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How to Cook Your Life: From the Zen Kitchen to Enlightenment
This modern-day commentary on Dogen’s Instructions for a Zen Cook reveals how everyday activities—like cooking—can be incorporated into our spiritual practice
In the thirteenth century, Zen master Dogen—perhaps the most significant of all Japanese philosophers, and the founder of the Japanese Soto Zen sect—wrote a practical manual of Instructions for the Zen Cook . In drawing parallels between preparing meals for the Zen monastery and spiritual training, he reveals far more than simply the rules and manners of the Zen kitchen; he teaches us how to "cook," or refine our lives.
In this volume Kosho Uchiyama Roshi undertakes the task of elucidating Dogen's text for the benefit of modern-day readers of Zen. Taken together, his translation and commentary truly constitute a "cookbook for life," one that shows us how to live with an unbiased mind in the midst of our workaday world.
In the thirteenth century, Zen master Dogen—perhaps the most significant of all Japanese philosophers, and the founder of the Japanese Soto Zen sect—wrote a practical manual of Instructions for the Zen Cook . In drawing parallels between preparing meals for the Zen monastery and spiritual training, he reveals far more than simply the rules and manners of the Zen kitchen; he teaches us how to "cook," or refine our lives.
In this volume Kosho Uchiyama Roshi undertakes the task of elucidating Dogen's text for the benefit of modern-day readers of Zen. Taken together, his translation and commentary truly constitute a "cookbook for life," one that shows us how to live with an unbiased mind in the midst of our workaday world.
136 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1237
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About the author
Dōgen
139 books235 followersDōgen Zenji (道元禅師; also Dōgen Kigen 道元希玄, or Eihei Dōgen 永平道元, or Koso Joyo Daishi) was a Zen Buddhist teacher and the founder of the Sōtō Zen school of Buddhism in Japan.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 55 reviews
February 17, 2018
"Instructions for the Zen Cook" is probably Dogen's most famous writing: it's a rather short text that was meant to be exactly what the title implies, a set of instructions for the cook of a Zen temple. That position was actually very important in a temple's administration, and Dogen believed it entailed a lot of responsibilities that went beyond preparation of food. This book is a translation of the original text, followed by commentaries on the essay by Rosho Uchiyama Roshi, a Japanese Zen monk.
This is one of Dogen's most accessible texts, because unlike the Shobogenzo, it's not really ambiguous or contradictory, but really straightforward. It's also applicable to pretty much every situation in life. It can seem bizarre to think that a 800 years old book intended for a monastery cook can have so much relevance in modern life, but it actually does, and it’s not that much of a mental stretch to see it. The essence of this text is the importance of awareness and giving one’s full attention to what needs to be done, regardless of circumstances; those concepts are very relevant to modern life.
Cooking happens to be something I love to do, and I remember looking at my pots, pans, knives and other implements with a very different eye after reading "Instructions for the Zen Cook" for the first time. Once you understand that the focus, care and respect you give your tools and ingredients can be expanded to every other daily activity your partake in, it can really change the way you approach even the most mundane activity. It makes me smile to think that a spatula can be a good instrument with which to teach the Dharma.
I just love this book. Even the translator’s introduction was insightful and helpful! And the commentary expands on ideas brought up in the essay, such as Parental Mind, the concept of the Self, discrimination of worldly values and the goal of practice - giving the reader a deeper understanding of the many ways in which Dogen's essay can be a source of great teachings. This is truly a classic, and an essential text for Zen Buddhists.
This is one of Dogen's most accessible texts, because unlike the Shobogenzo, it's not really ambiguous or contradictory, but really straightforward. It's also applicable to pretty much every situation in life. It can seem bizarre to think that a 800 years old book intended for a monastery cook can have so much relevance in modern life, but it actually does, and it’s not that much of a mental stretch to see it. The essence of this text is the importance of awareness and giving one’s full attention to what needs to be done, regardless of circumstances; those concepts are very relevant to modern life.
Cooking happens to be something I love to do, and I remember looking at my pots, pans, knives and other implements with a very different eye after reading "Instructions for the Zen Cook" for the first time. Once you understand that the focus, care and respect you give your tools and ingredients can be expanded to every other daily activity your partake in, it can really change the way you approach even the most mundane activity. It makes me smile to think that a spatula can be a good instrument with which to teach the Dharma.
I just love this book. Even the translator’s introduction was insightful and helpful! And the commentary expands on ideas brought up in the essay, such as Parental Mind, the concept of the Self, discrimination of worldly values and the goal of practice - giving the reader a deeper understanding of the many ways in which Dogen's essay can be a source of great teachings. This is truly a classic, and an essential text for Zen Buddhists.
October 11, 2013
I can think of very few activities that exemplify the spirit of zen as well as cooking. It's a task so simple and yet so full of meaning. I came to this book hoping for thoughts and insight regarding the zen of cooking, but unfortunately my expectations were a bit off target. This book was written by Dogen Zenji over eight centuries ago specifically on the merits of the office of tenzo, or head of the kitchen, in a zen monestary. Brad Warner speaks very reverently about Dogen's work, which was another reason that brought me to this book. However, I was somewhat surprised to learn upon starting it that only the first chapter is written by Dogen, and the rest is commentary by Kosho Uchiyama (with over a quarter of the book's pages as translator's notes). Dogen's writing is indeed eloquent, and holds up well after all this time. The commentary is interesting, but nothing terribly new for those familiar with Zen Buddhism. The entire book is heavily colored by the monastic existence led by both Dogen and Kosho. It doesn't render the book completely inaccessible to a lay person, but it does distance their perspective somewhat. There was one line from Dogen, however, that made the book worth reading in itself. It's like a lifetime of zen practice wrapped into one sentence:
"A fool sees himself as another, but a wise man sees others as himself"
"A fool sees himself as another, but a wise man sees others as himself"
December 11, 2021
"O Tenzo kyokun exprime assim um dos pontos fundamentais do ensinamento de Mestre Dogen: trabalhar na cozinha, ler os sutras, praticar zazen no dojo são a mesma coisa, trata-se fundamentalmente da expressão do Dharma."
