Gareth Young's Bohemian Lifestyle

Instructions for the Task Coordinator and Housekeeper

Since ancient times it has been necessary to provide for the administrative support of a community in order that the day-to-day tasks of the monastery can be performed smoothly. These administrative activities are themselves ordinary everyday tasks, and should be treated as such, though the performance of these everyday activities is not the same as the performance of administrative activities by others.

As Dogen says, “Both day and night allow things to come into and reside within your mind. Allow your mind and all things to function together as a whole,” and “If we only step back to carefully reflect … our lives naturally become one with our work. Doing so is the means whereby we turn things even while simultaneously we are being turned by them. It is vital that we clarify and harmonize our lives with our work, and not lose sight of the absolute or practical.” In applying this to administrative responsibilities you will become one with them, and they will become you. You can then perform them for the benefit of yourself and of the whole community, and you should realize that this is complete in itself. As Dogen said, “All the great teachers down through the ages learned the meaning of magnanimity not merely from writing the character for it, but through the various events and circumstances of their lives.”

Your responsibilities as task coordinator are many. You must ensure that all tasks have a person assigned to perform them at all times, and that the person so assigned understands their role and has the necessary tools and support to enable them to perform their tasks timely and efficiently. You are responsible for ensuring that the tasks get performed in a timely and proper manner, and for remedial action to the extent that they are not (performing the tasks yourself if necessary), for providing leadership and support to people assigned to individual tasks, and for acting as a conduit to the Abbot and the Abbot’s Council to ensure grievances and problems are resolved. You should perform these tasks with clarity and harmony, just as Sekiso was instructing Yogi to. “Be very clear about this: A fool sees himself as another, but a wise man sees others as himself.”

Initially each task has a volunteer for a quarter, and volunteer periods are synchronized. You should determine whether this is the most effective method, or whether longer periods are appropriate for some tasks, and likewise whether volunteer enlisting should remain synchronized or not. You should not make rash decisions on this matter, but as for other matters should reflect carefully, for such decisions can have significant and unintended consequences. You must, at an appropriate point before the expiration of the tenure of any volunteer, seek new volunteers, and try to raise sufficient interest to complete the roster. You should encourage all sangha members to participate in the work of maintaining the center, and ensure that all are aware of the needs and opportunities to perform tasks. This will require publicizing through announcements after services, bulletins at the center, and emails to the sangha distribution.

It is your responsibility to maintain a list of volunteers, contact information and tasks at all times. You must initially contact each volunteer in order to ensure they understand the responsibilities of the task they have assumed, to equip them with your phone number and any other contact information needed to get a hold of you, and also to get their expected schedule for doing their task and their specific reasonable needs. At this time you should also encourage each volunteer to contact you with any problems that arise, including tasks not getting done, materials needed, or reimbursements not being made, and so forth. If a volunteer has such a need identified either at that time or later, it is your responsibility to ensure that the need is handled, through direct assistance or otherwise. A common such need is access to the center, and while an expedient solution is to have a rotating pool of additional keys, you should consult with the Abbot’s Council before distributing keys.

You are also responsible for ensuring reimbursements occur smoothly, and should coordinate with the Abbot’s Council as necessary to ensure all functions are operating smoothly, and that matters that need their attention are promptly raised. One aspect of the reimbursement process to which you should pay close attention is the determination, communication, and management of the budget for each task, requiring coordination with the Abbot’s Council.

You should encourage each volunteer to schedule their activity for the whole volunteer period, clearing their calendar of other conflicts and being sure not to schedule any future conflicts.  If a conflict is foreseen and cannot be worked around, encourage the person to find and coordinate with someone to do the task for the time the person will miss. Assist the person if needed in suggesting folks or providing contact information. If a person is unable to find a substitute or faces an unexpected conflict at the last minute, have the person contact you. You are then responsible for finding the substitute, which may mean that if you cannot find another person, you will need to do the task your self. Remember the words of the monk from Ayuwang, “I have been put in charge of this work in my old age. It is, so to speak, the practice of an old man. How can I entrust all that work to others?”

You should contact each of the volunteers at least twice each quarter to see how they feel their task is working, to offer encouragement and assistance, and to make your own determination of the state of affairs. You should use these contact points as an opportunity to obtain feedback on the task process itself, and to iterate on and improve it for the next volunteers. During this contact you should specifically ask whether they are encountering any problems, which aspects of their assignment they feel they could improve upon, and whether they are finding themselves out of pocket for unreimbursed expenditures. You should also encourage them to identify additional tasks for the job jar, which is described below. It is critical that during these conversations you are attentive and open. You should listen deeply to the other person, and empathize fully with their comments. Listening deeply is the very advanced practice of Kannon, and this is a great opportunity to develop it. To the extent you need to learn or act, it is imperative you do so, and let the person know that you have and will do so.  You can also practice not speaking evil, not engaging in rumormongering, and not speaking with anger at this time.

You should also frequently visit the Zen Center and at that time perform an inspection throughout the facilities to ensure that there has been no miscommunication, and that the tasks are indeed all being performed to the highest level.

The job jar mentioned above is another area of responsibility; it is currently at the back of the blue tasks book in the kitchen, and volunteers and sangha members should be encouraged to identify additional tasks or maintenance needed for the upkeep of the Zen Center and write them here. Those contributing ideas should be encouraged to enter their name, or that of the person who can describe it further, and the date that the item was identified as needing attention or placed in the jar. The job jar should not be viewed as or encouraged to become a general suggestion box. Jobs entered therein should relate to maintaining the Zen Center. You should review the job jar monthly and act on the entries. Some may require prospective modification of the tasks, which you should do; others may need to be performed at a building work party, in which case they should be brought to the attention of the person responsible for arranging and managing such work parties; yet others may require the attention of the Abbot’s Council, in which case it is your responsibility to elevate them to that level, and obtain resolution.

As you perform this task, there will be times that it seems overwhelming, and you will be tempted to let things slide, either your own direct responsibilities or tasks that are assigned and you know are not being performed properly. At such times, you should remember Dogen’s exortation, “Pay full attention to your work …; attend to every aspect yourself so that it will naturally turn out well,” and remember that it is your undivided responsibility to ensure that all of the tasks are performed well and on time. If, nonetheless, you do not have sufficient support from the sangha, there are problems with management of the tasks, the required time commitment becomes too great, or personal circumstances become such that you cannot handle this task either for an interim period, or on a more permanent basis, you should try to find a substitute, assistant or replacement, and should bring this matter to the attention of the Abbot’s Council, with or without the name of your substitute or replacement as the case may be.

Though you are not the abbot of a large monastery, the following is appropriate to the circumstance and responsibility to others of your position: