morning well today is the first day of our spring practice period and my the text that we're going to use for the practice period can you hear The text that is being used for the practice period is Dogen Zenji's Zen Master Dogen's Tenzo Kyokun. I've used this text before during practice periods, during sesshins. This Tenzo Kyokun is Dogen's Instructions for the Cook, the Tenzo, and Kyokun means instruction.

[01:11]

This is Tenzo Kyokun is in the class in between practical instruction and expression of realization. Dogen's Shobo Genzo is his expression, the various hundred fascicles are Dogen's expression of realization. And the Shingi is practical aspect of how you go about doing the work. So Tenso Kyokun is kind of in between. It expresses Dogen's realization within the practical application of everyday life. So it's a very important text and brings together both sides in realization.

[02:24]

How we realize reality in each moment's activity. how we realize big mind in our daily activity and how that's expressed. So, he expresses it through the work of the cook, very mundane seeming activity. Of course, Tenzo is the cook, but Tenzo has become the person who takes care of the kitchen, makes sure everything gets done. And in this Tenzo Kyokun Dogen talks about how the head cook should not leave anything up to others, but to do all the important work of cooking herself or himself.

[03:29]

But the Tenzo position has become more supervisory in the monastery. But here in our temple, our small temple, the Tenzo takes care of cooking. And there's another position called Fukuten, the assistant, who does most of the cooking. So things are a little different in the way Dogen describes them, but nevertheless the spirit is the same. So I've divided this piece into 10 parts, I think, so that I can talk about it all during the practice period. So I'm just going to read the first part, or talk about the first part today. So in this first part, Dogen talks about the various officers in the monastery.

[04:53]

He's talking to his monks, basically, but you can substitute monk for Zen student and apply what he's saying to our everyday, our own situation. So Dogen starts out by saying, from ancient times, in communities practicing the Buddha way, there have been six offices established to oversee the affairs of the community. The students holding each office are all disciples of the Buddha and carry out the activities of a Buddha through their respective offices. Among these officers is the Tenzo, who carries the responsibility of preparing the community's meals.

[05:56]

This is his opening statement. In the monastic community there are six offices and in our temple community we use this as a model although it's modified to fit our situation. So all American Zen centers are not the same. our monastic community at Tassajara and at Green Gulch and in the city center pretty much follow a quasi-Japanese model like this and in our temple we pretty much follow that but in a modified way And I know that there are a lot of other smaller temples, more in the hinterlands.

[06:58]

And the more you go into the hinterlands, like Northern California and so forth, the smaller temples don't adhere to this kind of model. So I can see that kind of diminishing. But when you have a community that has enough people so that you have to have some administration and you have to have some categories, then this model becomes necessary. But it's not just that it's necessary for that reason. Working in the monastic model is where the students hold various positions People call them jobs sometimes. They are not jobs. They're positions. If you say, oh, I have the job of Tenzo, or I have the job of work leader, that's a little bit off.

[08:05]

It's the position of cook. It's position of work leader. It's the position of treasurer, because this is a practice position. The main thing about it is that it's practice. So sometimes, we ask a person who is not qualified to do a certain position, but it's in order to help the person. So sometimes we ask a person to do a position because we need their expertise, and sometimes we ask a person to do the position because it's good for the person, even though they don't know what they're doing. So you have to kind of weigh in the balance how you're going to do that. But the main point is that from each position one practices with the community and you view the community from your position.

[09:10]

And then when you change your position to some to another position, then you can practice with the community from that position, and your view broadens, and you begin to see how the community works. You begin to see how you can actually help people, and how you can harmonize, and how you can help the community to harmonize, and how you can forget yourself within your activity. and when you practice enough positions and had some maturity and learn how to let go of your self-centeredness then you can become a mature Zen student. So these positions are important not as jobs but as practice positions. If you see everything in your life that you do, every position you have in your life as a practice position

[10:16]

then you can be said to be practicing all the time. We have a job to make money so we can live, right? But that's in the ordinary sense. But in the practice sense, how do you see your job or your study or whatever it is as a practice position? It's a different way of thinking about what we're doing. Then our view of our life and our surroundings changes. If we see everything that we do as a form of practice, we transform our workplace into a practice place. So when we come into the Zendo, we have the atmosphere of the zendo.

