In Zen, the tensho is the monastery cook. Every moment, every meal is seen as an opportunity to experience truth, to experience satori (enlightenment). It sounds kind of dramatic, but in truth, it is love and reverence for every grain of rice, for the lighting of the stove, the growing and chopping of vegetables. For the washing of the tea bowls. Utter presence for the light in the early morning while rice is boiling. Everything becomes a medium for utter expansion.
What task doesn’t deserve our full attention? One of my favourite books is How To Cook Your Life by Dogen Zenji. Dogen says “If you are unable to find the truth right where you are, where else do you expect to find it?”.
I also love this quote from The Last Samurai, spoken of the Japanese people, ‘They are an intriguing people. From the moment they wake, they devote themselves to the perfection of whatever they pursue. I have never seen such discipline‘
What if every action, of every day we remembered this? What if even for the tiniest of tasks, they became a path to truth?
Sent with love,
Jac x