Unsurpassed. Penetrating. And perfect. Dharma. Is. Rarely. Met with. Even in a hundred. Thousand million. Having it to see. And listen to. To remember. And accept. I vow. to taste the truth of the Tathagata's words. Good evening. Good to see you all here in the room and online, whether now or in future recorded form. I wanted to express some thank yous, of course. Thank you to Paul Haller for the invitation to serve as Shuso for this practice period and give these talks.

[13:16]

Thank you to the Abbots and the Tonto and the whole community for your support. And thank you to my teacher, Rick Sloan, for everything. This talk is... intended just to encourage you in your practice. So if anything that I have to say is helpful, wonderful, take it and examine it and make it your own. And if there's anything that I have to say that isn't helpful for you and your practice, just let those parts go. So tonight I'm intending to talk about some things that I have learned working in Zen kitchens. So I also want to extend some extra thank yous to all of those who I have worked in kitchens with over the years. There are a number of you in this room actually and many many more in many many places.

[14:24]

Thank you all so much for teaching me so much. These principles and ideas that I'll raise about kitchen work I really think are applicable to any activity anytime that we are engaging with our practice, getting it up off the cushion and putting it in motion. So I think you can swap most activities out for kitchen work in what I have to say and see how you think those basic messages and ideas apply to other circumstances. My particular examples and my experience is largely at Tassajara, the Tassajara monastery and other monastic settings. But that really I take just as a circumstance of where I happen to have been living.

[15:28]

So I really think that none of what I have to say is limited to any particular place or mode of practice. And I also want to warn you that I'm not really going to talk about food tonight. The food isn't really the most important practice focus in the kitchen as far as I'm concerned. It is the reason for being there and doing that work and it's a very wonderful thing to engage with. Experiences with food in my experience can be quite profound. But the deepest lessons for me of time in kitchens is not about the food. I did, of course, learn a lot about food and managing kitchens, soaking beans and cutting onions, how to make a good cinnamon roll. And those things are useful, but are not really the heart of the matter.

[16:34]

So for me, one of the real joys of Soto Zen kitchen work in particular is that Eihei Dogen Zenji, the Japanese monk who so kindly brought this practice from China to Japan, left us a, I think, really quite poetic manual of spiritual and practical kitchen guidance called the Tenzo Kyokun. And I actually, I borrowed a copy from the kitchen here with the Tenzo's permission. And this text is published quite widely in a number of different translations and is available in many, many different places, including many great translations for free online. Dogen wrote this text a few years after he returned to Japan, trying to convey this spirit of work practice that he'd encountered in China, but that he felt was somewhat lacking in Japan at the time.

[17:55]

So Tenzo is the name of the role for the person who is running the kitchen. Something like head of the kitchen, kitchen manager, chief cook kind of conveys that person with ultimate responsibility for the kitchen. And kyokun is something like instructions for or guidance to. So the Tenzo kyokun is Dogen's instructions to the monastery cook. I find it quite charming for its mix of practice advice, practical instructions for various kitchen tasks, stories from Dogen's monastic experiences, and quotations from older sources and other koans that have to do with kitchen work. So one thing that might be interesting or instructive would be to consider what would spiritual instructions for other

[19:03]

kinds of work look like? Dogen only got around to writing the Tenzo Kyokun, but if Dogen had written a manual for the work that you do, what do you think that might look like? I think that is a for me, that has been a fruitful line of inquiry. What does the spiritual side of my life have to say to this part of my life that I So in Zen kitchens, we use the Tenzo Kyokun as a devotional text. We chant our way through it one section at a time in the midst of a small service that we do in the kitchen, and we make it through the entire text about every three weeks or so. It's really quite a

[20:04]

Quite lovely, I think, to keep engaging with this text. As soon as you finish, you start right back at the beginning. So I'm going to read one of the short narrative pieces from the Tenzo Kyokun. When this mountain monk, I, Dogen, was at Tiantong Monastery in China, the Tenzo there was named Yang. Once, after the midday meal, I was passing through the East corridor on my way to the infirmary where my teacher was being cared for. When I saw the Tenzo in front of the Buddha hall airing mushrooms, he carried a bamboo staff, but had no hat on his head. The sun was hot. The ground tiles were hot and sweat streamed over him as he worked diligently to dry the mushrooms. he was suffering a bit.

