( Dogen’s Instructions for the Cook – XXVII)
But the two tastes can be one taste … one beyond one taste.
What is regarded as thepreparation of superb delicacies is not necessarily superior, nor is thepreparation of a soup of the crudest greens necessarily inferior. When youselect and serve up crude greens, if you do so with a true mind, a sinceremind, and a pure mind, then they will be comparable to superb delicacies. Whyis that so? Because when one enters into the pure and vast oceanic assembly ofthe buddha dharma, superb delicacies are never seen and the flavor of crudegreens does not exist: there is only the one taste of the great sea, and thatis all (Uchiyama: The many rivers which flow into the ocean become the one taste of the ocean; when they flow into the pure ocean of the dharma there are no such distinctions as delicacies or plain food, there is just one taste, and it is the buddhadharma, the world as it is). Moreover, when it comes to the matters of nurturing the sprouts of theway and nourishing the sacred embryo, superb delicacies and crude greens are asone; there is no duality. There is an old saying that a monk's mouth is like astove (meaning that a
stove consumes allkinds of wood equally, regardless of its quality). You must not fail to understand this. You should think that even crudegreens can nourish the sacred embryo and nurture the sprouts of the way (Uchiyama: Likewise, understand that a simple green has the power to become the practice of the Buddha, quite adequately nurturing the desire to live out the way). Do notregard them as base; do not take them lightly. A teacher of humans and devas isable to regard crude greens as things that convert and benefit [beings].
From: Tenzo Kyokun - Instructions for the Cook by Eihei Dogen - Translated by Griffith Foulk
posted November 19, 2009 at 11:24 am
Yes Jundo, it does sound like a beautiful way to live. Thank you. Gassho Kent
posted November 19, 2009 at 11:37 am
Very nice carving
Thank you!
Gassho
posted November 20, 2009 at 5:54 am
working thru life with equanimity and unsplintered attention.
gassho
posted November 20, 2009 at 4:11 pm
What a wonderful teaching!
I wish I could honestly say that I have been able to do that, but that is precisely one of the things that eludes me. So, apparently, it is an important issue to work on.
thank you so very much.
I have a friend who is a wood carver. Always was jealous of doing that. When Socrates was a boy? he carved little statues of the gods, I always thought was a wonderful way to spend time.
thanks again,
+++
We continue our look at equanimity … equanimity hand-in-hand with sincere endeavor. The two would seem to be at odds.
But the two tastes can be one taste … one beyond one taste.
A beautiful way to live all of life … equanimity with sincere endeavor.
posted November 21, 2009 at 11:32 am
“Hold your hand fully open. Sprinkle seeds on it.
A bird will alight to feed, sing, and enchant you.
Begin to curl your fingers and the bird will fly away.
“Care about good things with all your Heart, but do not try to possess them. Relish the wonders that come in every instant but do not Desire to keep them, because you cannot.”
From “A Bird in the Hand Is Not Yours,”
http://barkingunicorn.wordpress.com/2009/07/15/a-bird-in-the-hand-is-not-yours/