[11:19]

And we say, oh, that's zen practice. You bow to the cushion, you sit cross-legged for days on end, and so forth. But when you go out into the world from the zendo, you turn practice inside out. And all the forms you meet become the forms of practice. So that's how we carry our practice into the world. This is called the great equality practice. Practicing great equality. You don't see the practice in the world as different from the practice in the Zindo. It's all equal. That's called Samadhi. Samadhi is to see yourself and others and your surroundings and your activity as equal without discrimination.

[12:35]

Even though within that non-discrimination we're always discriminating. But we discriminate correctly. instead of self-centeredly. So Dogen says from ancient times, he's talking about the officers, the monastic officers. So there's six, there are actually seven, but officially there are six. There's the director, In Japanese, it's the tsusu, the kansu, the fusu, the ino, the tenso, the shisui, and the shika. We use some of those terms, but not all of them. The director, the assistant director, the treasurer, the zendo manager, so to speak, the head cook,

[13:39]

the work leader, and the person who takes care of outside affairs, who we call the shikha. But here, the shikha is the person who greets people and who helps people when they come in and out of the place. The director we call the coordinator. I didn't like to use the word director when we established that here. So I said, the coordinator, the person who coordinates things. Director sounds a little, to me, sounded a little too directive. And then, we don't have an assistant director. We used to have an assistant director at Tassajara. But the assistant director didn't do much. In the olden days, The kansu was the director and did almost everything. And then little by little they gave those positions, they divided the position into two.

[14:44]

And I remember at Tassajara, we had this many years ago, this 70s assistant director. And he was kind of ornery. And one day we had this meeting and I looked into his eyes and I could see he was smoking grass. I said, what are you doing smoking grass? I could tell just by looking at his eyes. And so as it turned out, we decided we don't need an assistant director. So we never have had an assistant director from that time. So the ino, we call the zendo manager, the person who takes care of the zendo, but in the monastery the ino has more responsibility for the monks.

[15:52]

And then there's the work leader and so forth. Dogen is using the Tenzo as an example and within this Tenzo Kyokun he talks about his encounters in China with various Tenzos and actually these Tenzos that he met set up his mind for his enlightenment. They really played a big part in his understanding of what practice is. So he says, from ancient times in the communities practicing the Buddha way there have been six offices established to oversee the affairs of the community. The students holding each office are all disciples of the Buddha and carry out the activities of a Buddha. So they carry out their activities expressing their Buddha nature through their various offices.

[17:05]

So, among these offices is the Tenzo, who carries the responsibility of preparing the community's meals. It is written in the Chan Yuan Qing Hui that the function of the Tenzo is to manage meals for the monk, for the community. Chan Yuan Qing Hui is was written by Choro Serio. You've heard his name before. We chant it when we chant the lineage. Choro Serio. This work has always been carried out by teachers settled in the way and by others who have aroused the bodhisattva spirit within themselves. Such a practice requires exhausting all your energies. If one entrusted with this work lacks such a spirit, then that person will only endure unnecessary hardships and suffering that will have no value in pursuit of the Way. In the monasteries, like in Japan, in a heiji, sojiji, the tenzo is usually a roshi, someone who has some

[18:21]

really good understanding and you know the monasteries in those two head temples in Japan the teachers are not necessarily permanent the mature teachers have their own temples and then they're asked to come to the monastery for a period of time to teach or to hold positions to hold these positions actually and then they go, after a few years, they go back to their home temple again. But they usually call on mature teachers, who are Roshis, to fill these offices, and especially the office of the Tenzo. So, it's a teaching position. Being the Tenzo, although it requires the person to work, they teach by example and so while one is working in the kitchen one is always in contact with that teacher so the kitchen is a very special practice place and there's a teacher there and all of their activities take place in the kitchen they work from morning till night in the kitchen

[19:51]

and they don't do a lot of zazen. The kitchen work is the same as zazen. This is the most important understanding, that the work in the kitchen is exactly the same as zazen, except that instead of sitting on the cushion, you're preparing meals. But you do that with the same spirit that we do zazen. That was always the understanding when Suzuki Roshi was around. Lately, people have been favoring Zazen at Sin Center. I remember when Tatsugami Roshi came to Tassajara in 1969, 1970. and established the monastic program.

