Pretty good stuff

Ling Xingpo visited Master Fubei Heshang to pay her respects. They sat together and drank tea, and she asked him, “If a true word can’t be spoken no matter how hard you try, how will you teach?”
Fubei said, “Fubei has nothing to say.”
Ling was not satisfied. She placed her hands inside the opposite sleeves of her robe and cried out: “There is grievous suffering even within a blue sky!”
Again Fubei had nothing to say.
Ling said, “To be a human being is to live in calamity.” -- Hidden Lamp, page 260 

The assertion that true Dharma cannot be conveyed by words goes way back. 

"After old man Shakyamuni had attained the Path in the land of Magadha, he spent three weeks contemplating this matter: "The nature of all things being quiescent extinc­tion cannot be conveyed by words; I would rather not preach the Dharma, but quickly enter nirvana." When he got to this point, even Shakyamuni couldn't find any way to open his mouth. But by virtue of his power of skill in technique, after he had preached to the five mendicants, he went to three hundred and sixty assemblies and expounded the teachings for his age. All these were just expedients. For this reason he had taken off his bejewelled regal garments and put on rough dirty clothing. He could not but turn towards the shallows within the gate of the secondary meaning in order to lead in his various disciples. If we had him face upwards and bring it all up at once, there would hardly be anyone in the whole world (who could under­stand)." -- The Blue Cliff Record, tr. T. Cleary and J. C. Cleary

Changqing once said, “I would rather say that arhats have three types of poison than say that the Tathāgata [Śākyamuni Buddha] has two kinds of expression. It’s not that the Tathāgata has no expression. It is just that he does not have two kinds of expression.”
Baofu Congzhan asked, “What is the Tathāgata’s expression?” Changqing asked, “How can a deaf person hear it?”
Baofu said, “I knew you were speaking on a secondary level.” Changqing said, “Then what is the Tathāgata’s expression?” Baofu said, “Have a cup of tea.” -- Shingi Shobogenzo

"Whenever Chao Chou saw a monk, right away he would say, "Have you ever been here?" Whether the monk said he had or he hadn't, Chou would always say, "Go drink some tea." The temple overseer asked, "The teacher always asks monks if they've been here or not, then always says, 'Go drink some tea.' What is the meaning?" Chou said, "Overseer!" When the over­ seer responded, Chou said, "Go drink some tea."" -- The Blue Cliff Record, tr. T. Cleary and J. C. Cleary

In some depictions of Manjushri, such as one well-known one from the Dunhuang Caves, he has 1000 arms and hands, each one holding a begging bowl, and he is said to be offering Buddha/Dharma to us, the Sangha, from each bowl. Us is everyone; we are all the Sangha either in the past, the present, or the future. It is said that the offer is good until we accept it, though we resist for kalpas. 

Wu Cho, a traveling monk, visits Diamond Cave on Five Peak Mountain and meets an old man there who offers him tea. The old man drinks from a crystal bowl. He shows the bowl to Wu Cho and asks, "Do they have these where you came from?" "No." "What!? How do they drink tea then?" Later, Wu Cho realizes he has been drinking tea with Manjusri. (Blue Cliff Record)

Yunyan was boiling some tea. Daowu asked who he was making it for. Yunyan answered, "nobody special."
-- Soto Zen Ancestors in China, Mitchell, 72.

Chongxin of Mount Longtan was making rice cakes for a living. When he met Tianhuang, he bowed and left his household.
Tianhuang said, “Be my attendant. From now on I will teach you the essential dharma gate.”
After one year passed Longtan said, “When I arrived, you said that you would teach me the essential dharma gate. I haven’t received any of your instruction yet.”
Tianhuang said, “I have been teaching you for a long time.”
Longtan said, “What have you been teaching me?”
Tianhuang said, “When you greet me, I join my palms. When I sit, you stand beside
me. When you bring tea, I receive it from you.”
Longtan was silent for a while.
Tianhuang said, “When you see it, you just see it. When you think about it, you miss
it.” Longtan then had great enlightenment. -- Shingi Shobogenzo

There is no getting out of the calamity. But Fubei's tea is probably pretty good stuff.

-- shonin 

Walking Meditation

"A monk, in going forward and back, applies clear comprehension; in looking straight on and looking away, he applies clear comprehension; in bending and in stretching, he applies clear comprehension; in wearing robes and carrying the bowl, he applies clear comprehension; in eating, drinking, chewing and savoring, he applies clear comprehension; in walking, in standing, in sitting, in falling asleep, in waking, in speaking and in keeping silence, he applies clear comprehension." 
-- Satipatthana Sutta

Theravada: cankama

Straight line 15 to 50 or so paces. Hands clasped in front. Turn and walk back. Awareness of feet as they reach the ground.

