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  • A Monk's Guide to a Clean House and Mind

  • By: Shoukei Matsumoto
  • Narrated by: Adam Sims
  • Length: 2 hrs and 4 mins
  • 4.3 out of 5 stars (53 ratings)

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A Monk's Guide to a Clean House and Mind

By: Shoukei Matsumoto
Narrated by: Adam Sims
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Publisher's Summary

Penguin presents the audiobook edition of A Monk's Guide to a Clean House and Mind by Shoukei Matsumoto, read by Adam Sims.

We remove dust to sweep away our worldly desires. We scrub dirt to free ourselves of attachments. We live simply and take time to contemplate the self, mindfully living each moment. It's not just monks that need to live this way. Everyone in today's busy world today needs it.

The Zen sect of Buddhism is renowned for the cleanliness of its monks, but cleaning is greatly valued in Japanese Buddhism in general as a way to cultivate the mind. In this book, I introduce everyday cleaning methods typically employed in temples, while sharing what it's like to be a monk in training.

This book will improve the condition not just of your own mind, but also the people around you. I hope listeners will discover that cleanliness is an opportunity to contemplate oneself.

Audio updated as of February 2018.

©2018 Shoukei Matsumoto (P)2018 Penguin Audio

Critic Reviews

The most unusual self-help book of 2018 ... There is something surprisingly calming about just reading the book, hearing Matsumoto's simple instructions and admiring the clean pen drawings of Japanese sandals and brooms (Jane Fryer)

A bestseller in Japan, this charming book offers practical cleaning tips as well as fascinating insights into the Buddhist approach to life, which counters the wastefulness of modern society with a respect for spaces and objects that is deeply humane ... Ideal preparatory reading for the January clean (PD Smith)

What listeners say about A Monk's Guide to a Clean House and Mind

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so short and sweet you can read again

I fell asleep listening tbh. but it's so short. do you can listen to it many times.

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5 people found this helpful

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90% content is about house cleaning, only 10% about mind

As a german housewife, I find the daily cleaning tips like feather duster and backing soda not what I‘m looking for in this book, but about cleaning the mind there is not so much new ideas. „Dust of the mind should be also removed“ is all what is said. Deeply dessapointed.

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2 people found this helpful

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Loved it

I thoroughly enjoyed this audio book. I shared it with my husband and he listened to it too and we have incorporated some of these sentiments into how we perceive and carry out house work, especially around including our children in it.

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Good to fall asleep to

I was hoping for more. It was a book about how to clean your home.

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Inspirational without the cringe

Best narration of a book so far. Incredibly detailed but with a lot that you can apply without having the life of a Buddhist monk.

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