[21:07]

With his backbone bent like a bow and his shaggy eyebrows, he resembled a crane. I approached and asked Tenzo how long he had been a monk. He said, 68 years. I said, why don't you have assistants or laborers do this? He said, others are not me. I said, venerable sir, your attitude is indeed proper, but the sun is so hot. Why are you doing this now? The Tenzo said, what time should I wait for? I took my leave, but as I walked along the corridor, I began to inwardly feel the true opportunity the position of Tenzo affords. So for me, this particular passage was actually really directly helpful the first time I read it.

[22:12]

It was 15 or more years ago, and I was actually working as a cook caretaker at a retreat center in the woods in Michigan, cooking for groups of 10 to 20 people who would come up for a week or two at a time to take college courses in a wilderness setting. I had started a Zazen sitting practice just a few months before and then set out to do this relatively solitary job out in the woods. And a friend of mine sent me a copy of the Tenzo Kyokun along with some commentaries on it. And it was really the perfect thing. support my practice at that moment. And I took this passage as a story of this Tenzo who's drying these mushrooms having set his intention and let go of his personal preferences for how things should be and that he was letting that letting go

[23:33]

be sort of the basis for how he was engaging with his work in that moment. And I, working in the woods at that time, was really kind of, I was a little disgruntled at having to work somehow. And this passage, Others Are Not Me, really brought up this question for me. Why would I expect anyone else to do the work that was my work to do? And what time should I wait for? Pointed out to me that doing the work of that moment in that moment brings its own particular satisfaction and relaxation. And this moment's work is this moment's work. There's always going to be something else that will be the appropriate work for later.

[24:36]

So if I put this work off until later, it's going to come into conflict with whatever is actually the next moment's work to be done. So I read the Tenzo Kyokun and realized that I had a job that I had asked for, that I had signed up for, knowing full well what I was getting into. And somehow my chronic upset at being asked to do what I had agreed to do loosened up and over time mostly dissolved. And this, for me, really was the first time that I saw that a spiritual text could actually help me with regular life, with the real life that I was living. I had been given many Buddhist books before then, and It seemed every time I opened one up, it was just another numbered list.

[25:38]

And that wasn't really where my practice was at at that time. So for me, the Tenzo Kyokun connected with everyday life and showed me that this practice that I was just entering into at that time really could speak to my actual life. Back to Dogen. Actually, when working in any position of responsibility, not only as Tenzo, but as any officer or assistant, strive to maintain a spirit of joy and balanced calm along with the caring attitude of a parent.

[26:41]

So it's been my experience. the monastery kitchen, I feel like I can more clearly see how my activities interconnect with everyone and everything around me. That interconnection is true everywhere all the time, but the monastery kitchen space and the mindset that we cultivate really highlight that for me. There's an altar in the middle of the in the middle of the kitchen and across the top of that altar are listed the three minds that Dogen frequently holds up as the model for Tenzo's, Abbots, and all practitioners. In fact, you can see these across the altar in the kitchen here. There's joyful mind, nurturing mind, or grandparental mind,

[27:49]

and big mind. That joyful mind for me was often the easiest one to engage with in the kitchen. There is something about working with fresh food and creating food for those who you are living in community with that I think can bring up a sort of spirit of joy and just plain enjoyment of what you're doing. The nurturing or grandparental mind is this mind that is making sure that everyone is taken care of, that everyone gets something that they are able to eat, that everyone gets enough to eat, and that in that process people are noticed and taken care of and treated kindly and calmly.

[28:51]

And big mind is the mind that has taken a step back and is seeing a larger picture, seeing the unity of all things and the ways that our conventional understanding of the world and of our experience is not the whole story. This big mind creates, for me, a sort of calmer background for my activity to function on top of. There's kind of a, there's a way that these three minds occasionally can, they can sort of support and generate each other, but my personal experience was that usually just one of them at a time, would really be noticeable. But sometimes in the kitchen, the cycle through these different modes of being can be somewhat quick.