"The Buddha stressed developing mindfulness in the four main postures of the body: standing, sitting, lying down and walking. If you read about the lives of the monks and nuns at the time of the Buddha, you will see that many obtained the stages of Enlightenment while on the walking meditation path. In the Forest Meditation Tradition in Northeast Thailand, there is a great emphasis on walking meditation. Many monks will walk for long hours as a way of developing concentration sometimes as much as ten or fifteen hours a day.  The Buddha spoke of five benefits of walking meditation. In the order that he listed them in this Sutta, they are as follows: It develops endurance for walking long distances; it is good for striving; it is healthy; it is good for the digestion after a meal, and the concentration won from walking meditation lasts a long time." 

--Ajahn Nyanadhammo

Mahayana in East Asia

Circumambulation, called kora and synonymous with pilgrimage in Tibetan Buddhism, is done clockwise around holy sites, or straight ahead when in transit, as seen throughout Mahayana Buddhism. 

In China and Korea this is generally faster than Japan and gets the blood flowing after a cold sit. Swing the arms. "Fast walking meditation, also known as pao-xiang (跑香) in Chinese, is a practice method unique to the Chinese Chan tradition, which is not taught in other traditions such as Theravada, Tibetan and Japanese Buddhism. In this method, practitioners walk quickly in clockwise direction around a circle, starting with a normal speed, and then gradually speeding up. This approach requires practitioners to remain mindful of nothing but the idea of walking fast. Doing so helps us get rid of wandering thoughts and dispel our bodily and mental attachments. During the walking sessions of a group retreat, both older practitioners and those who have difficulty walking quickly can walk in the inner circle, while others walk in the outer circle." -- Dharma Drum

  

In Korea yeonghyaeng is like in China but typically takes place outside, for example in a courtyard. 

Or, as also in China (shown below), there may be walking in a straight line; for example along the road leading to the temple.

This shades over into pindapata (takuhatsu) and pilgrimages.

In Vietnam, it is kinh hành. As in China and Korea, or, Plum Village style: just walk mindfully, a little more swing than hiking. "Walking meditation unites our body and our mind. We combine our breathing with our steps. When we breathe in, we may take two or three steps. When we breathe out, we may take three, four, or five steps. We pay attention to what is comfortable for our body." 

 

This, when undertaken less formally, can be like what is called forest bathing (Shinrin-yoku), a secular health practice originating in Japan.

Kinhin (Soto)

Dogen, Bendoho: "Do not let the feet get ahead and the body behind. Move body and feet together. Look directly ahead at the ground one fathom ahead. The measure of the pace is equal to the instep of the foot. Be as though standing in one place, as though not moving forward. It is splendid to move slowly, walking in magnificent ease and quiet. Do not make noise with your slippers and rudely distract the assembly. When you are walking, clasp both hands together, putting them inside the sleeves. Do not let the sleeves dangle down to the right and left near your feet."

Menzan adapts it thus for Kinhin in his Kinhinki: 

"Clasp both hands in front of the chest, putting them inside the sleeves, and not letting the sleeves fall down near the feet to the right and left. Look directly one fathom ahead (about six or seven feet). When walking properly, use the breath as measure: a half step is taken in the time of one breath. The measure of the pace is equal to the instep of the foot. Do not let the feet get ahead and the body behind. Move body and feet together. Do not look around right and left or gaze up and down. Do not move your chest and shoulders. Do not make noise by dragging your slippers. Be as though standing in one place, as though not moving forward. It is splendid to move slowly, walking in magnificent ease and quiet."

Shashu (sotozen.net)

"Step out with your right foot. When you do kinhin, start to do it right away. Keep an equal distance between you and the people behind and in front of you. At the end of kinhin the bell is rung once. Stop and bow in shashu. Then walk at a normal pace following the person in front of you. Walk around the hall until you return to your seat." 

I came across some discussion of hand position. Sawaki lineage and some others notably in Rinzai, use isshu, which is similar to the hand position of a gesture of fealty in Imperial China.

"Fold your left thumb into your left palm and curl your fingers over it to make a fist.  Cover your left hand with your right and hold your hands in front of you against the body, with forearms parallel to the floor."

Disability in Kinhin: do what you do as way opens. Some remain seated or lying down, in shashu. Some stand in place in shashu or do bows from the waist. If sitting, can you bend your ankles? Experiment. Everything that happens in Dharma began as experiments. Those who cannot walk have already arrived with the first step. Gratitude crosses all space and time.

   -- shonin 

In dewdrops

I'm a sucker for anything by Bill Porter, who seems to me an especially salty reincarnation of Layman Pang, and am happiest reading him as he visits Chinese poets' graves and offers them Kentucky whiskey.