[21:04]

He said, oh, the people working in the kitchen just work there. That's their zazen. That's their practice. And they do sit zazen, but it's separate in a way. They do it at a certain period when they can because when everybody else is sitting Zazen, they're cooking the meals. So they have their own schedule and their own practice. And when one is working in the kitchen, sometimes people say, well, geez, I wish I should, you know, I come here to sit Zazen and here I am working in the kitchen. But working in the kitchen at the Zen Center is not the same as working in your own kitchen at home or working in a restaurant. I remember Suzuki Roshi saying, even though we may have a French chef, we don't let him work in the kitchen.

[22:06]

It doesn't hurt. Only amateurs. can't work in the kitchen. Only naive Zen students can work because it's practice, it's not work. And although the French chef may have these wonderful recipes, we did have a French chef, actually from Chez Panisse, working in the kitchen at Tassajara during the summer. But he's a Zen student. He was working as a Zen student, he wasn't working as a French chef. So, there were times when we had to use people who were wonderful carpenters to work at Tassajara. But they should have been working in the kitchen, but we couldn't help it.

[23:10]

you know, because we needed the work done. But ideally, as practice, you should be doing something that you're not good at. Something that you don't have expertise at. Because when you're doing something that you're good at, it's so easy to get egotistical or self-centered or bossy or So it's a good idea to be put in a position where your abilities are taken away and you just have to stumble around and do stuff that you're just not good at. Ideally, we can't always do that, but that should be, that's practice. So such a practice requires exhausting all your energies.

[24:20]

So if one is entrusted with this work, lacks that kind of spirit, it will cause a lot of suffering. Yes, it will. Because you have to have the spirit of letting go and just doing. Just doing. If someone asks you to do something, you say, OK. That's shikantaza. OK. Would you please chop the vegetables this way? OK. Not, well, I like chopping them this way. I like doing it that way. Would you please put not so much oil in the salad? I like oil in the salad. Just do what you're asked. When you're working in the kitchen and the cook says, will you chop these onions?

[25:27]

You should say, how would you like them chopped? Do you want me to do it this way or this way? So you're always asking how it should be done. not assuming that you know how to do it, even though you know how to do it. How would you like me to do it? That's the question. How would you like me to do that? And then you let go of your self-centeredness. So the whole point is to let go of self-centeredness and allow yourself to be directed. Allow yourself to be put under, to entrust yourself to someone else. And then allow yourself to harmonize with what this person wants everyone to do. Let go of resistance. And even though it's not your way, you find out that everything works.

[26:30]

This is, I really want to stress this point of how would you like me to do it? And no matter what, if the work leader asks you to do something, you know, please paint this or please dig this hole or how would you like me to do it? How do you want it done? So then you become the agent rather than assuming that you know. So he says, in the Chan Yuan Qing Hui, it says also, put your awakened mind to work, making a constant effort to serve meals full of variety that are appropriate to the need and the occasion and that will enable everyone to practice with their bodies and minds with the least hindrance.

[27:41]

This can be misleading. Full of variety. You make meals full of variety means with variety. Maybe full of variety is a little interpretive. There should be variety, but you know, we make a simple meal using simple ingredients to make the most delicious food. That should be the goal. We don't need to use elaborate food. We don't need to make great concoctions or wonderful mixtures. Just simple food. How do you create simple dishes full of flavor and full of variety? It doesn't really cost much to eat. If you know how to use basic foods, because basic foods are full of flavor, but how do you bring out the flavor?

