A butcher who lived in the time of Buddha wanted to live a meaningful and purposeful life and wondered how, as a butcher, he could ever achieve that. To him, killing animals felt like the opposite of living a life of meaning and purpose. On the other hand, he had a wife and small children and knew no other skill. He could be a butcher or he could let his children starve.
Many of us have life situations like this. We have ideas about what we could do to have meaning and purpose–about how we could help others and the world–but feel stuck by our obligations in lives that don’t allow us to do those things. All day long, we deal with what feel like meaningless and mundane life chores.
One day, our butcher sought out Shariputra, the monk who had been Buddha’s attendant and top disciple. He said to Shariputra, “I kill cattle all day so I’m doing very bad things. I will never find a life of meaning and purpose.”
Shariputra said, “Don’t believe your stories about what it means to be a butcher and have to do mundane chores. Instead, pay deep attention in every moment. Don’t attach to your good and bad thoughts about your situation. Just watch them come and go.”
So instead of wallowing in his bad feelings about his work, the butcher stayed very curious. What is this? What is happening now? What is the fundamental essence of what is happening now? What am I? All sorts of thoughts came into his mind but instead of believing what the thoughts said, he asked the questions about the thoughts, too. What is the nature of these thoughts?
This constant inquiry meant he never trusted his thinking opinions but they instead forced him to watch carefully and act meticulously. Because his opinions and concerns and worries about his work no longer stood in his way, he had a new clarity and he was often able to be exactly as he was called to be–not just in spite of his job and his mundane chores but because of them.
When hungry people came with no money to pay, he could see their suffering and give them food. When a cow had a young calf, he could see that the calf needed its mother and let the cow live longer. He became a different kind of butcher. In fact, he became a sort of saintly butcher. At all times in all places a simple question rose in his mind: Given my situation, how can I help?
None of this is to say that any of should stay in situations we don’t like and believe in. Of course, we must work to change our life situation to feel as though we do better by ourselves and our world if we can. But sometimes we can’t. Or we can, but the timescale for change feels long. Then we get distracted by the stories we make up about the meaninglessness of our situation and stop attending to the possibilities to be of service here and now.
So let’s suppose you have a lot of things you have to do that feel like drudgery. How can you make them meaningful? Pay attention. Moment to moment, attend to the situation you are in and look for ways to help.
If that sounds esoteric, here are ten easy ways I can think to make certain chores feel more meaningful and purposeful. Please feel free to add any you might have in the comments:
- Make it a do-gooder commute: If you commute by mass transit, look for opportunities to give people seats or help people carry things or make them smile.
- Pay your bills happily: Set aside a small but meaningful (to you) amount of money each month. When you have check your credit cards or pay your bills, take that bit of cash and give it to two or three causes online.
- Shop from a grocer you believe in: Since most of us have to buy food, why not give our money to a store we actually want to support, maybe one owned by a local family instead of a huge corporation?
- Keep your money in the community: As long as you have to bank anyway, try finding a local credit union that emphasizes helping the community you are part of.
- Have a laundry party: Invite friends to bring their dirty laundry to the laundromat with you and help create community.
- Never eat alone: When you cook at home, invite a friend to come cook with you. When you eat at work, bring a treat to share with a co-worker.
- Express gratitude: Stop and let people know that you are grateful for something they have done.
- Do five-minute favors: Look out for what people around you need. A coffee refill? A quick errand done? Do it for them before they think to ask.
- Always say please, thank you and excuse me: Acknowledging the people around you will make them and you feel better.
- Use less energy and avoid plastic: It makes us all feel better when we throw away and waste less.
- Join or start group that cares about what you care about: Go on marches together. Do good community work together.
- Make a list for yourself: You are the one that knows your situation and how to help the issues you care about.
Am I saying any one of these things will change your life or the world? Who knows? But if you make a habit of looking for ways to make your daily life meaningful and purposeful and helpful to the world instead of waiting for the right job or life situation, you will find meaning and purpose and help the world right where you are. Just like the butcher.