February 9, 2013
"We need to learn what it means to emerge from a life which is confused, incomplete,and carelessly haphazard, a life based on compromise, on always fooling ourselves and others about who we are, about how we live; we need to learn what it means to settle naturally into our lives."
A 13th century Buddhist monk gives advice that transcends time.
Translated in 1982.
Philosophical search for the meaning of life.
A 13th century Buddhist monk gives advice that transcends time.
Translated in 1982.
Philosophical search for the meaning of life.
April 21, 2017
There are people in this world who believe that spiritual practice involves working and working and working, or suffering and suffering and suffering (or—on the other hand—not working at all) until you have an earth-shattering experience and are a new person, never having any doubts or problems again, ready to teach the rest of the world. The Internet is jammed with such people. There is this guy (who actually studied in my own lineage) and this guy and this woman. There’s even this whole magazine. I’m not making fun of such people (though my closest spiritual friend says that anyone who claims to be enlightened is deluded, and immediately removes themselves from serious consideration). I’ve read their teachings and learned from some of them, though they all tend to sound alike. The most authentic of them, for my money, is this guy. And my favorite story of the experience is this one.
Then there’s Soto Zen, whose fiercest proponent insists that zazen is good for nothing.
Somehow I trust that more. You practice to practice. The reward of practice is practice. If you have some spectacular experience it’s just another moment. You go on.
The great 20th century teacher in that tradition wrote some simple modest books about it. Inspired by a five-day sesshin with his best known disciple[1], I’ve been re-reading those books. And I’ve discovered again, in a new and deeper way, why I value this practice so much.
My introduction to Soto Zen happened in the early nineties, when I was sitting at the Cambridge Insight Meditation Society and taking classes with Larry Rosenberg. Ed Brown came to teach a cooking class, and my wife and I both took it; it was one of the most enjoyable classes I ever took. (We spent the morning cooking and ate the results. We spent the afternoon cooking and ate the results. We did that for two days. It would only have been better if we’d had wine.) Before we began, Ed told some Zen stories, and they were from Dogen’s Instructions to the Cook. One concerned Dogen’s meeting with a 68 year old Zen cook (exactly my age at the moment) who was drying some mushrooms in the hot sun, sweating profusely. Dogen couldn’t understand why he hadn’t asked some younger man to do work that was so trivial and so wearing. “Others are not me,” the man said. When Dogen asked why he was doing the job in the heat of the day, the man said, “When can I do it but now?”
That story was the beginning of my attraction to Zen.
But it paled beside another one, about the first Zen cook Dogen ever met, a man who had come to meet the boat Dogen had sailed to China on because he was looking for mushrooms for a special soup. Again, this was an older man, 61; he had walked fourteen miles to get these mushrooms and had to walk fourteen back. Dogen, young man that he was, couldn’t understand why this venerable monk was going to so much trouble about food, why a man his age wasn’t devoting his time to zazen or working on koans.
The cook burst out laughing at this thought and said, “My good friend from abroad! You do not understand what practice is all about, nor do you know the meaning of characters.”
Dogen felt “taken aback and greatly ashamed,” and asked about those things, but the monk wouldn’t answer. Some months later, the man was retiring and came to see Dogen, who in the meantime had found a new teacher and learned much more. Dogen asked him what practice is.
The monk replied, “There is nothing in the world that is hidden.”
I regard those as the most inspiring—and most mysterious—words in all of Buddhism. They go along with everything else about this practice. There’s nothing special about it. All you do is sit there. You’re not looking for some spectacular experience, just the experience you’re having. Nothing in the world is hidden.
I’ve often wondered—as I pondered some esoteric fascicle in the middle of the Shobogenzo—why Dogen didn’t write more simply. He obviously could, as this teaching indicates. But Kosho Uchiyama—who spent a lifetime studying Dogen’s words—penetrates to the heart of Dogen like no one else.
Every word of this book is fascinating and inspiring, as inspiring as when I first read it, many years ago. Even the chapter titles are inspiring, “Everything You Encounter is Your Life,” “Having a Passion for Life,” “On Life Force and Life Activity,” but Uchiyama gets to the heart of the teaching in his last two chapters, the first of which is “The Function of a Settled Life.” He has let us know already that he doesn’t see the goal of life as happiness, or pleasure, or material joy, anything that people normally strive after. That doesn’t mean he is removed from life.
“Merely to study Buddhist thought and philosophy through books, or to do zazen only to become entranced by satori as some rapturous and esoteric state of mind without actually putting our bodies to work in our day-to-day lives as taught in our text, leaves grave doubts as to whether we have any idea at all of what it means to truly live out the buddhadharma.”
That was what the cooks taught Dogen. The measure of a practice isn’t something that happens in zazen. It’s how you live your life, with what Uchiyama calls “the three minds,” Magnanimous Mind, Parental Mind, and Joyful Mind, which in effect become one mind, accepting everything just as it is, treating everyone you meet as if they were your child, being grateful and resilient about everything that happens to you. That behavior is only possible because you’ve settled the self onto the self in zazen.
In the final chapter Uchiyama takes up another place where Dogen broke into simplicity, a section of Shoji (Life and Death) which Uchiyama regards as a condensation of all Dogen’s teaching.