That he translated the Diamond Sutra at first surprised me, as I'm sure he finds it redundant to the whiskey offerings, but, as a Quaker acquaintance once explained to me, for them Quakerism wasn't everything they looked for in Christianity as they understood it, but it was "the only game in town."

When I was in my teens and twenties, I read everything I could get my hands on about Zen, which means I had stuffed myself full of the kinds of things bookstores and libraries had on the subject in the 1960s and 70s, very little of seemed to come from Soto.

However, at some point I came across Heinrich Dumoulin's history, such as it was, of Zen, and he did devote part of it to Dogen, though I felt he did so under a sense of obligation -- seemed to regard Dogen as a bit of an aberration. 

Dumoulin included one of Dogen's last poems.

It really got my full attention.

Here it is, in Steven Heine's translation:

To what shall
I liken the world?
Moonlight, reflected
In dewdrops,
Shaken from a crane's bill.

This is the Diamond Sutra in full. Its immediacy has no past, no future, no accumulation of karma or merit, also both no thought of accumulation of karma or merit and no thought of no accumulation of karma or merit.

 -- shonin 

Cut Cabbage

 

I’m a poor but happy follower of the Way
whatever happens takes care of my needs
last night the west wind blew down an old tree
at daybreak firewood covered the ground
windblown white silk wreathed the red scarps
dewdrop pearls adorned the green cliffs
my survival has always depended on what’s present
why should I tire myself out making plans

-- Stonehouse, tr. Red Pine 

I'm interested in the traces I feel I can sense of the effect of the word "Way" in various minds. Ask the average Taoist or Zennist about it, and you can hear some overlap in their replies, but it's not a matchup, the way their image of "noodles" or "ocean" might be. This leaves me wondering what idiot came up with the word "Way" in the first place. Trying to confuse us, eh?

The more I muse on all this, the more I feel like candles and chants risk more hindrance than help. When it's time to cut up some cabbage, just pick up the knife and cut cabbage.

-- shonin

One head

 I've brought a head of red cabbage into the tiny hut kitchen to blanch, pickle and water bath can, using the few narrowmouth lids I have on hand (small jars). About half of this will go in the freezer. All will be small batches, to have with rice, spuds or noodles. 

[later] All done; it made about six pints of canned "imitation kimchi" in jars and five pints in bags in the hut freezer. That's enough for about thirty-three meals for me, in combination with other ingredients.

Two heads, they say, are better than one, but thirty-three meals' worth of cabbage is a lot for me in one year. So it's as well that only one of my cabbages made a head! I'm fine with that; the collards did much better and will likely be the main winter veg this year.

We are a two-headed species. One head witnesses a singing bird. The other talks to itself: "Oh, there's a singing bird." This monologue appears to be a step away from the world, or what could be called nature, even though of course the monologue occurs within nature -- it can't be anywhere else! But we fool ourselves.

The epitome of such fooling is when we try, sometimes with horrible success, to fool one another. As a civilization we're approaching fully automated 24/7 fooling, with a corresponding massive leap in gratuitous suffering.

Zen folks have a project to let go of that second head, for as much of the time as is practicable. Releasing the past as regret, releasing the future as expectation, hear the bird, see the garden, inhale, exhale, cut the cabbage.

-- shonin 

The Woman Lets It Be

Hidden Lamp, p.62

 

Master Langye Huijue had a woman disciple who came to him for instruction.  The master told her to examine the saying “Let it be.”  He said that if she faithfully used this sentence as a scythe, she would cut down illusions and reap enlightenment.

 

The woman followed his instructions faithfully.  One day her house burned down and she said, “Let it be.”  ....

One day she started to make fried cakes for dinner as her husband lit the fire.  She prepared the batter and heated the oil, then poured a spoonful of batter into the hot oil.

 

When she heard the sizzling sound, she was immediately enlightened.  She threw the pan to the ground and jumped up and down, clapping her hands and laughing.

 

Her husband shouted at her, “What are you doing?  Have you gone mad?”  She answered, “Let it be.”

 

Then she went to Huijue and he confirmed that she had indeed harvested the holy fruit.

 

Waiting for go

         Jiaoan’s Sand in the Eye

Hidden Lamp p.90

 

Jaioan was the niece of a high official of the Song dynasty.  When she was young, she decided not to marry or bear children and she set her heart on the way of Chan.  She experienced a clear awakening at the words of Master Yuanwu Keqin as he spoke to the assembly.

 

Later Yuanwu said to her, “You should go on to erase your views –then you will finally be free.”

 

She answered in verse:

 

          The pillar pulls out the bone sideways;

          the void shows its claws and fangs;

          even if one profoundly understands,

          there is still sand in the eye.

