room was facing the street and he enjoyed the sound of the brooms on the sidewalk below. He said, “Sweeping the path is [akin to] sweeping the mind.” Single-minded activity, zazen in motion.

Samu refers to a longer sangha work project. It could be moving stones or branches together. Twice a year we have a work day, a sangha endeavor to take care of projects long overdue. Samu, Zazen, Dokusan or Practice Instruction, and Teisho (lecture) are the four fundamental activities of practice. All the various rotating practice positions are forms of Samu. We call it work practice. But the terms Soji or Samu give it a slightly different meaning. Sometimes using a foreign signifier gives a fresh meaning to a familiar activity. In the cool morning we sweep the leaves together into small piles. At that time one person holds the scoop and the other sweeps the leaves into it. There is a subtle satisfaction at play in this silent interactive moment when we agree on which is the last leaf, like the pause at the end of a bow. The next moment it is quickly forgotten as we continue our day. Master Hyakujo was famous for saying that a day of no work was a day of no eating.

Not all of us are in a position to contribute this way. In a lay practice many of us are fortunate simply to be able to practice zazen. In that case, being mindful about how we take care of our space in relation to our surroundings and how we treat each other with respect and thoughtfulness is not different.