Order

[Samadhi]

If you look around at things, you see there is an order to them. The seasons come in order, the planets maintain an order and so forth. Order is very important. Without order, there would be chaos.

I believe it is important to have order in our lives. When things go in an orderly fashion, we have a better chance of being happy. When things are not so orderly, we may have trouble. To have order, we often must rid ourselves of things we do not really need. Our closets may be full of clothes that we have not worn in a long time. When we look for something we want to wear, it may be difficult to find a particular item because there is a lack of order in our closet.

Organization is important. Being able to find things and get things done correctly often relies on having order. If when we come in from outside, if our sandals are put in the same spot each time in the vestibule, we have no problem finding them. If on the other hand, we just drop them anywhere, when we go to look for them, they can be anywhere and it may be frustrating to have to look for them.

Keeping our practice in order is important. Maintaining an orderly schedule of things helps to keep us on the right path. We can light incense at a certain time, meditate at certain times, read texts at a certain time. This keeps us in order and our practice healthy. A hit or miss approach will not be as useful or productive. Of course we need not be overly obsessive about it. Sometimes things happen and we may have to adjust our schedule. But, most days we can settle into a rhythm.

If you do not have good order in your life, try to improve it. Keep things clean and uncluttered around your home. Once you have done a good cleaning and organization, it is much easier to maintain it with proper discipline. Set up a schedule for your meditation and keep to it. Everything has a place so make sure you put something back in its proper place when you are done using it.

By keeping order in our life and practice, we can enjoy a reassuring rhythm that will help us to cultivate and maintain peace and harmony.