 

To set one's heart on the way is to sit at the entrance and admire it, or to cling to the gate. Way-entering is devoid of clinging. Yuanwu could see that she could let go, so told her directly to just do so. Life gives us sandstorms. We squint, we hide behind buildings, we make excuses. Forward is just forward. No point waiting for the sandstorm to stop, eh?

Has my head been casting shadows inside as well as out? When I'm told to make an effort, I suddenly picture myself sitting and grunting, as if I might take in an elusive fact.It would be more the other way round if there were any direction for facts to go.

 

-- shonin 

Ryaku Fusatsu

We gather on the Solstices and the Equinoxes so that – in the presence of each other, the Beloved Community – we can acknowledge our past and harmful karma and renew our vows as bodhisattvas on the Path of Practice. To make a fresh start. Again and again.

And we always begin these quarterly gatherings by acknowledging that wherever we find ourselves in this country today, we’re inhabiting the traditional homelands of Native people -- people whose land was taken but not given. Eugene, Oregon, where I am now was home to the Kalapuya tribes. Whether or not you know the name of the Native people who lived where you find yourself today, please call them to mind. They are our ancestors right here where we live and our neighbors in the three worlds.

As Buddhists, we resolve to wake up to the truth of our interbeing with all existence throughout time & space. To see things as they really are, and to harmonize with the community of all beings. So that the effects of our actions of body, speech, and mind will tend in a direction away from creating more suffering, and toward liberation – toward freedom from suffering – for all of us.

So, the first step – a first step we have to take over & over again as we find our way through the beginningless tangle of causes & condition w/in which we live – the first step is to look deeply & acknowledge our past harmful actions – our participation in the causes & conditions that continue to perpetuate suffering.

And then to renew our vows as people on the path of practice – to live in a different way. A trustworthy, wholesome, life sustaining way in harmony with our True Nature and the flow of all existence. A way that tends toward liberation from suffering – for all of us.

Please recite the verses along with the kokyo but leave your mic muted. Even though you’re muted please participate fully b/c, like zazen, this is full bodymind practice. Imp to hear your own voice saying the words and to fully inhabit the physicality of the many bows. We say bowing “in your own way” to include the many ways from full prostrations to lying down bows. The important thing is to give the bow your full mind-body attention. To inhabit it as a form of mindful moving meditation.

Please be sure to engage in mindful movement during kinhin, whether walking, stretching, going to the bathroom, or mindfully moving in some other way. What we’re doing is not theoretical. This is embodied practice. Embodied in the zendo and embodied in our ordinary daily lives.

We’ll begin w/ the Robe Verse, have a period of zazen followed by kinhin, then the Avowal of Karma & Renewal of Vows ceremony, followed by kinhin and 3 more periods of zazen. We’ll close at noon with a short dedication.

The robe, in whatever form we wear it, is the Buddha field – the field of awakening – that we’re all entering by way of our intention to practice together today. Some robes are visible to the eye, others are not visible in that way. But all robes show themselves in the lives of  those who wear them. So the Robe Verse is for all of us entering the great Way together today, resolving to awaken. Please keep your microphone muted as we say the Robe Verse together.

(Doshi kneels & puts okesa on head and hands in gassho.)

Kokyo I: “Robe Verse” (1 time)
Great Robe of Liberation
Field Far Beyond Form and Emptiness
Wearing the Tathagata's Teaching
Saving all Beings

(Doshi makes offering and 3 bows. No bells
Doshi makes gassho to altar. O
Doshi makes gassho to seat. O
Doshi makes gassho to center O
Doshi sits.)

Kokyo I: “Zazen” (30 min.)
OO (signals end of zazen) → “Kinhin” (10 min.)
O (signals end of kinhin)

When everyone is seated

Kokyo I:  x  “Avowal of Karma and Renewal of Vows”

(Doshi makes offering)
___________________________________________

Kokyo II: Three bows in your own way. Please consider standing for these first three bows even if you’ll be doing seated bows from then on.

O Bow

O Bow

O Bow

AVOWAL OF KARMA

Kokyo II: Please recite 3 times aloud with your speaker muted. Make a bow when the bell sounds at the end of each recitation. Please remain in gassho for the rest of the ceremony.

All my ancient, tangled karma
From beginningless greed, ill will, and ignorance
Born of body, speech, and mind
I now fully avow.
O Bow

All my ancient, tangled karma
From beginningless greed, ill will, and ignorance
Born of body, speech, and mind
I now fully avow.
O Bow

All my ancient, tangled karma
From beginningless greed, ill will, and ignorance
Born of body, speech, and mind
I now fully avow.
O Bow

HOMAGES

Kokyo II: Please recite aloud and make a bow when the bell sounds at the end of each homage.

