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How to Cook Your Life
10/17/2008
 On
Friday, October 17, 2008, CMC held a screening of How to
Cook Your Life, the first of three movies to be shown in
this fall’s series of “Movies and Mind”, where people can
learn about buddhadharma through cinema and discussions. The
documentary stars Edward Espe Brown, a long-time chef, Zen
practitioner and student of Suzuki Roshi.
The movie, like a good dish, is simple, substantial, and
imparts many subtle flavors. It looked at food as a metaphor
for the Buddhist practice of humility and gratitude and as a
mirror of the self. We are reminded of Master Dogen's
kitchen instructions to his followers, to take care of our
food as if it were our own eyes, to pay careful attention to
our food.
Themes range from the role of food in our busy, modern
times, feeding the hungry in the community, and taking care
of our bodies, hearts and minds, and each other. We follow
the creation of food, from the animal fertilizers used in
the farm, the migrant workers that work the land, to the oil
that is used to fuel the processing and transportation of
food.
The audience was treated to fresh popcorn during the movie.
After the movie, there was a lively discussion moderated by
the presenter, who commented on our own wonderful chefs at
CMC who make something delicious out of practically nothing.
The group shared ways on how to be more connected to
understanding where our food comes from through awareness
and by joining our local Community Supported Agriculture
(CSA) programs, where communities support their local farm
and receive their produce directly from the farm, to growing
food plants in our backyards and homes.
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