[28:47]

How do you bring out the flavor of rice? How do you bring out the flavor of bread? How do you bring out the flavor of cereals or vegetables? Not adding flavors to them, Why do you need to do that? Each one has its own flavor. How do you bring out the flavor of a piece of lettuce? How do you know that piece of lettuce? In order to bring out the flavor, you have to identify with it. You have to know it. You have to have some affinity with a piece of broccoli so that you don't overcook it. Actually, it all tastes great raw. That's the best. But we cook it a little bit, and that gives it a little something that makes it easier. So how to be sensitive to all of the ingredients.

[29:57]

That's really the job of the Tenzin. We have all these cookbooks, thousands of cookbooks, with all these elaborate recipes, but the tastiest food is in just the bare food itself, if you know how to bring out the flavors. Suzuki Ryoshi used to say, well, we should maybe have three or four cereals. You don't need any more than that. And if you have those, they complement each other and add what the other one doesn't have. And we don't have to keep introducing interesting things, but to make what we do, what we use, interesting. And then he says, down through the ages, many great teachers and ancestors, such as Guishan Lingyu and Dongshan Xuqiu in China, have served as Tenzo.

[30:59]

Although the work is just that of preparing meals, it is in spirit different from the work of an ordinary cook or kitchen helper. I'll just explain that. When I was in China, I talked in my spare time. I don't know if he had spare time, but I talked to many elder monks who had years of experience working in the various offices. They taught me a little of what they had learned in their work. What they had to say must surely be the marrow of what has been handed down through the ages by previous Buddhas and ancestors settled in the way. We should thoroughly study the Chongyuan Quingwei concerning the overall work of the Tenzo and moreover listen closely to what those who have done this work have to tell us regarding the details." And then he talks about the monastic day and how to prepare food for the monastic day.

[32:02]

He says, "...I shall now take up the work of the Tenzo covering a period of one complete day. they only make two meals a day. The third meal is called medicine. Traditionally, in India, the monks ate one meal, the nude meal, and in the morning, the monks would go out and beg for their meal, and then they'd bring the food back and share the food and have one meal. But in China, The monks were working as well. In India, the monks were not allowed to work. They couldn't dig in the earth. They couldn't grow anything. They solely depended on alms for support. In China, although they depended on alms, they also modified their practice to work in the fields.

[33:06]

So they had to have more nourishment. So they had a morning meal and a noon meal. And this held in Japan, too. But then there's also a third meal, which is not called a meal. It's called medicine. It's just something to take to assuage your appetite so that you're not feeling voracious, hungry. That's why when we have our third meal, we don't have a service, we don't chant. Because it's just, you know, informal, formal meal. So after the noon meal, he starts after the noon meal, the Tenzo should go to the director and the assistant director to get the rice, vegetables and other ingredients for the following morning and the noon meals. And once you have these, handle them carefully as if they were your own eyes.

[34:12]

Ren Yong of Bao Ning said, use the property and possessions of the community as carefully as if they were your own eyes. The Tenzo should handle all food received with respect as if it were to be used in a meal for the emperor. Cooked and uncooked food must be handled in the same manner. So when you're cooking for your community, you're treating everyone as if they were the emperor. So you're making a very, even if it's the most, you know, simple meal, it's very special. And you handle all of the ingredients. So Dogen, when he talks about, when he uses terms for each ingredient, He uses the prefix, O. Rice is Gohan, so it's O Gohan.

[35:19]

It's like honorable rice, honorable vegetables. It's honorific before each ingredient. And he says, when you take a scoop of water out of the well or the creek, We usually don't drink water out of creeks anymore, but when you take the water out of the creek, you drink some and then put some back. You don't drink it all. You take some and you put some back into the river so that you're making this connection with the river. You're not just taking it for granted. You're borrowing something from the river, but you're also giving something back to the river. You're not taking it all. So he says, next, all the officers meet in the kitchen or pantry and decide what food is to be prepared for the following day. For example, the type of rice gruel, the vegetables, the seasoning.