Homage to the Seven Buddhas before Buddha. O Bow

Homage to Shakyamuni Buddha. O Bow

Homage to the Future Maitreya Buddha. O Bow

Homage to Manjushri, the Perfect Wisdom Boddhisattva. O Bow

Homage to Sa man ta bha dra the Shining Practice Bodhisattva. O Bow

Homage to Avalokitesvara, the Infinite Compassion Bodhisattva. O Bow

Homage to the Succession of Ancestors, Women & Men, Known & Unknown. O Bow

BODHISATTVA VOWS

Kokyo II: Please recite 3 times. Make a bow when the bell sounds at the end of each full recitation.

Beings are numberless, I vow to meet them with kindness and curiosity.
Occasions of suffering are inexhaustible, I vow to touch them with patience and love.
Dharma Gates are boundless, I vow to enter them.
The awakened Way is immeasurable, I vow to embody it. O Bow

Beings are numberless, I vow to meet them with kindness and curiosity.
Occasions of suffering are inexhaustible, I vow to touch them with patience and love.
Dharma Gates are boundless, I vow to enter them.
The awakened Way is immeasurable, I vow to embody it. O Bow

Beings are numberless, I vow to meet them with kindness and curiosity.
Occasions of suffering are inexhaustible, I vow to touch them with patience and love.
Dharma Gates are boundless, I vow to enter them.
The awakened Way is immeasurable, I vow to embody it. O Bow

REFUGES

Kokyo II: Please recite each refuge with the kokyo. The Doshi then speaks alone. Make a bow when the bell sounds after the Doshi speaks.

I take refuge in Buddha.

Doshi: Before all being
Immersing body and mind deeply in the Way
Awakening true mind. O Bow

I take refuge in Dharma.

Doshi: Before all being
Entering deeply the merciful ocean
Of Buddha’s Way. O Bow

I take refuge in Sangha.

Doshi: Before all being
Bringing harmony to everyone
Free from hindrance. O Bow

(Doshi makes offering.)

PURE PRECEPTS

I vow to refrain from causing harm.

Doshi: It is the abode, the source, and the law of all Buddhas.

I vow to devotedly do what is good.

Doshi: It is the teaching of unsurpassed complete Enlightenment.
It is the path and the practice.

I vow to live and be lived for the benefit of all beings.

Doshi: It is transcending profane and holy, taking self and others across.

CLEAR MIND PRECEPTS

I vow not to kill, but to cherish and cultivate the great web of life.

Doshi: Not killing life, the Buddha seed grows. Transmit the life of Buddha and do not kill.

I vow not to take what is not given, but to cultivate fairness, gratitude, and generosity.

Doshi: Self and objects are such, two yet one. The gate of liberation stands open.

I vow not to misuse sexuality, but to remain trustworthy in relationships, honoring the intimacy of bodies with respect and joy.

Doshi: Let the three jewels of self, objects, and action be pure. With nothing to desire, one goes along together with the Buddhas.

I vow not to lie, but to cultivate truthful, kind, beneficial communication.

Doshi: The Dharma Wheel turns from the beginning. There is neither surplus nor lack. The sweet dew saturates all and harvests the truth.

I vow not to intoxicate myself or others, but to cultivate clear thinking, and to remain tuned in to the common ground of our shared life.

Doshi: Originally pure, don’t defile. This is the great awareness.

I vow not to dwell on the mistakes of others, but to cultivate wise, respectful, beneficial ways of responding.

Doshi: In the Buddha Dharma, go together, appreciate, realize and actualize together. No fault-finding. No haphazard talk. Do not corrupt the way.

I vow not to praise myself and downgrade others, but to value myself and others equally.

Doshi: Buddhas and Ancestors realize the vast sky and the great Earth. When they manifest the noble body, there is neither inside nor outside in emptiness, nor a bit of dirt on the ground.

I vow not to withhold spiritual or material aid, but to share all that I have to offer, giving freely and generously.

Doshi: One phrase, one verse, is the ten thousand things and one hundred grasses. One dharma, one realization, is all Buddhas and Ancestors. From the beginning there has been no stinginess at all.

I vow not to harbor ill will, but to cultivate loving-kindness, understanding, and forgiveness.

Doshi: Neither negative nor positive, neither real nor unreal. There is an ocean of illuminated clouds, and an ocean of ornamented clouds.

I vow not to abuse the Three Treasures, but to respect the Buddha, unfold the Dharma, and nourish the Sangha.

Doshi: To expound the Dharma with this body is foremost. Virtue returns to the unfathomable ocean of reality. Let us accept it with respect and gratitude. 

Thus on this day we offer the merit of the bodhisattva’s way through all world systems to the unborn nature of all being.

Kokyo II and sangha:

All Buddhas throughout space and time; O
All honored ones, bodhisattvas, mahasattvas; O
Wisdom beyond wisdom, maha prajna paramita. O o o o oooooooo

Kokyo II: Three bows in your own way.