[30:07]

Many times in the Tenzo Kyokun, Dogen reminds us that intention and state of mind matter. If I had to say, what is the... the major point of the Tenzo Kyoku, and I would say that it is exactly that, that what we do with our minds while we are engaged in our activities is the crucial aspect of that activity. And so my intention and my state of mind matter not only to my experience, but to the experience of those around me as well. I have very directly seen, with my own eyes, a kitchen crew having a difficult or challenging day. And that feeling of difficulty can be handed over to the community when the community arrives to eat the food that that kitchen crew has made.

[31:11]

And suddenly everyone's getting sort of a little... a little dose of negative emotion with their lunch. Just as easily, feelings of love and support can be mingled with the food if that is the mindset that we are in as we're creating that particular meal. And this is really, this shows up, I think, in body language, in small comments we might or might not make. as we interact with other people, and in our sort of an overall presence. You can feel it when you enter a room if the people who are in that room have just been having a really difficult time. So intention and state of mind show up through these sort of more subtle ways of being, and I think they are more noticeable.

[32:15]

the more we practice with each other and the more time we spend together becoming sensitive to how we all are individually and how we interact as a group. And I think this sort of long-term overall tone of my work practice, the community's work practice, overall tone you might experience from an established kitchen crew, I think is very important to how resilient we are, how we are or aren't able to absorb unexpected or short-term stress. If I'm already on edge, then the smallest little thing can knock me for a loop. If I am more grounded, then I am a little more stable and maybe able to tell what is and is not an emergency and respond maybe a little more calmly or more appropriately.

[33:28]

So setting my own intentions, being really clear why I am where I am, why I am doing what I'm doing, whether that's in the kitchen or anywhere, for me has been really helpful to drop my judgments about whether I do or don't like how things are happening. If I'm in the kitchen and I notice that things are happening in a way that is not the way that I expected them to happen, I have learned that it's actually much better to let it happen and try to let whatever is happening be the best version that it can be of whatever it is that it's doing. To set an intention like I hope to support the community today leaves a lot of

[34:40]

space for how exactly that is going to happen, or how I might try to do that. If I set an intention like, today I'm going to make the best apple pie ever so that everyone is really impressed with me, that really doesn't leave a lot of wiggle room. If anything doesn't go exactly according to my plan for that, then I'm likely to feel like I've failed, even if I have actually done something quite. So setting that intention and being really clear about what my ultimate goal is, I think is deeply helpful for enjoying the activities that I partake in.

[35:44]

Back to Dogen. When the food has been properly prepared and placed on the table for food that is ready, the Tenzo puts on Buddha's robe, spreads the sitting cloth, faces the sangha hall where the monks eat, burns incense, and makes nine prostrations. After finishing the prostrations, the tenzo sends the food to the sangha hall. In all of the monastery kitchens that I have spent time in, there are rituals that we do throughout the day, little bits of ceremony. support what we do. The wake-up bell passes through first thing in the morning to wake up the ovens and greet the altar. The abbot will pass through and offer incense. Food is offered at the zendo and the kaisando altars before the community eats.

[37:00]

There are placards and chanting that we do with the meals as they're served. San Francisco Zen Center, the Tenzo does these same nine boughs that Dogen was just describing. It's been almost 800 years since he wrote that text, and those nine boughs were already being done when he wrote that text, and we are still doing that now. And having this sacred and ceremonial space and this continuity of ceremonial and sacred activity for me really helps tie the activity, the work to the larger monastic life. It helps me slow down to focus and I think very importantly to connect to our ancestors, to connect to those who have done this work before, who have

[38:08]

engaged in this practice before and to feel the support of that history. And I wonder sometimes what it would be like if we treated all of our work, if we treated our whole lives like this. What if I did nine bows before uploading a video to the website? What about offering up the merit of your sandwich to all beings before you sit down and have a snack in the park? So maybe you might consider how you could bring some supportive elements from your practice into an area of your life that you don't feel is directly connected to your practice at the moment. There was a time where I I didn't consider my work separate, but I considered practice separate from work somehow.