[36:22]

And the Chan Yuan Quing Weis, it says, when deciding on the amount of food and number of side dishes for the morning and noonday meals, the Tianshou should consult with the other officers. They are the Cis, the Khans, the Fus, and the Ino, and the Shisui. When they have chosen the meals, the menus should be posted on the notice boards in front of the abbot's room, as well as in front of the study hall. When this has been done, preparations for the next morning's meal may begin. You must not leave the washing of rice or preparation of vegetables to others, but must carry out this work with your own hands. Put your whole attention into the work, seeing just what the situation calls for. Do not be absent-minded in your activities, nor so absorbed in one aspect of a matter that you fail to see its other properties." In other words, Whatever your responsibility is, when you're doing something, it's real easy to get into just this, you know, and then you're not looking around you.

[37:25]

When you are working in the kitchen, you're working in harmony with all these other people and with all these ingredients, including tables and knives and bowls and so forth. And all of these have to be mindful and connected with all of these things. So it's not just you and this. Although you and this thing in front of you are important, you shouldn't get so absorbed in that that you have this big mess around you. The way to work in the kitchen is to create a space and within that space you do your work. And then when you finish chopping the vegetables you put them in the bowl and then you clean up all around you.

[38:27]

And then you do the next task because you have this clean slate to do the next thing. And so you don't clean up at the end, you clean up as you go. So at the end, everything's already cleaned up. This way, there are not so many dishes and bowls to wash for somebody else. And you're moving everything through, and you're mindful, and you're aware, and you're treating everything with respect. Cultivate a spirit which strives to increase the source of goodness upon the mountain of goodness. Again, in the Chan Yuan Qing Hui we find, if the Tenzo offers a meal without a harmony of the six flavors and three qualities, it cannot be said to serve the community. The six tastes are bitter, sour, sweet, salty, mild, and hot.

[39:36]

we have to keep those in mind and balance them. You know, when we make a meal, we have to balance all of those factors. Also, we have to balance things that are chewable with things that are drinkable, with things that are light, with things that are heavy. And when we create a meal, we don't want three things that are all heavy chores. It takes forever to, you know, eat that meal. So you balance something heavy or something dry with something wet and something heavy with something light so that the meal has a balance in both density, liquidity, and color. Color makes a difference too.

[40:37]

Psychological effect is necessary. You know, when we eat with three bowls, and the reason for three bowls is because in Asia, where our bowls come from, the first bowl is, in the monastery, the first bowl is called Buddha's head. And that's the main meal. And it's usually a cereal or rice or a cereal of some kind. But mostly rice. And then the other two are complements of vegetable, soup or vegetable or something like that. So you eat some of the rice and then you eat some of the vegetable or the soup. And then you go back and eat some more rice. And then you go to the third bowl and eat some of that. Then you go back to the first bowl.

[41:40]

So in between, you're always going back to the first bowl because that's the main meal. And the others are kind of like accompanying the meal, and they're smaller portions. So to balance out We don't eat all of one bowl and then all of the second bowl, but we keep going back to the main bowl and rice in between, or cereal in between. And that's how we get the balance. And the three virtuous qualities are qualities of the cook. Light and flexible. So one should have lightness and flexibility when working. The spirit of lightness and flexibility is really important because the way we do something affects the meal.

[42:46]

If we do something with love, then when the meal comes, we're eating love. when there's lightness and flexibility in our attitude, then the meal takes on a lightness and a flexibility. It's not dense and heavy. And that spirit is transferred through the meal. And then clean and neat means, you know, you keep things clean and your workplace is neat. And conscientious and thorough. Conscientious means you really pay attention to what you're doing and you're thorough. So these three qualities are really important. Seems like a lot, but if we pay attention and this creates a joyous spirit. When we can really do this, we enjoy what we're doing and that enjoyment transfers to our meals.

[43:55]

I think basically we do this, you know, but we can always improve and we should always keep this in mind, these qualities in mind. I think our food does have that spirit and when people think of the Berkeley Zendo, they think of, gee, they sure serve great food there. Anyway, that's the first part. And our talk is a little short today because we're still sitting sasheen and we want to quit on time.

[44:44]

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