O Bow

O Bow

O Bow

_______________________________________________________

Kokyo I:
“Kinhin” (10 min.)
time O (signals end of kinhin)
When doshi seated and settled OOO → “Zazen” (30 min.)
time OO (signals end of zazen) → “Kinhin”
time O (signals end of kinhin)
When doshi seated and settled OOO → “Zazen” (30 min.)
time OO (signals end of zazen) → “Kinhin”
time O (signals end of kinhin)
When doshi seated and settled OOO → “Zazen” (30 min.)
time O (signals end of zazen)

Doshi goes to stand facing the altar.

Kokyo I: When doshi is in place facing the altar: 

X

 We will now chant the universal mantra for compassion, Om Mani Padme Hum, 9 times.

 X 

"Throughout my many lives and until this moment, whatever virtue I have accomplished, including the merit generated by this practice, and all that I will ever obtain, this I offer for the welfare of sentient beings. May sickness, war, famine and suffering be decreased for every being, while their wisdom and compassion increase in this and every future life. May I clearly perceive all experiences to be as insubstantial as the dream fabric of the night and instantly awaken to perceive the pure wisdom display in the arising of every phenomena. May I quickly obtain enlightenment in order to work ceaselessly for the liberation of all sentient beings."

All Buddhas throughout space and time,
O (Doshi goes to altar. Bells follow text not doshi.)
All honored ones, Bodhisattvas, Mahasattvas,
O (Doshi makes offering at altar.)
Wisdom beyond wisdom,
(Doshi returns from altar.)
Maha Prajna Paramita.
O o o o oooooooo
Three bows in your own way: 

O Bow

O Bow

O Bow

(Doshi makes gassho to altar.) O
(Doshi makes gassho to seat.) O
(Doshi makes gassho to center [camera]) O

No aversion

 I get questions about hermitary cookery.

There might not be much to tell; I'll try.

There are as many ways to cook and eat as there are people. Some ways are just "I'll eat whatever they parachute into this refugee camp" or "well, I sure hope I get to eat in the rapidly approaching afterlife." In other words, eating, let alone cooking, is a privilege in the world, more so, perhaps, than when foraged food was all there was to be had.

So, I'm conflicted about what may appear to be showing off. On the other hand, mindful eating can be an exercise in responsible behavior. I do think that my solitary routine, now established, is less wasteful, more nutritious, and healthier than before. While that may not do much for the world, it does something. Dogen tells us a little is a lot in Buddhist practice. You never know where a given small yet sincere practice will take you, but usually not to anyplace those around you will regard as a hindrance. Taking proper care of yourself takes care of others in many ways, often unforeseen.

Dogen wrote a small treatise, the title of which can be loosely translated "Instructions for the Monastery Head Cook (Tenzo)," which was/is intended as a guide to ethically feeding, in effect, a commune. 

Also the position tends to be a rotating one. Everyone has already been told to tough it out if you prove to be untalented, and by gosh they had better be thankful for it. So it's great that I, an untalented cook with only one patron, don't at all mind most of my mistakes. If it's truly inedible, just apologize to it with a gassho and add it to the compost.

In my movements and attitude, to the extent possible for me, I follow the "Instructions to the Tenzo. "

Here's the kitchen. The hut is nine feet wide. Most daily use items fit along a six foot section of one wall. Some supplies and less frequently used items are stored under or above the sewing table, alongside the opposite wall. Indoor plants and a basin and ewer share the space, along with baskets of fabric and sundries.

You can see I'm a pack rat, dating back to days of actual rather than currently simulated poverty. Everything here is hand-me-downs. I think that matters in the case of an attached hermitary, because I'm duplicating equipment already available in the kitchen of the household. But that kitchen, in a 1950s starter bungalow, is also tiny and the other family members have their own dietary requirements. We stay out of one another's hair, so to speak.

The hut has one wall outlet with its own circuit breaker, good for up to twenty amps, which enforces attentive power usage. The tiny fridge is on all the time, so the kettle and microwave and rice cooker and space heater can be used in twos but not in threes or fours. This enforces some discipline and thinking ahead, especially in winter.

As homesteaders/nomads, we used to cook on a smallish wood stove, the top of which enforced a similar discipline: a pot of water for washing dishes might take up half the surface and a Dutch oven with beans or bread in it taking up the other half. We inverted their lids and set bowls of whatever on them to simmer. My current efforts reflect the frugality of those years.

Back in the day

I forage very locally, mostly on this one city lot.