“Let go of and forget your body and mind; throw your life into the abode of the Buddha, living by being moved and led by the Buddha. When you do this without relying on your own physical or mental power, you become released from both life and death and become a Buddha. Do not immerse yourself in mental and emotional struggles. Refrain from committing evil. Neither be attached to life nor to death. Be compassionate toward all sentient beings. Revere that which is superior and do not withhold sympathy from that which is inferior. Do not harbor hatreds nor covet anything. Do not be overly concerned with trivial matters not grieve over difficulties in your life. This is the Buddha. Do not search for the Buddha anywhere else.”
These instructions about how to live remind me of the great instructions Walt Whitman once gave[2]. In the writings of both men, the words spring forth from more abstract passages and ring with authenticity. The question, of course, is what it means to throw your life into the abode of the Buddha. According to Uchiyama, “the abode of Buddha is nothing other than our own lives. . . . There is no refuge, no special place outside the life of our true Self, nor anything apart from the activities of that Self. . . .
“To devote ourselves to everything we encounter and throw our life force into doing just that is quite different from simply exhausting our energies in playing with toys[3]. Here is where our passion for life as Joyful Mind manifests the significance of being alive.”
This isn’t having some experience that suddenly makes your whole life different, and makes you better. It is living your life the way you sit zazen, constantly letting go of delusions and encountering reality. The reality in which nothing is hidden is always here, obscured only by the delusions of our personal point of view. We let them go and see it free and clear.
It’s available to everyone, not just those who have had some special experience.
[1] Shokaku Okumura, who did a Genjo-e sesshin with the Chapel Hill Zen Center in early August.
[2] “This is what you shall do; Love the earth and sun and the animals, despise riches, give alms to every one that asks, stand up for the stupid and crazy, devote your income and labor to others, hate tyrants, argue not concerning God, have patience and indulgence toward the people, take off your hat to nothing known or unknown or to any man or number of men, go freely with powerful uneducated persons and with the young and with the mothers of families, read these leaves in the open air every season of every year of your life, re-examine all you have been told at school or church or in any book, dismiss whatever insults your own soul, and your very flesh shall be a great poem and have the richest fluency not only in its words but in the silent lines of its lips and face and between the lashes of your eyes and in every motion and joint of your body.”
[3] Uchiyama’s feeling is that most of us devote our whole lives with toys. We begin with the toys of childhood, then the material possessions of adulthood, then sexual conquests, fame, and finally, in old age, “collecting antiques, attending various tea-ceremony functions, or visiting temples. . . . What is the difference between rich widows crowding around some famous priest or guru and teenage girls clamoring after some rock star?”
davidguy.org
Then there’s Soto Zen, whose fiercest proponent insists that zazen is good for nothing.
Somehow I trust that more. You practice to practice. The reward of practice is practice. If you have some spectacular experience it’s just another moment. You go on.
The great 20th century teacher in that tradition wrote some simple modest books about it. Inspired by a five-day sesshin with his best known disciple[1], I’ve been re-reading those books. And I’ve discovered again, in a new and deeper way, why I value this practice so much.
My introduction to Soto Zen happened in the early nineties, when I was sitting at the Cambridge Insight Meditation Society and taking classes with Larry Rosenberg. Ed Brown came to teach a cooking class, and my wife and I both took it; it was one of the most enjoyable classes I ever took. (We spent the morning cooking and ate the results. We spent the afternoon cooking and ate the results. We did that for two days. It would only have been better if we’d had wine.) Before we began, Ed told some Zen stories, and they were from Dogen’s Instructions to the Cook. One concerned Dogen’s meeting with a 68 year old Zen cook (exactly my age at the moment) who was drying some mushrooms in the hot sun, sweating profusely. Dogen couldn’t understand why he hadn’t asked some younger man to do work that was so trivial and so wearing. “Others are not me,” the man said. When Dogen asked why he was doing the job in the heat of the day, the man said, “When can I do it but now?”
That story was the beginning of my attraction to Zen.
But it paled beside another one, about the first Zen cook Dogen ever met, a man who had come to meet the boat Dogen had sailed to China on because he was looking for mushrooms for a special soup. Again, this was an older man, 61; he had walked fourteen miles to get these mushrooms and had to walk fourteen back. Dogen, young man that he was, couldn’t understand why this venerable monk was going to so much trouble about food, why a man his age wasn’t devoting his time to zazen or working on koans.
The cook burst out laughing at this thought and said, “My good friend from abroad! You do not understand what practice is all about, nor do you know the meaning of characters.”
Dogen felt “taken aback and greatly ashamed,” and asked about those things, but the monk wouldn’t answer. Some months later, the man was retiring and came to see Dogen, who in the meantime had found a new teacher and learned much more. Dogen asked him what practice is.
The monk replied, “There is nothing in the world that is hidden.”
I regard those as the most inspiring—and most mysterious—words in all of Buddhism. They go along with everything else about this practice. There’s nothing special about it. All you do is sit there. You’re not looking for some spectacular experience, just the experience you’re having. Nothing in the world is hidden.
I’ve often wondered—as I pondered some esoteric fascicle in the middle of the Shobogenzo—why Dogen didn’t write more simply. He obviously could, as this teaching indicates. But Kosho Uchiyama—who spent a lifetime studying Dogen’s words—penetrates to the heart of Dogen like no one else.
Every word of this book is fascinating and inspiring, as inspiring as when I first read it, many years ago. Even the chapter titles are inspiring, “Everything You Encounter is Your Life,” “Having a Passion for Life,” “On Life Force and Life Activity,” but Uchiyama gets to the heart of the teaching in his last two chapters, the first of which is “The Function of a Settled Life.” He has let us know already that he doesn’t see the goal of life as happiness, or pleasure, or material joy, anything that people normally strive after. That doesn’t mean he is removed from life.
