Better Homes and Gardens: Buddhist Edition (or How to Create a Sane Space in an Insane World)

A guest post by Lodro Rinzler

Let’s face it: it’s crazy out there. Just take your neighborhood for example: Likely people are littering, leaving their broken umbrellas on the streets, leaving dog feces to rot in the sun. But it’s hard to take care of your entire neighborhood – you could spend all day cleaning up out there and still not make a dent in the tangible examples of other people’s speed and neglect.

What we can take care of is our own space. This could be our home, our garden, or our area at work. We can clean our home regularly, so that we feel uplifted when we spend time there. We can arrange our furniture and art in a way that creates a feeling of harmony for us. As my teacher, Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, once wrote:

As human beings, we are influenced by our environment. If we create an environment of aggression and disharmony, stress will become the norm. Conversely, if we create an environment of kindness, love, discipline, and generosity, we will all begin to feel a sense of peace.

When you take good care of our living space, we are affected in a positive way. Not only is a well-tended environment a gift to ourselves, we are also offering it to others.

Imagine hosting a stressed out colleague in your work space. If there are papers all over the desk and books scattered about you on the ground, that messy environment will have a negative effect on his or her mind. If they walk in stressed out but experience a spacious container of sanity, with everything tucked away where it should be, then they may actually breathe a sigh of relief, letting their burden roll off their shoulders. By merely tending to your mess you were left feeling uplifted and you generously offered the experience of space to another person!

The other week I met up with a new friend, Taz Tagore of the Reciprocity Foundation. The Reciprocity Foundation is an organization that treats the homeless youth of New York City in a holistic fashion, offering them resources and business opportunities while also relating to them as unique individuals. Many of the youth that find their way into RF have come from very troubled backgrounds.

In speaking with Taz, she mentioned the great care she has put into creating a safe and sane environment to host the young people that take part in her organization’s activities. When they walk in, she said, their first response is, “Thank you. Finally, I have found a place where I can just be.” If cultivated with care, there is true power in our environment. It can allow people the opportunity to experience space and the wisdom of their own being.

Our homes, backyards, and work areas say a lot about the energy we’re trying to cultivate in the world. If you are dedicated to spreading mindfulness and compassion in this society I would recommend you start by creating an environment of mindfulness and compassion at home. This may mean making your bed and hanging up your clothes, or vacuuming regularly, or arranging your furniture differently but these very simple steps leave you with a sense of dignity and inspires sanity both in yourself and anyone who is lucky enough to find you as a host.

You may find that in engaging this work, you are cleaning up your mind as well.

Lodro Rinzler is the author of The Buddha Walks into a Bar: A Guide to Life for a New Generation. He is a practitioner and teacher in the Shambhala Buddhist lineage. Over the last decade Lodro has taught numerous workshops at meditation centers and college campuses throughout the United States. He has served as the Executive Director of the Boston Shambhala Center and currently oversees development efforts for Shambhala internationally. Lodro’s column, What Would Sid Do, appears regularly on the Huffington Post. Lodro writes from his apartment in New York City.

More by Lodro on Shambhala SunSpace:

• The Buddhist Gentleman: How to Buy Nice Clothes
• So Your Parents Are Crazy

For writings by Sakyong Mipham, see our special Spotlight page of his teachings, as well as the current Shambhala Sun magazine.

And, about the Reciprocity Foundation:

• Video: A pioneering Buddhist retreat for homeless youth
• Fighting Homelessness with Mindfulness

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