Profound Enlightenment: Sweeping the Ktichen Floor, with Shri!

There I was, sweeping the kitchen floor yet again, when a wave of ecstatic joy moved through my body like a tsunami. What was that? How did that happen? And how could I experience it again?

How is it possible to feel joy sweeping the kitchen floor after doing it almost every day for years? Why doesn’t it get boring?

And honestly, how does the dirt accumulate so fast? It seems to appear out of thin air!

Welcome to the world of Shri.

Shri is the Sanskrit word for divine beauty, auspiciousness, and goodness. In Tantra, it’s a way of seeing the universe. Shri is the power of life revealing itself through you, as you. Auspiciousness is recognizing the preciousness of this moment — knowing it won’t last forever, and neither will we. One day this body will die, and poof, life as we know it changes completely.

Living with that awareness fills me with insight and inspiration. Shri makes everything come alive. I’m not just going through the motions. I’m present with what’s happening — feeling it, noticing it, wondering about it, staying curious.

Shri also recognizes that everything belongs. It’s simply a matter of placement. 

Soil inside the house is dirt. Dirt outside the house is soil. We don’t eat from the compost pile — other critters do. We feed the compost to the garden, and then we eat from the garden. Everything has its optimal place.

I think that’s one reason I feel so much joy sweeping the kitchen floor. I’m restoring alignment by moving the dirt outside where it belongs. And as I purify my home, I feel like I’m purifying my body too. The home is the temple of the body, and the body is the temple of the soul.

These days, especially as I get a little older, I don’t stretch and expect that flowing, open feeling to last for days. Sometimes my body stiffens up the very next morning, and it feels like yoga did nothing at all. But deep down I know it did. Little by little, over time, the body opens. Maybe aging just means it closes a bit faster than it used to. Still, the practice itself can be joyful when I stay present.

It’s the same with sweeping the floor. I no longer expect it to stay clean. Between going in and out of the house, feeding the birds, cutting the grass, and tracking everything back inside, I’ve relaxed around the spontaneous accumulation of dirt.

The joy comes when I stop resisting and simply enter the sweep that’s happening now. 

If I resist cleaning — thinking I shouldn’t have to do this every day — or if I blame my partner Hallie, who’s an amazing cook and also a wonderfully creative tornado in the kitchen (totally worth it because her food is phenomenal), then I lose the moment.

It’s so easy to get “swept up” in the restless narratives of the mind. More than anything, that’s what steals my joy. But just sweeping — without resistance — is surprisingly powerful. It feels good, so I do it without complaint. And afterward, I feel energized and uplifted because I know I’ve participated in the natural order of things. Entropy keeps dissolving everything back into dust, but while I’m here, I’ll keep restoring alignment and order.

This is Shri — the indomitable longing for life to blossom and thrive fully.

May your practice be Shri. May you appreciate the sweep. May your heart expand and your life thrive fully in whatever you do.

Namaste,

Todd

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