“Merely to study Buddhist thought and philosophy through books, or to do zazen only to become entranced by satori as some rapturous and esoteric state of mind without actually putting our bodies to work in our day-to-day lives as taught in our text, leaves grave doubts as to whether we have any idea at all of what it means to truly live out the buddhadharma.”
That was what the cooks taught Dogen. The measure of a practice isn’t something that happens in zazen. It’s how you live your life, with what Uchiyama calls “the three minds,” Magnanimous Mind, Parental Mind, and Joyful Mind, which in effect become one mind, accepting everything just as it is, treating everyone you meet as if they were your child, being grateful and resilient about everything that happens to you. That behavior is only possible because you’ve settled the self onto the self in zazen.
In the final chapter Uchiyama takes up another place where Dogen broke into simplicity, a section of Shoji (Life and Death) which Uchiyama regards as a condensation of all Dogen’s teaching.
“Let go of and forget your body and mind; throw your life into the abode of the Buddha, living by being moved and led by the Buddha. When you do this without relying on your own physical or mental power, you become released from both life and death and become a Buddha. Do not immerse yourself in mental and emotional struggles. Refrain from committing evil. Neither be attached to life nor to death. Be compassionate toward all sentient beings. Revere that which is superior and do not withhold sympathy from that which is inferior. Do not harbor hatreds nor covet anything. Do not be overly concerned with trivial matters not grieve over difficulties in your life. This is the Buddha. Do not search for the Buddha anywhere else.”
These instructions about how to live remind me of the great instructions Walt Whitman once gave[2]. In the writings of both men, the words spring forth from more abstract passages and ring with authenticity. The question, of course, is what it means to throw your life into the abode of the Buddha. According to Uchiyama, “the abode of Buddha is nothing other than our own lives. . . . There is no refuge, no special place outside the life of our true Self, nor anything apart from the activities of that Self. . . .
“To devote ourselves to everything we encounter and throw our life force into doing just that is quite different from simply exhausting our energies in playing with toys[3]. Here is where our passion for life as Joyful Mind manifests the significance of being alive.”
This isn’t having some experience that suddenly makes your whole life different, and makes you better. It is living your life the way you sit zazen, constantly letting go of delusions and encountering reality. The reality in which nothing is hidden is always here, obscured only by the delusions of our personal point of view. We let them go and see it free and clear.
It’s available to everyone, not just those who have had some special experience.
[1] Shokaku Okumura, who did a Genjo-e sesshin with the Chapel Hill Zen Center in early August.
[2] “This is what you shall do; Love the earth and sun and the animals, despise riches, give alms to every one that asks, stand up for the stupid and crazy, devote your income and labor to others, hate tyrants, argue not concerning God, have patience and indulgence toward the people, take off your hat to nothing known or unknown or to any man or number of men, go freely with powerful uneducated persons and with the young and with the mothers of families, read these leaves in the open air every season of every year of your life, re-examine all you have been told at school or church or in any book, dismiss whatever insults your own soul, and your very flesh shall be a great poem and have the richest fluency not only in its words but in the silent lines of its lips and face and between the lashes of your eyes and in every motion and joint of your body.”
[3] Uchiyama’s feeling is that most of us devote our whole lives with toys. We begin with the toys of childhood, then the material possessions of adulthood, then sexual conquests, fame, and finally, in old age, “collecting antiques, attending various tea-ceremony functions, or visiting temples. . . . What is the difference between rich widows crowding around some famous priest or guru and teenage girls clamoring after some rock star?”
davidguy.org
September 8, 2024
Received this as a gift (!) from a dear friend (!!) and got excited to see the subject matter was all about the world of Zen/enlightenment/Buddhism.
I was hooked with the author's preface but the 'meat' of the book itself was (mostly) disappointing.
A ridiculous amount of superscripts and endnotes made it hard to ever get into a flow of reading the book itself.
Kōshō has a bad habit of reiterating a 'lesson' (up to three times, in most cases) and too many of his anecdotes and explanations aren't as interesting or clever as he thinks.
Two of my favorite amusing-but-totally ridiculous stories he feels a need to share include how/why he drinks three shots of whiskey every night - but just to warm his feet! (get thee to an AA sponsor, priest!) and a few pages later he's now railing against 'passions' and people wasting their time/lives "playing with toys" when he drops this beauty: "the first toy people clamor for when they are born is their mother's breast."
(I think Bill Murry - around the time he remade The Razor's Edge in the mid-80's and wanted to be taken as 'serious' and 'deep' - could've knocked out a much more interesting and intentionally entertaining book.)
Unfortunately... not recommended.
(Unless you really need to be scolded on how serious every single grain of rice is that you have to prepare for someone else.)
"In the same way, we assume that there exists a world which you and I experience in common with all other human beings, that this world existed prior to our births, and that it will continue to exist even after our deaths. But again, this is nothing more than an idea. Not only that, we wind up thinking that we live and die within this world of fabrication. This is an utterly inverted way of looking at one's life. My true Self lives in reality, and the world I experience is one I alone can experience, and not one anyone else can experience along with me. To express this as precisely as possible, as I am born, I simultaneously give birth to the world I experience; I live out my life along with that world, and at my death the world I experience also dies."
I was hooked with the author's preface but the 'meat' of the book itself was (mostly) disappointing.
A ridiculous amount of superscripts and endnotes made it hard to ever get into a flow of reading the book itself.
Kōshō has a bad habit of reiterating a 'lesson' (up to three times, in most cases) and too many of his anecdotes and explanations aren't as interesting or clever as he thinks.
Two of my favorite amusing-but-totally ridiculous stories he feels a need to share include how/why he drinks three shots of whiskey every night - but just to warm his feet! (get thee to an AA sponsor, priest!) and a few pages later he's now railing against 'passions' and people wasting their time/lives "playing with toys" when he drops this beauty: "the first toy people clamor for when they are born is their mother's breast."
