The Philosophy
of Cooking

"Respect for the old. Search for the new."

The next time you go shopping for groceries, take a moment to sit down. Think how you tried to pick your foods and combine them in graceful and harmonious methods. Think of the vast amount of ways your cooking provides for yourself, your family and friends. Think how food is part of a great cycle-from the growth of food on farms-how much time farmers spend giving life to food and how much time a farmer needs to spend with it, to the cooking process, to nourishment, and finally the recycling of waste-and how every person in this world is part of that cycle.

What does the art of Cooking mean?
Cooking is:
-personally selecting the foods you will cook
-recycling leftovers and waste
-respect for and hospitality toward guests
-an absolutely clean kitchen
-use of the freshest seasonal ingredients
-the ability to cook anywhere in the world with whatever is on hand
-being equally capable of cooking frugally while still being extravagant
-using food to enhance health
-combing the rich tradition of eastern cookery with classical techniques

I know of many people who love cooking who already incorporate many of these factors already. But these various actions can all be fitted together in a way that makes cooking more than a vocation or a profession and turned into a passion and a way of living life. This may also be a new approach towards food to some, but doing so can help one discover new aspects in life. In doing so, you may very well find yourself agreeing with the famous Zen Master Dogen:� "Dharma is eating and eating is dharma."

"Food is a gift. Understand the gift of food, and the blessings that come to hand."��
-Zen Master Dogen
When we cook food, most of us are concerned with "getting it right". While doing this, we tend to hold back. When we do not hold back, we are able to reveal our inspirations for the whole world to see. There is an old Chinese saying that says, "If you do not bring out what is in your heart it will lead to frustration, anger, ill will, disease and death. If you bring out what is in your heart, it will lead to vitality, warmth, compassion, generosity, good health, and happiness." And one of our desires is a desire to nourish. When we don't think about trying to be perfect, we can immerse ourselves in feelings and being vitally alive and aware of our blessings.

"Let your mind go out and abide in things. Let things return and abide in your mind."������� -Zen Master Dogen
Willingness turns chores into pleasures. It awakens our spirit and heart which allow us to engage in activities with receptiveness, curiousity, and interest. It enables the cook. Aromas are more fragrant, flavors richer, the burden of chores become spiritual and an adventure.

The 4 Principles:
1. Respect: respect for our guests and the food we eat.
2. Purity: Cleanliness in the kitchen and in cooking.
3. Harmony: Cooking is a social activity.
4. Tranquility: When we eat, let us eat in a quiet spirit. Let us think about the food����� that has been sacrificed to sustain us. Let us take in the healty����������������������������������� nourishment it offers us and ponder on it's beauty.

Having a balance allow us to find different ways to cultivate aspects of ourselves that we may have neglected. We can find ways of bringing the best to ourselves and to others, and bring out the best in food.