[39:15]

I was living and working here in San Francisco, just out in the world, working in a cubicle in an office. And I realized that I really needed the support of practice every day. throughout my day. And it didn't seem like it would really go over that well to set up a full altar in my cubicle in my office. So I just got a little bit of chip incense and a little dish. And every morning I would just move a little incense into the dish and set my intention. And once I had moved all of that incense into that dish, then I would put it back into the container and start that process again. I couldn't burn any incense, but I could still engage with this ritual that I was familiar with from this practice.

[40:17]

So looking for those sorts of opportunities in your own life might be worthwhile. And I noticed as well, particularly when I was serving as Tenzo at Tassajara, that there were days when I really didn't want to do it. I didn't want to do any of it. I might be tired or grumpy, feel like we didn't have time to do service or engage with these more ceremonial aspects of how we were working in the kitchen. And thankfully, I learned that at those times, I should actually make a particular effort to actually do service to chant the Tenzo Kyokun and to discuss it with the kitchen crew.

[41:21]

Because I found that engaging with that ceremonial process and engaging with this text always, I think every single time, was a help to me. To be reminded of the teachings of the Dharma, and especially to chant them and then discuss them, made it really impossible to hide from them, which is, I think, what I was trying to do in those tired, grumpy early morning moments. to hide from practice. I'd have this feeling like, no, I want this anger. I want to hold on to this grumpiness. I don't want to let this go. And engaging with ceremony and with the Dharma and with practice would always show me that really I did want to let that anger go.

[42:25]

And really I was going to be very glad for it when I did. So if you find a practice or a reminder of practice that works for you, take it up and see where it leads you. Pay attention to what effects it has in your life and in your activities. And as long as it is tending you towards... being a kind and gentle person, see where it takes you. So, as I said, I think it's kind of amazing that I have talked this long about kitchen work and I haven't really said anything about food and that

[43:29]

That will remain the case. I still am not really going to talk about food, but if anybody ever wants to talk about food, I am deeply interested in the subject. So feel free to engage me in Tassajara recipe questions at any point out there in the wider world. But I thought in the absence of talking specifically about food, I might end with just a few pieces of kitchen advice that I have picked up over my years of working in kitchens. And again, I will just remind you of the possibility of generalizing these things out into other situations beyond just kitchen work. So a few individual points. Use both hands. Always use both hands.

[44:32]

Notice when you have an urge to rush, multitask, or cut corners, and be very skeptical of those impulses. The worst injuries and the worst messes come while rushing. Remember that I'm in Buddha's kitchen using Buddha's utensils, to turn Buddha's groceries into a meal for Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. Treating all items with care and respect not only feels appropriate, it also reduces accidents and encourages and supports mindfulness. If you spill something on the floor, clean it up right away. Never leave a slippery floor. Do what you tell other people to do. I try to notice when I'm not following the instructions that I give to others.

[45:39]

Are those instructions really not so important? Am I setting myself apart in some way? Do I have some story about why I am special and therefore what I have asked others to do does not apply to me? I'm not so special. Ask for help. Moving a heavy pot of water. Ask for help. Not sure you can get the meal done in time. Ask for help. Feeling overwhelmed or emotional. Ask for help. You can ask other crew members, other monks, and you can ask the Buddha. They all will help. Listen to Tenzos and kitchen workers of the past. Get all of the information, advice, and stories that you can. Talk to people about their experiences and learn from them.

[46:46]

These experiences are the heart of the teaching. Listen to the body. Take care of yourself. You are special. You are the only one of you. Take great care. So those are a few things that I learned from spending time in monastery kitchens. I was really quite surprised in putting this talk together how little food there was in it. However, this time I have left a few minutes for questions. So if anyone would like to bring any questions up, I am happy to hear them.

[47:52]

I don't have any recipes with me though, so I can't give any specific measurement advice. Thank you. And if anyone online has any questions, I believe you can raise your online hand or send them in through the chat. So you said the second mind is a grandparently mind. Isn't the literal translation actually a grandmotherly mind? Hmm. I actually am not sure of the literal translation.