(I think Bill Murry - around the time he remade The Razor's Edge in the mid-80's and wanted to be taken as 'serious' and 'deep' - could've knocked out a much more interesting and intentionally entertaining book.)
Unfortunately... not recommended.
(Unless you really need to be scolded on how serious every single grain of rice is that you have to prepare for someone else.)
"In the same way, we assume that there exists a world which you and I experience in common with all other human beings, that this world existed prior to our births, and that it will continue to exist even after our deaths. But again, this is nothing more than an idea. Not only that, we wind up thinking that we live and die within this world of fabrication. This is an utterly inverted way of looking at one's life. My true Self lives in reality, and the world I experience is one I alone can experience, and not one anyone else can experience along with me. To express this as precisely as possible, as I am born, I simultaneously give birth to the world I experience; I live out my life along with that world, and at my death the world I experience also dies."
June 26, 2019
6/5
Своевременная книга. Подход Догэна сильно перекликается со стоицизмом (словно Марк Аврелий отправил свои Медитации в бутылке, которая через десяток веков прибилась к берегам Японии, и Догэн случайно знал латынь).
Главная мысль книги, что нужно всю свою жизненную энергию сфокусировано направлять на всё, с чем сталкивает тебя жизнь:
I do not live my life to have fun. The way I experience the meaning and value of my life is by throwing all my passion for living into everything I do.
В этом и заключается смысл Дзен-буддизма школы Сото-сю. Медитация и прочие вещи не так важны, как предельное внимание ко всем своим активностям, делам и перманентное состояние Потока.
В прошлом году я для себя сформулировал, что смысл жизни заключается в потоковых активностях. Однако я не смог додумать, что потоковые активности могут быть везде, а не только в работе или хобби. Эта книга, кажется, поставила точку в моих поисках. Состояние потока можно достигать совершенно в любом месте, в любых обстоятельствах, в любом окружении и в любых делах. Это сложно, но стремление к такому образу жизни всё равно делает саму жизнь насыщенной, осмысленной и свободной от тревоги и прочих побочных эффектов нашего не в меру развитого мозга.
Несколько цитат:
--
good part of the reason people treat things roughly and are hard on others is because they are thinking only of what is beneficial to themselves, or else because they dislike putting all their energies into their work.
--
Devoting the whole of life’s ardor to all the circumstances and people we encounter in our lives in the same way we devote ourselves to our own children is precisely how we shall find the true meaning of life.
--
No matter what circumstances we fall into, we have no real choice but to live through it by ourselves.
--
Practicing the Buddha Way or practicing zazen is never a matter of putting aside our day-to-day activities to search for truth in some mystical realm, nor does it mean to look for truth through some scholarly research.
--
Whatever goal we grab onto, accumulating money or credentials, gaining status, or having a family, can decline and fall apart. That way of life has no true stability.
Своевременная книга. Подход Догэна сильно перекликается со стоицизмом (словно Марк Аврелий отправил свои Медитации в бутылке, которая через десяток веков прибилась к берегам Японии, и Догэн случайно знал латынь).
Главная мысль книги, что нужно всю свою жизненную энергию сфокусировано направлять на всё, с чем сталкивает тебя жизнь:
I do not live my life to have fun. The way I experience the meaning and value of my life is by throwing all my passion for living into everything I do.
В этом и заключается смысл Дзен-буддизма школы Сото-сю. Медитация и прочие вещи не так важны, как предельное внимание ко всем своим активностям, делам и перманентное состояние Потока.
В прошлом году я для себя сформулировал, что смысл жизни заключается в потоковых активностях. Однако я не смог додумать, что потоковые активности могут быть везде, а не только в работе или хобби. Эта книга, кажется, поставила точку в моих поисках. Состояние потока можно достигать совершенно в любом месте, в любых обстоятельствах, в любом окружении и в любых делах. Это сложно, но стремление к такому образу жизни всё равно делает саму жизнь насыщенной, осмысленной и свободной от тревоги и прочих побочных эффектов нашего не в меру развитого мозга.
Несколько цитат:
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good part of the reason people treat things roughly and are hard on others is because they are thinking only of what is beneficial to themselves, or else because they dislike putting all their energies into their work.
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Devoting the whole of life’s ardor to all the circumstances and people we encounter in our lives in the same way we devote ourselves to our own children is precisely how we shall find the true meaning of life.
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No matter what circumstances we fall into, we have no real choice but to live through it by ourselves.
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Practicing the Buddha Way or practicing zazen is never a matter of putting aside our day-to-day activities to search for truth in some mystical realm, nor does it mean to look for truth through some scholarly research.
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Whatever goal we grab onto, accumulating money or credentials, gaining status, or having a family, can decline and fall apart. That way of life has no true stability.
February 4, 2021
This book is a true delicacy. Based on the 13th century writings of Zen Master Dogen with more modern commentary by Kosho Uchiyama Roshi (who lived through World War II), this book uses cooking instructions for "tenzos" – monks responsible for monastery meals – as metaphors for life. (Fun fact: I recently took up vegan cooking so this book was especially timely.) The first section of the work is a translation of Dogen's "Tenzo Kyokun" followed by Roshi's interpretations of these writings. The principles of Zen buddhism are on display throughout the volume, including the messages of being mindful and in the moment (in the kitchen and in life), being fully present in all things, and the teachings that we have everything necessary within ourselves to navigate life's challenges in a blissful and stable manner. One note: don't neglect the extensive "notes" section at the end of the volume. This is much more than just an appendix and contains interesting wisdom over and above what you will read in the main body of work. Beautifully written and translated, this is a fascinating (and timeless) work.