We don't use herbicides or pesticides, so I safely wander around the yard, then the garden. What draws my interest? In season, chicory, dandelions, nipplewort, narrow leaf plantain, crimson clover, deadnettle, cat’s ears, blackberry leaves, fir or spruce needles, money plant, parlsey, sage, rosemary, thyme, Bigleaf maple flowers, willow leaves, herb Robert, and crop foliage such as kale, chard, beet greens, squash blossoms and leaves, pea and bean foliage, corn silk, and the like.

Out of season, many of these are not as bitter as some foraging websites will tell you, and if worst comes to worst, for the pot I steam first and reserve the bitter stock to give to my house plants or garden.

Often the yard is so productive I don't even make it into the garden. That's the maritime Pacific Northwest for you.

I bring my treasures into the hut and decide how they will be used. My cookery revolves around making tea (tisane) first. If what I gathered appeals to me as tea only, I put that in the tea strainer, set the strainer in a cup, run the kettle and pour boiling water over the foliage. It won't make much color in the cup unless there is something like beet greens, or I've dried the foliage, or I'm adding green tea or perhaps Darjeeling. That's fine. Minimalists need not be nutrition maximalists, let alone flavor maximalists, except perhaps if they can afford some loose-packed Darjeeling.

This tea is to have when Zooming with the sangha, or a friend, or while reading, or just watching the moon cross the window.

Next, I notice it's meal time. Some things that we all like to eat raw, I have to eat only a little of or not at all, so I do tend to focus on the steamer.

The little Aroma rice steamer, which is the heart of the hermitary kitchen, was handed down because it forgot its time limit for making rice. So I have to keep an eye on it for that cycle. I may use that for rice, or lentils, or root vegs, but I don't need a lot, and I'm not a fan of the coating on the metal liner you're supposed to cook in. My porcelain eating bowl fits inside the liner. So I put an inch of water from the pitcher (rain water, if it's fresh) inside the liner and set the bowl in that. 

I'm also not fond of the plastic steamer basket that came with the appliance, so that added to my interest in learning to cook in various ways in the bowl.

I then cut up any root vegs I'm using, including skins if possible, or pour in the rice or lentils, and add water, salt, spices as needed. Set on Rice or sometimes twice on Steam. Udon I find I can make on Steam (5 minutes), though the consistency might not be to everyone's taste. Summer vegs such as zucchini should wait out the first five minutes and then be thrown in, chopped. Density is my guide here.

Meanwhile, if I'm adding greens, I have options. I might use what's in the strainer, if it's not anything I really shouldn't try to eat (for example, willow bark). Or I may choose to roll up some dandelion and chicory leaves with onion greens in a leaf of collard or kale and chop small, then check to see if the carbs are done, then turn off the rice steamer, pop in the greens (and maybe small tomatoes and such), and close the lid for some residual-heat cooking.

The bowl will be a little hot to fish out of the liner with my fingers, as there's little room along the sides, so I grab the bowl with a handy pair of side-cutting pliers and set it on a coaster. Here I may add more seasoning or soy sauce as desired. I pour some water in a cup and keep it handy, or if the broth is palatable, I'll use that, and sit down and eat.

This can be a wet way to eat, so I often pour off the liquids to drink. This is a matter of taste; in Japan folks eat the solids, then drink liquids from the bowl as a chaser. Great! I have to spend a lot of time in my zero gravity chair and pretty much only eat there, so draining the bowl first saves me trouble with wet chin and fabric.

I mostly rotate four "recipes" based on rice, then potatoes, then lentils, then noodles, through the two daily meals and there is my week. For snacks there might be a deadfall apple or whatever comes my way.

I used to do a lot more drying of fruits and foliage than needed for the winters and now mostly just set aside some of my foraging to dry on a hardware-cloth shelf in the "greenhouse," or chop it all up to stuff into an ice cube tray, maybe with a bit of olive oil, for itinerant use.

Aside from this routine, I grind mixed grains in the Corona once a year and jar it up for the occasional breakfast with apple butter, and if I have extra fruit or root vegs on hand I may get out the small graniteware water bath canner and make preserves or pickled vegs to use over the winter, in very small jars.

 
The herb Robert and willow are part of my efforts to treat leukemia. 

I wouldn't ask anyone to try to duplicate my diet, but I do encourage experimentation for those interested in simplifying. This kind of food prep and eating is adaptable to many situations, especially for anyone living alone in a small space. Also it is a very portable way to eat, though maybe not as Spartan as this: Cooking Without a Kitchen: The Coffeemaker Cookbook

By not unnecessarily frequenting restaurants and supermarkets, it is possible to simplify quite a lot. Some foods are becoming scarce and I like to think I am leaving it on the shelves for someone else. 