[48:55]

That's possible. That's certainly possible. In comparing translations, the The descriptions of these minds are one of the things that varies a fair bit. I think the sense of nurturing and care is kind of the dominant theme. But it might literally be grandmotherly mind. Does that change your experience of that idea? Yeah, it seems important. I'm just curious how it, how does that play out in your personal experience of it?

[49:55]

I think it invokes the divine feminine, which is rarely done in any spirituality. So when I hear it, it like speaks to my heart. Thank you for that. Well, yeah, that will inspire me to look into that a little more deeply and see if one of these translations can get me at a... literal translation. I would agree invoking the divine feminine is well worth doing and not done enough I think in any of the spiritual worlds that I've spent time in. Thank you. WE HAVE TIME FOR MAYBE ONE MORE QUESTION.

[51:09]

THANK YOU FOR YOUR TALK. I'D LIKE TO ASK A QUESTION ABOUT FOOD. WHAT ABOUT FOOD, AS YOU'VE READ IN DOGEN, THAT IS NOT SO-CALLED TOP NOTCH, AND CAN YOU EXPLAIN HOW YOU WORK WITH WHAT DOGEN SAYS AND MAYBE A LITTLE BIT ABOUT WHAT HE SAYS? So Dogen does spend in this, in the Tenzo Kyokun, does spend a bit of time talking about the quality of ingredients. And the sort of fundamental message there, as I understand it, is to not be distracted by my judgments of the quality of those ingredients. distinctions that we can make between things, and those distinctions are useful, sometimes necessary.

[52:18]

However, my judgments of whether something is a good carrot or a bad carrot doesn't actually have any inherent truth to it. I'm just picking out a few characteristics of these things and kind of setting them up side by side. And I notice in myself this urge, this instinct to want the best for myself and for others. So it becomes a really rich place of practice for me. I have a lot of judgments coming up, a lot of preferences coming up. And if I'm... if I'm in a stable and healthy mindset, I can notice that those things are coming up and have some choice about what I do. You know, there's nothing wrong with serving a really beautifully made meal.

[53:25]

In my experience, the pitfall is in believing that there's something, that there's something extra in that. beautifulness or my judgment of the goodness or fineness of that thing. So Dogen tells us in many different ways to let those judgments go. To consider wild greens and cream for a soup as equivalent ingredients. To Well, actually one of my favorite stories for this is actually from Suzuki Roshi, where as I have heard it and read it, when he went to the produce market, he would intentionally pick out the vegetables that other people had passed up that weren't going to be eaten otherwise because he was aware of this.

[54:38]

judgment. He evidently could see his own mind making this judgment as well. And his way of engaging with it was to meet it head on and to do something wonderful with those ingredients that would otherwise be called inferior. So that was a lot of little pieces. I don't know, did that help? Does that get towards what you were QUESTIONING ABOUT? NEW SPEAKERS THANK YOU FOR THAT AND IT CERTAINLY SETS THOUGHTS IN MOTION. NEW SPEAKERS THANK YOU FOR ASKING. THOSE JUDGMENTS AND PREFERENCES THAT I NOTICE COMING UP IN MY MIND ABOUT WHAT I THINK IS GOOD AND WHAT I DON'T THINK IS GOOD AND WHAT I THINK IS RIGHT AND NOT RIGHT, GOOD AND BAD, JUST THOSE THOSE JUDGMENTS AND PREFERENCES I NOTICE CAUSE ME A LOT OF SUFFERING.

[55:42]

SO PAYING CLOSE ATTENTION TO THEM AND LEARNING FROM THEM I THINK IS A FRUITFUL AVENUE OF EXPLORATION. THANK YOU. I THINK WE'RE AT TIME. ALL RIGHT. THANK YOU ALL AGAIN FOR THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR OWN PRACTICE AND FOR ENGAGING So deeply. Now we'll chant. May our intention equally extend to every being and place with the true merit of Buddha's way.

[56:32]

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