February 17, 2021
''De taken van de kok gedurende een volledig etmaal zijn als volgt.'' Na het lezen van deze zin en de daaropvolgende passages van Dogens Tenzo Kyōkun, stond ik niet meer hetzelfde in de keuken. Vanaf dat moment kookte ik met meer plezier en aandacht.
''Als je rijst wast, groenten bereidt, et cetera, doe dit dan met je eigen handen, met volledige aandacht, grote inspanning en oprechte aanwezigheid. (...) Houd een scherp oog op alles zodat je geen korrel rijst verspilt.''
Als je dieper kijkt naar de tekst, gaat het niet over koken, maar kun je het toepassen op alles in je leven. Voor mij is de keuken daar nu een dagelijkse herinnering aan. Dat maakt deze tekst prachtig alledaags.
Met veel dank aan Ming, met wie ik uren in de keuken kan staan. En aan John, die me de tekst introduceerde.
Video John de Weerdt:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmcDG...
Nederlandse vertaling van Dogens Tenzo Kyōkun:
https://www.zen-training.nl/2020/02/1...
''Als je rijst wast, groenten bereidt, et cetera, doe dit dan met je eigen handen, met volledige aandacht, grote inspanning en oprechte aanwezigheid. (...) Houd een scherp oog op alles zodat je geen korrel rijst verspilt.''
Als je dieper kijkt naar de tekst, gaat het niet over koken, maar kun je het toepassen op alles in je leven. Voor mij is de keuken daar nu een dagelijkse herinnering aan. Dat maakt deze tekst prachtig alledaags.
Met veel dank aan Ming, met wie ik uren in de keuken kan staan. En aan John, die me de tekst introduceerde.
Video John de Weerdt:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmcDG...
Nederlandse vertaling van Dogens Tenzo Kyōkun:
https://www.zen-training.nl/2020/02/1...
February 15, 2023
Dōgen generally and this work specifically have been continuously referenced in my reading recently, and after finishing this book I can certainly start to see why.
Uchiyama’s fourteen chapters of commentary are interesting and accessible, but Dōgen’s original work, only 19 pages long, is the real star of the show. “Instructions for the Zen Cook” is beautifully translated here, and the teachings are as dynamic, digestible and contemporary as any other book on zen I’ve ever read.
In fact, Dōgen’s sections from the 1200s hold up better far better than Uchiyama’s commentary from the 1950s. Worth the read if you’re interested, but not really a beginner level book either.
Uchiyama’s fourteen chapters of commentary are interesting and accessible, but Dōgen’s original work, only 19 pages long, is the real star of the show. “Instructions for the Zen Cook” is beautifully translated here, and the teachings are as dynamic, digestible and contemporary as any other book on zen I’ve ever read.
In fact, Dōgen’s sections from the 1200s hold up better far better than Uchiyama’s commentary from the 1950s. Worth the read if you’re interested, but not really a beginner level book either.
July 16, 2025
I hesitate to rate this because I found it enlightening, but also esoteric and oddly-paced — which is really on me for picking up a 13th century zen instruction manual
September 5, 2011
Jet engines roar.
Air conditioners hum.
Waving band of sunlight
Opens the mind to embrace
The ten thousand things.
Can a manual for the monastery cook (Tenzo) illuminate the whole path, truth and delusion, practice/enlightenment. Absolutely! "Everything you encounter is your life". Nothing other than washing rice and cleaning pots. And that's more than enough. Wonderful commentary by Uchiyama Roshi. Here's Dogen himself - "The true bond established between ourselves and the Buddha is born of the smallest offering made with sincerity rather than of some grandiose donation made without it. This is our practice as human beings."
Air conditioners hum.
Waving band of sunlight
Opens the mind to embrace
The ten thousand things.
Can a manual for the monastery cook (Tenzo) illuminate the whole path, truth and delusion, practice/enlightenment. Absolutely! "Everything you encounter is your life". Nothing other than washing rice and cleaning pots. And that's more than enough. Wonderful commentary by Uchiyama Roshi. Here's Dogen himself - "The true bond established between ourselves and the Buddha is born of the smallest offering made with sincerity rather than of some grandiose donation made without it. This is our practice as human beings."
November 14, 2022
First reread since college course on Buddhist meditation. I find it to be an understandable, concise text that clears up some common misconceptions about Buddhism while also probing deep into fundamental ideas. There's just a few points where the time it was written becomes obvious, but those are more the author reflecting surroundings rather than saying how things ought to be. Curious if others who read it find it to be a good introductory text, or if it comes off as too confusing or something.
January 30, 2022
Actually a cooking manual
April 23, 2016
This is a translation of "Instructions for the Cook", a short manual by Dogen, the founder of Soto Zen. "Instructions for the Cook" gives instruction on the practical application of Zen to life in the world, which in my experience, makes it very helpful to a Westerners. I've read several translations and this one with commentary by Kosho Uchiyama is by far my favourite. Kosho Uchiyama was of course a native speaker and also understand the material thoroughly being an abbot in the Soto tradition. It's indicative of the Soto Zen attitude that a book on how to be a cook should be one of its important documents.
January 18, 2023
Dogen's main teaching is that Zen is not to be cocooned into esoteric scriptures or arduous sitting meditation, but to be experienced in our mundane day to day life. In his commentary on Master Dogen's Tenzo Kyokun, Uchiyama Roshi has masterfully decoded the essence of Zen using real life illustrations which drive the point home even for a Zen novice.
August 28, 2012
This is by far one of my favorite books on Zen living. Dogen's deceptively simple description of the tasks involved in cooking for a Zen monastery conceal great lessons for cooking one's own life, a recipe for deep, personal dharma practice.
January 11, 2022
A true gem!
