Sweeping Leaves
When we sweep leaves, we sweep them and then we are done. However, we are only done temporarily. The next day or even in the next few minutes, more leaves may fall. Then we have to sweep again. The cycle goes and goes. Sitting is like sweeping. We sweep the mind instead of the path or sidewalk. Then more leaves fall, sometimes a few, sometimes many. Then we have to sit again and sweep. If we have good practice, we know that there will always be leaves to be swept. If we have a naïve practice, we may think that after enough sweeping is done, our work is done. Meditation is the broom that helps us clean our minds off. We should not get discouraged when we find more leaves have gathered. We should just go about our work quietly and efficiently. This is only natural.
