In Buddha S Kitchen

Kimberley Snow offers an outrageously funny and honest account of her adventures as head cook at a Tibetan Buddhist retreat center. With her earthy sensibility and sharp sense of humor, the author shows this world in a light devoid of preciousness—while expressing with heart the integrity of the spiritual work being undertaken. We come away from our visit to this exotic realm having found it both extraordinary and surprisingly familiar. The neuroses, obsessions, and petty concerns exposed by Snow—both in herself and her fellow staff members—prove to be grist for the mill for discovering the grace inherent in life just as it is.

A gorgeous, zen cookbook that celebrates balance, meditation, and everyday beauty. From ancient teachings to the words of celebrated masters and contemporary cooks, this collection of commentaries, blessings, meditations, and recipes is a call to recognize everyday activities as opportunities to awaken--to transform each moment of life, in the kitchen and out, into a moment of enlightenment.

Eating as a spiritual practice: wisdom from the Buddhist tradition that you can use at home. Every aspect of our daily activities can be a part of spiritual practice if done with compassion—and this compact guide offers wisdom from the Buddhist tradition on how eating mindfully can nourish the mind as well as the body. Thubten Chodron, abbess of Sravasti Abbey in Washington state, shows us that eating and activities related to it—preparation of food, offering and consuming it, and cleaning up afterward—can contribute to awakening and to increased kindness and care toward others. Chodron offers traditional Buddhist teachings and specific practices used at the Abbey, along with advice for taking the principles into our own home in order to make the sharing of food a spiritual intention for anyone. By eating consciously and mindfully—and by including certain rituals—we find ourselves less obsessive about food and can enjoy our meals more.

Eating as a spiritual practice: wisdom from the Buddhist tradition that you can use at home. Every aspect of our daily activities can be a part of spiritual practice if done with compassion—and this compact guide offers wisdom from the Buddhist tradition on how eating mindfully can nourish the mind as well as the body. Thubten Chodron, abbess of Sravasti Abbey in Washington state, shows us that eating and activities related to it—preparation of food, offering and consuming it, and cleaning up afterward—can contribute to awakening and to increased kindness and care toward others. Chodron offers traditional Buddhist teachings and specific practices used at the Abbey, along with advice for taking the principles into our own home in order to make the sharing of food a spiritual intention for anyone. By eating consciously and mindfully—and by including certain rituals—we find ourselves less obsessive about food and can enjoy our meals more.

This modern-day commentary on Dogen’s Instructions for a Zen Cook reveals how everyday activities—like cooking—can be incorporated into our spiritual practice 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.

100 simply delicious vegan recipes--good for the planet, and for you--from the chef and blogger behind The Buddhist Chef. A practicing Buddhist for over two decades, Jean-Philippe Cyr, aka The Buddhist Chef, believes that everyone has the power to make their vision of the world a reality--and that the most impactful way to do that is through the food we choose to make, eat, and share. This realization led him to veganism, which transformed his life and health. In this cookbook, he shares how to make classic dishes vegan, easy, and so delicious and show-stopping that everyone--even the pickiest of eaters--will love them. The Buddhist Chef is a collection of Jean-Philippe's best vegan recipes that will become a mainstay in vegan and non-vegan kitchens alike. The recipes are perfect for long-time vegans, those trying out a vegan diet for the first time, or those simply trying to eat more plant-based foods. Inspired by cuisines from all around the world, these recipes offer something for everyone. Enjoy breakfast and brunch recipes like Vegan Shakshuka and Maple Baked Beans, or salads and protein-packed bowls like Beet Carpaccio or Tempeh Poke Bowl. Transform your dinners with hearty mains like Eggplant Parmigiana, General Tso's Tofu, and Mushroom Poutine. Indulge in vegan desserts like Chocolate Lava Cake or have a nourishing snack like Coconut Matcha Energy Balls. With delicious recipes for every meal of the day, The Buddhist Chef is a celebration of healthy, plant-based dishes that will have everyone at the table, vegan or not, wanting more.

Christine Mollier reveals in this volume previously unexplored dimensions of the interaction between Buddhism and Taoism in medieval China. While scholars of Chinese religions have long recognized the mutual influences linking the two traditions, Mollier here brings to light their intense contest for hegemony in the domains of scripture and ritual. Drawing on a far-reaching investigation of canonical texts, together with manuscript sources from Dunhuang and the monastic libraries of Japan—many of them studied here for the first time—she demonstrates the competition and complementarity of the two great Chinese religions in their quest to address personal and collective fears of diverse ills, including sorcery, famine, and untimely death. In this context, Buddhist apocrypha and Taoist scriptures were composed through a process of mutual borrowing, yielding parallel texts, Mollier argues, that closely mirrored one another. Life-extending techniques, astrological observances, talismans, spells, and the use of effigies and icons to resolve the fundamental preoccupations of medieval society were similarly incorporated in both religions. In many cases, as a result, one and the same body of material can be found in both Buddhist and Taoist guises. Among the exorcistic, prophylactic, and therapeutic ritual methods explored here in detail are the "Heavenly Kitchens" that grant divine nutrition to their adepts, incantations that were promoted to counteract bewitchment, as well as talismans for attaining longevity and the protection of stellar deities. The destiny of the Jiuku Tianzun, the Taoist bodhisattva whose salvific mission and iconography were modeled on Guanyin (Avalokitesvara), is examined at length. Through the case-studies set forth here, the patterns whereby medieval Buddhists and Taoists each appropriated and transformed for their own use the rites and scriptures oftheir rivals are revealed with unprecedented precision. Buddhism and Taoism Face to Face is abundantly illustrated with drawings and diagrams from canonical and manuscript sources, together with art and artifacts photographed by the author in the course of her field research in China. Sophisticated in its analysis, broad in its synthesis of a variety of difficult material, and original in its interpretations, it will be required reading for those interested in East Asian religions and in the history of the medieval Chinese sciences, including astrology, medicine and divination.

The kitchen is the most vital place on Earth, because survival, even now in the age of iPads and large hadron colliders, still depends on wholesome, nutritious food. In keeping with this simple truth Veggiyana provides 108 tasty, beloved and simple recipes from around the world. And generously sprinkled throughout--like the perfect blend of herbs and spices are morsels of time-tested wisdom on how to live a life that nourishes both body and spirit. Veggiyana brings the vitality of the worlds kitchens to your own with wisdom and recipes to delight and inspire.