May the wisdom of the tenzo reach everyone who is in search of the way. This is one of the most profound and at the same time practical texts on Buddhist spirituality I have read. A blessing and a source of inspiration that I will treasure in the years to come.
May the wisdom of the tenzo reach everyone who is in search of the way. This is one of the most profound and at the same time practical texts on Buddhist spirituality I have read. A blessing and a source of inspiration that I will treasure in the years to come.
January 19, 2022
The purpose of this work is to show that practising Buddhism, specifically zazen, is not limited to, and is incomplete without bringing the wisdom of Buddhism to everyday life. Kosho Uchiyama Roshi is wonderful, a little dated, but full of wisdom.
December 9, 2007
If only I could do what I read.
September 30, 2013
wonderful book. a classic text by Zen Master Dogen and a spirited commentary from personal experience and great devotion to the path and his teachers by Roshi Uchiyama.
May 5, 2021
I think this book will help you immensely if you want to shape your life.
April 1, 2023
Aside from the unfortunate title, this is a wonderful book.
It begins with a 16-page essay written by Zen master Dogen in the 14th century, followed by 80 pages of commentary on the essay by 20th century Roshi Kosho Uchiyama. The Dogen essay is the heart of the book, and in many ways, the heart of Zen Buddhism.
Dogen discusses the role of the tenzo, the cook for monasteries, which seems an unlikely springboard for what becomes deep insight into how to approach one's life, inside or outside of a Buddhist retreat. But simple instructions, such as creating the best meal possible regardless of the perceived quality of the ingredients, reverberate throughout everyone's life. As Dogen says, "Your attitude towards things should not be dependent on their quality."
Uchiyama expands on all these statements in his readable and down-to-earth commentary, and reveals even more depths. For example, his careful definition of the Self (note the capitalization) and how it counters the view of Buddhism as a selfish philosophy is profound. It echoes Martin Heidegger's description of human beings as "thrown into the world," and encountering and reacting only to what they perceive. In the same way, Dogen's Self is the entire experience a human has, and that experience extends well beyond the boundaries of the individual.
"How to Cook Your Life" is filled with these insights, and its small size belies its deep and valuable message. But again, that title: The idea is that "cook" means to "improve," but it simply doesn't translate that well -- and both Dogen and Uchiyama make it clear the pursuing the goal of enlightenment is not what Buddhism is about. For them, life is about living and appreciating and experiencing what the world brings to us. If enlightenment is part of that experience, so much the better; if not, still make the best of whatever ingredients your experience provides.
It begins with a 16-page essay written by Zen master Dogen in the 14th century, followed by 80 pages of commentary on the essay by 20th century Roshi Kosho Uchiyama. The Dogen essay is the heart of the book, and in many ways, the heart of Zen Buddhism.
Dogen discusses the role of the tenzo, the cook for monasteries, which seems an unlikely springboard for what becomes deep insight into how to approach one's life, inside or outside of a Buddhist retreat. But simple instructions, such as creating the best meal possible regardless of the perceived quality of the ingredients, reverberate throughout everyone's life. As Dogen says, "Your attitude towards things should not be dependent on their quality."
Uchiyama expands on all these statements in his readable and down-to-earth commentary, and reveals even more depths. For example, his careful definition of the Self (note the capitalization) and how it counters the view of Buddhism as a selfish philosophy is profound. It echoes Martin Heidegger's description of human beings as "thrown into the world," and encountering and reacting only to what they perceive. In the same way, Dogen's Self is the entire experience a human has, and that experience extends well beyond the boundaries of the individual.
"How to Cook Your Life" is filled with these insights, and its small size belies its deep and valuable message. But again, that title: The idea is that "cook" means to "improve," but it simply doesn't translate that well -- and both Dogen and Uchiyama make it clear the pursuing the goal of enlightenment is not what Buddhism is about. For them, life is about living and appreciating and experiencing what the world brings to us. If enlightenment is part of that experience, so much the better; if not, still make the best of whatever ingredients your experience provides.
December 14, 2020
Do you cook? Do you live? Then this is a book for you.
The book has two main parts. The principal is Dogen's Instructions for the Zen Cook (Tenzo Kyokun). These instructions were written in the 13th century, and they describe the cook's role at the center of monastic life. Dogen based these instructions on his own experience and on older teachings that he had learned in China.
So, what does this have to do with living a secular life in the 21st Century? Everything.
As Dogen says in his introductory lines "The function of the cook is to manage meals for the monks. ... Such a practice requires exerting all of your energies. If a person entrusted with this work lacks such a spirit, then they will only endure unnecessary hardships and suffering that will have no value in their pursuit of the Way." In other words, a cook's responsibility is to provide meals that support the community, and they must pursue it whole-heartedly and attentively. Otherwise, they will only bring suffering on themselves and the community.
The second part of the book consists of Uchiyama's commentaries on Dogen in fourteen chapters.
Despite its esoteric framework, this is a very accessible book, grounded in the necessities and struggles of daily life.
The book has two main parts. The principal is Dogen's Instructions for the Zen Cook (Tenzo Kyokun). These instructions were written in the 13th century, and they describe the cook's role at the center of monastic life. Dogen based these instructions on his own experience and on older teachings that he had learned in China.
So, what does this have to do with living a secular life in the 21st Century? Everything.
As Dogen says in his introductory lines "The function of the cook is to manage meals for the monks. ... Such a practice requires exerting all of your energies. If a person entrusted with this work lacks such a spirit, then they will only endure unnecessary hardships and suffering that will have no value in their pursuit of the Way." In other words, a cook's responsibility is to provide meals that support the community, and they must pursue it whole-heartedly and attentively. Otherwise, they will only bring suffering on themselves and the community.
The second part of the book consists of Uchiyama's commentaries on Dogen in fourteen chapters.
