( Dogen’s Instructions for the Cook – XXIII)
In cooking your life out of life’s cookbook … you had better see clearly what’s what.
If you do so, you may be able to obtain a life of whole and harmonious flavor … not limited to the words in the book.
If not, you may end up with a bitter, unpalatable, poisoned mess of a life.
So much of the result is up to you.
Viktor Frankl’s 1946book Man’s Search for Meaning chronicles his experiences as a concentrationcamp inmate and describes his psychotherapeutic method of finding a reason tolive. … Frankl concludes that the meaning of life is found in every moment ofliving; life never ceases to have meaning, even in suffering and death. … Frankl concludes from his experience that a prisoner’spsychological reactions are not solely the result of the conditions of hislife, but also from the freedom of choice he always has even in severesuffering. The inner hold a prisoner has on his spiritual self relies on havinga faith in the future, and that once a prisoner loses that faith, he is doomed.
Some Viktor Franklquotes …
* “A man can get used to anything, butdo not ask us how.”
* “We who lived in concentration campscan remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving awaytheir last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offersufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: thelast of the human freedoms–to choose one’s attitude in any given set ofcircumstances, to choose one’s own way.”
* “When we are no longer able tochange a situation – just think of an incurable disease such as inoperablecancer – we are challenged to change ourselves.”
* “Fundamentally, therefore, any mancan, even under such circumstances, decide what shall become of him – mentallyand spiritually. He may retain his human dignity even in a concentrationcamp.”
You disciples who comeafter me, [must be able to see that side from this side, as well as this side from that side]. If you make this kind of effort, youwill be able to obtain ... the Zen of a single flavor [that goes beyond the surface of words]. If you arenot like this, you will be subjected willy-nilly to the poison of the Zen offive flavors, and when it comes to arranging the monks' meals, you will not beable to do it skillfully.
From: Tenzo Kyokun - Instructions for the Cook by Eihei Dogen - Translated by Griffith Foulk [with portion from Uchiyama]
posted November 12, 2009 at 6:22 pm
“When we are no longer able to change a situation,we are challenged to change ourselves”. That is such a powerful statement. Having burnt much toast while trying to cook my life, the above eloquent statement humbles me. I’ve been lucky in my life with few “problems” to speak of, but have managed to muck things up enough to get all the negative attention I was seeking.Thank you Jundo Gassho Kent
posted November 13, 2009 at 9:26 am
Jundo,
Gassho.
Charlie
posted November 13, 2009 at 4:04 pm
for some reason, what you wrote reminds me of Joshu’s saying…that blankness is not nothingness. Thank you for this teaching!
gassho
“In cooking your life out of life’s cookbook … you had better see clearly what’s what.
If you do so, you may be able to obtain a life of whole and harmonious flavor … not limited to the words in the book.
If not, you may end up with a bitter, unpalatable, poisoned mess of a life.”
So much of the result is up to you
posted November 13, 2009 at 4:05 pm
your comment about the Holocaust reminded me that Bernie Glassman is still doing those “Bearing Witness” retreats to Auschwitz:
http://www.zenpeacemakers.org/sa/auschwitz.htm
gassho
posted November 14, 2009 at 9:24 am
when you talked of ingredients it reminded me of how they work in my life sometimes fresh spices sometimes not but always create something palatable Best we can with what we have to work with
Dubar