Question Your Thoughts

Zen-cuisine gently guides you into an ordinary and open space, an undramatic place where things are just as they are. Gradually you let go of the self-centered thinking that filled your kitchen with clouds of reality-obscuring smoke. No longer do you cling to the kind of drama that troubles your mind and confuses your thinking. As much as you would like to, you know that you can’t hold on to the pleasant parts of life , and you also know that even if the unpleasant bits disappear, they can return. You accept that life is constantly changing. There are no guarantees in life, except for impermanence. You may still be slightly uneasy with this ever-shifting reality, but you can begin to explore the uneasiness.

Looking deeply, you come to see that once your mind generates thoughts and concepts, especially judgments and opinions about what’s happening to you, you have a problem! The problem is not with your thoughts, but the difficulty lies in a mistaken belief. You believe your personal narrative is the whole story.  You ‘forget’ that these story-lines are just that—tales created from interpreting things through a filter of previous opinions and biases.  Let go of clinging to this partial story-line’s rigid and static  viewpoint, and open yourself to what is happening in the present moment.

Byron Katie suggests you can do this through questioning your thinking.  Whenever a thought arises, ask yourself “Is it true? Can I absolutely know it’s true?”

 As you question your thoughts, anxiety may arise. You may feel uncomfortable, or even agitated or nauseous. This ‘suffering’ and it’s companion, resistance to newly-emerging insights, will lessen with practice. Stay with this gentle investigation of your own self. It is an essential ingredient in zen-cuisine and is a practice that opens your heart.  

As you practice zen-cuisine, you touch the only certain reality: this present moment with its opportunity for direct knowledge of yourself.  The more you see with clarity, the more spacious and inclusive your vision. Gradually you come to know yourself in an intimate, accepting way. Practicing zen-cuisine, you know what to do in the kitchen, what actions to take to prepare a meal, and how to do them with awareness.   We accomplish this, according to Charlotte Joko Beck,* "not by our complaints, our bitterness, and anger" but through “our most intelligent, patient, persistent practice”. Truly, zen-cuisine becomes embodied in our way of being.

* Charlotte Joko Beck , American Zen teacher, author and founder of the Ordinary Mind Zen School, died peacefully on June 15, 2011 at age 94.