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Product Description
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.
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
It's not a cookbook; at least not in the traditional sense.
The first chapter is Dogen's "Instructions for the Zen Cook", a 13th century text giving instructions on how to be head cook, or tenzo, in a Zen monastery. That may sound a little dry but don't let it put you off.
Uchiyama Roshi takes this text as his starting point, and his gentle exploration of Dogen's writing and his own life experiences unfolds into a beautiful treatise on the way to handle food -- and also, the way to handle life. Our attitude to food is our attitude to life writ small. The way you respond to the quality of the ingredients that you have, good or bad. The care and attention you pay to what needs doing. The fact that what you do needs to nourish and sustain you, today and tomorrow.
This is a wonderful, wonderful book, written by someone who is truly alive to the meaning of what he is writing. I keep coming back to it.
The first chapter is Dogen's "Instructions for the Zen Cook", a 13th century text giving instructions on how to be head cook, or tenzo, in a Zen monastery. That may sound a little dry but don't let it put you off.
Uchiyama Roshi takes this text as his starting point, and his gentle exploration of Dogen's writing and his own life experiences unfolds into a beautiful treatise on the way to handle food -- and also, the way to handle life. Our attitude to food is our attitude to life writ small. The way you respond to the quality of the ingredients that you have, good or bad. The care and attention you pay to what needs doing. The fact that what you do needs to nourish and sustain you, today and tomorrow.
This is a wonderful, wonderful book, written by someone who is truly alive to the meaning of what he is writing. I keep coming back to it.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
How to Cook Your Life is a translation of, and commentary on, Tenzo Kyokun by Eihei Dogen (1200-1253).
Tenzo Kyokun was written in the spring of the third year of the Katei era [1237] and it has often been considered one of Dogen's key texts.
The commentary on Dogen's text is by Kosho Uchiyama Roshi (1912-1998). Uchiyama Roshi was a senior discipe of the great Kodo Sawaki Roshi (1880-1965). In addition to being a Soto Zen priest he was also an origami master, the abbot of Antaiji Monastery, near Kyoto and the author of more than 20 books.
Zoketsu Norman Fischer, former abbot of the San Francisco Zen Center and founder and teacher of the Everyday Zen Foundation has said of this work "I am glad to see Uchiyama Roshi's classic commentary to Instructions for the Zen Cook back in print. Dogen's original text (here in Thomas Wright's lucid translation) is particularly applicable to everyday spirituality in the world, and Roshi's commentary, full of gritty, funny stories about his early days as a monk in pre- and post-war Japan, and charming tales from Buddhist and Japanese folklore, evidence a plain-speaking, shoot-from-the hip approach to Zen that is as refreshing now (possibly more so!) as it was when the book first came out. Zen masters of this full-bodied tasty vintage are hard to find these days!"
I heartily recommend this text both for the fine translation of the source text and for Kosho Uchiyama Roshi's commentary.
Also of interest may be The Wholehearted Way: A Translation of Eihei Dogen's "Bendowa", a translation of Dogen's Bendowa, also with a commentary by Kosho Uchiyama Rohsi and Opening the Hand of Thought: Foundations of Zen Buddhist Practice, an introduction to Zen Buddhist practice by Uchiyama Roshi.
For a good general introduction to Dogen and his thought Eihei Dogen: Mystical Realist may be of interest.
Tenzo Kyokun was written in the spring of the third year of the Katei era [1237] and it has often been considered one of Dogen's key texts.
The commentary on Dogen's text is by Kosho Uchiyama Roshi (1912-1998). Uchiyama Roshi was a senior discipe of the great Kodo Sawaki Roshi (1880-1965). In addition to being a Soto Zen priest he was also an origami master, the abbot of Antaiji Monastery, near Kyoto and the author of more than 20 books.
Zoketsu Norman Fischer, former abbot of the San Francisco Zen Center and founder and teacher of the Everyday Zen Foundation has said of this work "I am glad to see Uchiyama Roshi's classic commentary to Instructions for the Zen Cook back in print. Dogen's original text (here in Thomas Wright's lucid translation) is particularly applicable to everyday spirituality in the world, and Roshi's commentary, full of gritty, funny stories about his early days as a monk in pre- and post-war Japan, and charming tales from Buddhist and Japanese folklore, evidence a plain-speaking, shoot-from-the hip approach to Zen that is as refreshing now (possibly more so!) as it was when the book first came out. Zen masters of this full-bodied tasty vintage are hard to find these days!"
I heartily recommend this text both for the fine translation of the source text and for Kosho Uchiyama Roshi's commentary.
Also of interest may be The Wholehearted Way: A Translation of Eihei Dogen's "Bendowa", a translation of Dogen's Bendowa, also with a commentary by Kosho Uchiyama Rohsi and Opening the Hand of Thought: Foundations of Zen Buddhist Practice, an introduction to Zen Buddhist practice by Uchiyama Roshi.
For a good general introduction to Dogen and his thought Eihei Dogen: Mystical Realist may be of interest.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book explores the role of the tenzo within a monastery. Having being a tenzo at Zen Buddhist retreats, it highlighted to me how I could improve my practice as a zen Buddhist practitioner in the kitchen leading a team preparing meals. The underlying and fundamental understanding of such practice is deeply explored, accompanied by cleared complementary notes.
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