A Monk's Guide to a Clean House and Mind

A long time ago I read a magazine article with a Buddhist-influenced perspective on how one can engage with cleaning as a wholesome, peaceful, enjoyable activity, instead of a drudgery to be avoided or rushed through, and it always stuck with me. So I immediately purchased this book after hearing about it on a mental health forum. I enjoyed that it explained the perspective of a Buddhist monk and offered its advice in clean direct prose, without bloating the volume with unnecessary anecdotes or tangents. I enjoyed how he named all the traditional garments and tools and the sources he himself uses. The book has the feel of someone genuinely relaying how it works at the temple, the day to day situations that occur, and how they are responded to. In this way it feels like learning from your grandmother, why she does things the way she does things, after a lifetime of experience. I like to leave the book out and pick it up to re-read sections when I am feeling overwhelmed or lost. I find that other people are attracted to reading bits out of it too. It's a very good book to recommend to others because it isn't a huge commitment to read the whole thing, and you get a lot of good out of reading even a few pages.

This is a lovely guide to practicing joy and mindfulness in cleaning and maintenance of your self and home. Although not everything is directly relatable for many people, as most do not live in a Buddhist temple, all of the principles can be applied by anyone in life. In the short time it took me to read this book, I started making small changes in my approach to cleaning and already have notified a huge difference in how I view "chores" and my mindset when completing them. I highly recommend this to anyone looking to redefine their relationship with housekeeping and taking care of themselves.

I enjoyed this book, it was concise and informative. It had a lot of ideas that I would not practice because it is so different from the way I do things as a westerner. For example, I do the wash once a week, ironing, folding and putting everything away. Washing clothes daily would make no sense. But the spirit of how we do things is what is important and this book helps me to keep this in mind as it is the priority.

Very helpful if you are wanting to be more organized and maintain a clean house easily

I liked the very first chapter quite a bit, as it presents what I believe is the key insight. But then after that, it seemed some of the things seemed impractical, and I really did get this for practical insight. For example, I don't think the Buddhist temple garb is likely to be particularly practical as dress for daily activity and cleaning in an American home, despite the praise the author makes. I own this type of garb, are really would not find it comfortable going about my general day in it - I would stand out, and it simply is not as practical as a pair of jeans, sneakers, and t-shirt or sweatshirt. Then again, others might be looking at this for more insight into Buddhist temple life, so I notched it up from 2 stars to 3. It is a slim volume that is attractive, and will look nice on the shelf, but it also took a much longer amount of time to arrive than other books. So, overall, I was a little disappointed. Maybe my expectations were too high?

This book was a joy to read! Simple and yet profound. I am working on shifting my attitude and relationship to cleaning, and this book is helping. One of my favorite suggestions is this: clean a light fixture on dates that end with a 3 or 8. Now my fixtures are cleaned on a regular basis which feels really good!

It seems, reading this book, that many people do not clean, do not know how to clean (Buddhist style ir not), and don't have the right heart when they clean. It seems, that I only had half the right heart, but the right instincts. I discovered that I already think like a cleaning Monk, albeit, a solo cleaning Monk. I was raised in chaos and started cleaning my room from top to bottom every week at a young age. I started ironing my own clothes at age 9. I realize that being clean and cleaning were a way of imposing order, improving your mind, outlook and environment at a very early age. I did learn a couple of new things and felt my energy refreshed and felt assured about the holiness of work however menial it may be, and of being clean. At 69, I am still thorough, still cleaning, still working to create an orderly, peaceful sanctuary in my home. I also work outside of the home and garden too. I wish more people understood the value of work and a job well done.

Love the simplicty of this book. A super fast read and kind of gets you in the mood to clean. To find some zen while cleaning. Overall it's about being in the moment. What made me scratch my head was how they mentioned that literally cleaning your lights will help you illuminate and get you out of the "dark". BUT I can understand how your environment affects your mind. At the end of the night if that pile of dirty dishes bugs you and you contemplate whether or not to deal with them in the morning- this book will tell you to do them cause you know it'll bother you. Well, that's how my mind would react, I don't know about you. Cute book, helps me get through my chores. If you don't care about your belongings and home, do you even care about yourself? Care about others? Hmmm.