I think the complexity of our civilization has a lot of inflicted suffering to live down. Courtesy shows there is a commons of the heart.  🙏

-- shonin 

If you only have wild grasses with which to make a broth, do not disdain them ... Where there is no attachment, there can be no aversion. -- Dogen

Another meditation on Hongzhi's Acupuncture Needle of Zazen

Hongzhi likes untouched function.
Action said to be action of Buddhas
past and present is to see all

in the ten directions without
reaching for the pry bar.
Without reaching for the pry bar,

just appreciate. See, appreciate,
settle in, sip tea. Fearlessly sipping tea
is a tiger's roar. The squirrel

out there watches a jay bury acorns.
He relentlessly digs and eats them.
The jay returns with more acorns.

The squirrel returns and digs.
I set down my cup, chuckling.

-- shonin 

Reality gives me cold toes

 

Chiyono’s No Water, No Moon. Hidden Lamp, p. 37. Chiyono was a servant in a Zen convent who wanted to practice zazen. One day she approached an elderly nun and asked, “I’m of humble birth. I can’t read or write and must work all the time. Is there any possibility that I could attain the way of Buddha even though I have no skills?”

The nun answered her, “This is wonderful, my dear. In Buddhism there are no distinctions between people. There is only this – each person must hold fast to the desire to awaken and cultivate a heart of great compassion. People are complete as they are. If you don’t fall into delusive thoughts, there is no Buddha and no sentient being; there is only one complete nature. If you want to know your true nature you need to turn toward the source of your delusive thoughts. This is called zazen.”

Chiyono said, with happiness, “With this practice as my companion I have only to go about my daily life, practicing day and night.”

There are varied stories of Chiyono's life. Richard Bryan McDaniel, in Zen Masters of Japan, says: "One of Bukko’s students was the first Japanese woman to receive a certificate of inka. Her Buddhist name was Mugai Nyodai, but she is remembered by her personal name, Chiyono. She was a member of the Hojo family by marriage and a well-educated woman who long had an interest in the Dharma. After her husband died and her family responsibilities had been fulfilled, she went to study with the Chinese master."

He goes on to recount a longer version of the story told in Hidden Lamp, after warning us it is apocryphal, as Chiyono was of the lower samurai class, rather than of the Hisabetsu-buraku (discriminated hamlet class) as implied in both the story and in Hakuin's illustration above. 

Was she perhaps in a servant-like role as many new students are, in a training-monastery setting? Whether as a servant or a somewhat respectable widow, there is the implication that Chiyono must seek enlightenment with the handicap of actual or temporary (for training purposes) low status to be overcome.

There is also a story that when Chiyono was ready to begin her koan study with the master, her presence in the zendo was at first objected to by the monks, on the grounds that her beauty would distract them. And that to overcome this she burned her face with a hot iron rod. Some have noted an apparent sag in her face as depicted in her lifelike portrait sculpture as evidence of the truth of this story.

These two stories are related. But to continue.

Zen is grounded in work, both on and off the cushion. Work off the cushion is called samu. Monks and nuns are famous for their samu: sweeping, chopping wood and carrying water. Chiyono is known to have carried water.

After months of wholehearted practice, she went out on a full moon night to draw some water from the well. The bottom of her old bucket, held together by bamboo strips, suddenly gave way, and the reflection of the moon vanished with the water. When she saw this she attained great realization.

She wrote a realization poem.

With this and that I tried to keep the bucket together,
And then the bottom fell out.
Where water does not collect,
The moon does not dwell.

I have been asked three questions in the presence of this koan.

1. What are you trying to keep together at this time of your life?
2. Where does the moon go when its reflection disappears?
3. Where do we go when we let go completely?

1. What I am trying to keep together at this time of my life is my body, with its diminishing capacity for activity/work, awareness, compassion, and kindness, largely because I feel I still have some responsibilities to family and community, including the sangha. My life has been greatly simplified due to bodily conditions: I don't drive or shop or handle finances, and am praised for shuffling around the block with my two sticks. "Got your phone? Okay, have fun."

I still have grief and regret. There's not much to do about that but carry a few tiny blossoms to a cairn nearby. Some self-indulgence in this, I think, may be excused.

It's easy to vanish into an easy chair. Letting go, now, would be as simple as the decision not to try to stand up. But also I'm still capable of spouting verbal abuse, which originates right here in the body, a part of nature. Channeling my speech (and facial cues) away from such may be my final exercise in letting go.

2. I reflect on the moon's beauty in its path across the sky, and then I don't. The moment a thought is over, it's nowhere, especially as near-term memory paths erode in one's cortex.  In resting from even reflection we come to ground truth -- not by seeking to rest, but by the simple expedient of absent-mindedness. This could be called the practice of not practicing, for which, for our purposes, we may use the model of a pet rock.

3. We don't go anywhere at all.

The bucket's bamboo strap unwinds and its moldy bottom falls out. Icy well water sluices down mossy stone steps. My feet are wet. Reality gives me cold toes.

-- shonin