Despite its esoteric framework, this is a very accessible book, grounded in the necessities and struggles of daily life.
January 8, 2022
This book took time to mentally marinate. Started reading it last year and put it down, with too many novels being read simultaneously, and unable to concentrate on its message. While it would have been preferable to digest The Zen Kitchen in one, dedicated block, the second half read early in 2022 seemed appropriately latent to where I was in my life.
I delved into philosophical materials in 2021, from a plethora of philosophy accounts on social media, Alice Bakewell's At The Existentialist Cafe, and listening to Marcel Proust's In Search of Time. The last couple of years have been truly unique, and a time for much introspection on the meaning of life, or if there is such a thing. Philosophy, while fascinating, tends to highlight life's uncertainty in its infinitude of perspectives.
That's where Zen Kitchen came back in and served its soul food. Buddhism offers many insights invaluable for the Western "monkey mind". It provided feasible advice on how to both live in the moment, and live a lifetime of purpose. Lost in the modern world, with the prior generations' systems falling apart, this book gives the reassurance in finding passion in life through being present in the moment. That yes, you should work towards future goals, but dont be attached to them and give your most mindful attention in the moment.
I fail to surmise the elegant and serene text supplied by Dogen, but if you are at all interested in philosophy, Buddhism, or self-help books, this one should be of service in your kitchen and in your life.
I delved into philosophical materials in 2021, from a plethora of philosophy accounts on social media, Alice Bakewell's At The Existentialist Cafe, and listening to Marcel Proust's In Search of Time. The last couple of years have been truly unique, and a time for much introspection on the meaning of life, or if there is such a thing. Philosophy, while fascinating, tends to highlight life's uncertainty in its infinitude of perspectives.
That's where Zen Kitchen came back in and served its soul food. Buddhism offers many insights invaluable for the Western "monkey mind". It provided feasible advice on how to both live in the moment, and live a lifetime of purpose. Lost in the modern world, with the prior generations' systems falling apart, this book gives the reassurance in finding passion in life through being present in the moment. That yes, you should work towards future goals, but dont be attached to them and give your most mindful attention in the moment.
I fail to surmise the elegant and serene text supplied by Dogen, but if you are at all interested in philosophy, Buddhism, or self-help books, this one should be of service in your kitchen and in your life.
November 9, 2018
It's been a long time since I have been assigned reading, but when I took the position of Tenzo at our local Zen Buddhist temple, I was told to read this. So I did.
Here's what it is, it's about 20 pages of a translation of Dogen's instructions to the Tenzo from his epic Shobogenzo and about 70 pages of Kosho Uchiyama's commentary on those 20 pages.
There are points in Uchiyama's commentary where he strongly illuminates Dogen's text, really bringing to bear the weight of your role as a cook as part of your practice. At other times, I'm unsure of where the whole thing is going. "You can never share a fart, " for example.
Umm.
Still, quite valuable for the aspiring, learning on the job, Tenzo.
Here's what it is, it's about 20 pages of a translation of Dogen's instructions to the Tenzo from his epic Shobogenzo and about 70 pages of Kosho Uchiyama's commentary on those 20 pages.
There are points in Uchiyama's commentary where he strongly illuminates Dogen's text, really bringing to bear the weight of your role as a cook as part of your practice. At other times, I'm unsure of where the whole thing is going. "You can never share a fart, " for example.
Umm.
Still, quite valuable for the aspiring, learning on the job, Tenzo.
May 2, 2018
Tackles a number of practical questions I struggled with trying to digest Buddhist practice. For example, how can one square a desire to do things with the concept of impermanence? Why does Zen say we are all enlightened already? Why do zazen if the point isn't a mystical enlightenment experience? etc. Enjoyable and valuable.
The craftsmanship style nature of Zen described here reminds me of the concept of a shokunin from jiro dreams of sushi and also the metaphysics of quality from Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance. That last book claims it had nothing to do with Zen, but after reading this I have to say that's crap.
The craftsmanship style nature of Zen described here reminds me of the concept of a shokunin from jiro dreams of sushi and also the metaphysics of quality from Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance. That last book claims it had nothing to do with Zen, but after reading this I have to say that's crap.
December 16, 2022
The first chapter was a bit challenging, but I found this little book comforting and timely despite never having heard of Dogen, or really understanding Zazen (seated meditation).
I recommend approaching this book with patience - read no more than one chapter at a time so you can absorb its contents.
While reading it, I found myself interested in learning more about Zen Buddhism, and eventually stumbled across a Zen podcast called "Zen Mountain Monastery - Zen Center of NY" which discusses the teachings (among other things) of Dogen.
I recommend approaching this book with patience - read no more than one chapter at a time so you can absorb its contents.
While reading it, I found myself interested in learning more about Zen Buddhism, and eventually stumbled across a Zen podcast called "Zen Mountain Monastery - Zen Center of NY" which discusses the teachings (among other things) of Dogen.
Read
February 19, 2023A treasure.
"Big Mind, then, is not a matter of meditating on some vast, floating spatial dimension. Rather, it is the practice of entirely devoting your life to each and every thing that you encounter, no matter what it might be."
"By throwing our life force into our work, every situation literally comes to life and that in turn generates clarity and vividness."
Such is the wisdom carried within.
"Big Mind, then, is not a matter of meditating on some vast, floating spatial dimension. Rather, it is the practice of entirely devoting your life to each and every thing that you encounter, no matter what it might be."
"By throwing our life force into our work, every situation literally comes to life and that in turn generates clarity and vividness."
Such is the wisdom carried within.
April 10, 2025
I think I'll have to read this a couple times to really understand, but on a principle level, this book has a lesson for everyone regardless or wether or not they practice. appreciation and focus are things we are often short of in the modern day and age, and this essay places the emphasis on that exclusively.
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