How to Cook Your Life: From the Zen Kitchen to Enlightenment

May the wisdom of the tenzo reach everyone who is in search of the way. This is one of the most profound and at the same time practical texts on Buddhist spirituality I have read. A blessing and a source of inspiration that I will treasure in the years to come.

The seller wrapped the book in a nice tissue paper and included a business card that functions nicely as a bookmark. This was more like an Etsy purchase than an Amazon purchase. Thanks for the nice touch!

This is a wonderful book, actually 2 wonderful books by 2 Zen masters, centuries apart about integrating Zen into everyday life. As a Zen student of over 30 years, I highly recommend it.

This is one of Dogen’s profound works. Passages from this great work are read in the kitchen at San Francisco Zen Center, as well as Tassajara Mountain Zen Center. It is a clearly written, inspirational guide on how to practice Soto Zen Buddhism, based on how the Monastery head cooks, called the Tenzo, live Zen through cooking. The book contains the writings of Dogen, with commentary by one of the truly great Zen Masters, Kosho Uchiyama, who writes in such a clear, lucid and at times entertaining style, that he makes Dogen’s words much more accessible.

A most enjoyable text and commentary

This timeless book brings Zen Buddhist practice into the kitchen. Further bring Buddhism into everyday life.

gift

A readable book; sort of a short autobiography of Dogen's travels to China but, more succinctly, an account of his encounters with other travelers of the Way, which sheds some light on how they influenced his thinking.

How to Cook Your Life is a translation of, and commentary on, Tenzo Kyokun (Instructions for the Zen Cook) 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 disciple 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, with a commentary by Kosho Uchiyama Roshi Deepest Practice, Deepest Wisdom: Three Fascicles from Shobogenzo with Commentary , three fascicles from Dogen's Shobogenzo, or Treasury of the True Dharma Eye ("Shoaku Makusa" or "Refraining from Evil," "Maka Hannya Haramitsu" or "Practicing Deepest Wisdom," and "Uji" or "Living Time."), with commentaries by Kosho Uchiyama Roshi 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. The Wholehearted Way: A Translation of Eihei Dogen's "Bendowa"Deepest Practice, Deepest Wisdom: Three Fascicles from Shobogenzo with CommentaryOpening the Hand of Thought: Foundations of Zen Buddhist PracticeEihei Dogen: Mystical Realist

This is an enchanting and rich work explaining beautifully how everyday activities, in this case kitchen work, can be part of spiritual practice.Zen Master Dogen back in the thirteenth century wrote a practical manual of Instructions for the Zen Cook. This work is reproduced in this book with a commentary by Kosho Uchiyama Roshi which makes it more accessible to the modern day reader.Thomas Wright has done a masterful job at translation making the book a pleasure to read. Like many Zen books you could just read the book quite quickly and enjoy it. However, it can also be used as a guide for practice and life — to be used this way it needs to read slowly and diligently so that you can truly absorb the messages and instruction within it. As Kosho Uchiyama Roshi writes “This teaching shows us how to discover a deeply refined religious life through our daily activities.”

An absolutely brilliant book, a must read for people interested in zen.Especially how to take zen into your life

Brilliant

Highly recommend!