Note that MAPLE is a young place, less than a decade old in its current form. So, much of it is “experimental.” These ideas aren’t time-tested. But my personal experience of them has been surprisingly positive, so far.
I think it’s worth sharing that 3 of the ideas you brought up are, at least within zen, historically common to monastic practice, albeit changed in ways to better fit the context of MAPLE. You call them the care role, the ops role, and the schedule; I see them as analogues of the jisha, the jiki, and the schedule.
The jisha, in a zen monastery, is first and foremost the attendant of the abbot (caveat: some monasteries every teacher and high-ranking priest will have their own jisha). But in addition to this, the jisha is thought of as the “mother” of the sangha, with responsibilities to care for the monks, nuns, and guests, care for the sick, organize cleaning, and otherwise be supportive of the needs of people. This is similar to your care role in some ways, but MAPLE seems to have focused more on the care aspect and dropped the gendered-role aspects.
The jiki (also jikijitsu or jikido) is responsible for directing the movement of the students. They are the “father” to the jisha’s “mother”, serving as (possibly strict) disciplinarians to keep the monastery operating as intended by the abbot, enforcing rules and handing out punishments. This sounds similar to the Ops role, albeit probably with fewer slaps to the face and blows to the head.
The schedule is, well, the schedule. I expect MAPLE’s schedule, though “young”, is building on centuries of monastic schedule tradition while adding in new things. I think it’s worth adding that the schedule is also there to support deep practice, because there’s a very real way that having to make decisions can weaken samadhi, and having all decisions eliminated creates the space in which calm abiding can more easily arise.
I think it’s worth sharing that 3 of the ideas you brought up are, at least within zen, historically common to monastic practice, albeit changed in ways to better fit the context of MAPLE. You call them the care role, the ops role, and the schedule; I see them as analogues of the jisha, the jiki, and the schedule.
The jisha, in a zen monastery, is first and foremost the attendant of the abbot (caveat: some monasteries every teacher and high-ranking priest will have their own jisha). But in addition to this, the jisha is thought of as the “mother” of the sangha, with responsibilities to care for the monks, nuns, and guests, care for the sick, organize cleaning, and otherwise be supportive of the needs of people. This is similar to your care role in some ways, but MAPLE seems to have focused more on the care aspect and dropped the gendered-role aspects.
The jiki (also jikijitsu or jikido) is responsible for directing the movement of the students. They are the “father” to the jisha’s “mother”, serving as (possibly strict) disciplinarians to keep the monastery operating as intended by the abbot, enforcing rules and handing out punishments. This sounds similar to the Ops role, albeit probably with fewer slaps to the face and blows to the head.
The schedule is, well, the schedule. I expect MAPLE’s schedule, though “young”, is building on centuries of monastic schedule tradition while adding in new things. I think it’s worth adding that the schedule is also there to support deep practice, because there’s a very real way that having to make decisions can weaken samadhi, and having all decisions eliminated creates the space in which calm abiding can more easily arise.