Roshi - An Honorific or a Trash Can?

Jenn: Hey there, sleepy head. I just re-read an old piece by Werner Erhard on Service. Would you like to hear what he said?

Taro: You woke me up.

Jenn: Well, just listen. He says, “For me, what service is about is being committed to who the other person is . . . to deal with the other person’s stuff. Service is about knowing who the other person is and being able to tolerate giving space to their garbage.”

Taro: You woke me up for that?

Jenn: He says, “What most people do is give space to peoples’ qualities and try to manage their stuff, their garbage. Actually, you should do it the other way around. Manage who they are and give space to their garbage.”

Taro: Jenn, why are you talking about garbage?

Jenn: Because it reminded me of something else. Something that you were deeply involved in.

Taro: I swear! I didn’t get into the trash. I don’t even know how to open the lid!

Jenn: No, stop it. It’s not that. You were in a Zen Buddhist monastery and worked with Gennan Roshi.

Taro: Roshi was awesome. Ruthless with never a dull moment.

Jenn: Most people think of the term “Roshi” as an honorific bestowed on someone who has completed many, many milestones over many, many decades to the satisfaction of his or her teacher. Do you know what “Roshi” means?

Taro: Oh, I don’t know. Maybe something like Big Kahuna, Top Banana, Great Mucky-Muck. You know. Something like that.

Jenn: No, nothing like that at all. The term “Roshi,” as I’ve learned, actually translates to “trash can.” Meaning that by the time you had reached this status, you could manage yourself with anything that was handed to you. Just as with a trash can. Trash cans don’t discriminate. Any kind of garbage thrown in is fully accepted. The can will never make the garbage wrong, have an opinion about what was tossed in, or judge its contents. It will never think some other kind of garbage should have been presented. Fully accepting, the trash can has no beliefs about right or wrong garbage. It has no agenda. Pretty amazing, don’t you think?

Taro: Well, I think at this point what would be pretty amazing would be if you’d just leave me alone and let me go back to sleep.