"When you wash the rice, wash the rice."

"When you wash the rice, wash the rice." ~ Edward Espe Brown

When I watched How to Cook Your Life with Edward Espe Brown last month, I knew this quote would stick with me for a while.  When I initially heard about the documentary, I thought, "Eureka!  This is the answer to all my issues with cooking."  While there is a part of me that obviously loves to cook, there are many times when I am in the kitchen and find myself wishing that I didn't have to cook or drained by the process.  Part of that is because my son is a very curious toddler and wants me to hold him while I'm cooking so that he can see everything.  And even though I want to do this, I find myself drained by the process.  In looking for "the answer" to this "problem" I stumbled across How to Cook Your Life, and immediately thought that there must be something in this video that will help me to change my mindset, so that I can blissfully float through the kitchen and all will be lovely and right with the world.

Not so.  My initial reaction to some of the philosophy in the video was anger!  While I really enjoyed Edward Espe Brown in the video and his authenticity, I felt that the philosophies that he espoused were not for your average mom at home in the kitchen, but were geared more towards the monk in the monastery (or anyone cooking without young children).  Case in point: Brown relates one of the most important teachings of his teacher, Suzuki,  "When you wash the rice, wash the rice."  While this is a beautiful teaching that helps bring the powerful meditation tool of mindfulness into your kitchen and daily life, this is total b.s. if you are a mother with a toddler!  (Or at least this mother, anyway!)  In my house, when I am washing the rice, I am washing the rice and telling A.J. to let go of the faucet and not to splash the water and anticipating what A.J. will do next so that I can prevent any potential disasters in the kitchen.  While I can attempt mindfulness, I can only realistically mindfully multi-task.

So my quest to make cooking a spiritual act and karmic yoga act continues.  I work to alleviate the drudgery and infuse it with lightness and love.  A few weeks after seeing the documentary, I saw The Tassajara Recipe Book at Half Price Books and couldn't resist picking it up.  I had only cooked from The Tassajara Bread Book before.  I was pleasantly surprised to see some "intentions/prayers" scattered throughout the book that invoke an element of karma yoga into cooking.  I now have a few of  them taped to my microwave.  If nothing else, it helps me start out with a mindfulness mindset.  When I'm cooking with A.J., that mindset quickly deteriorates, but I'm going to keep working at it.

Getting Started:

" Washing my hands, preparing to handle food,
I cleanse my mind of the same old thinking,
and offer to lend a hand,
freshly doing each task."

And

Working on How I Work:

" I do this chore
not to just get it
out of the way,
but as the way
to make real
kind connected mind.

May I awaken to what
these ingredients offer,
and may I awaken best I can
energy, warmth, imagination,
this offering of heart, and hand."