Yogzilla » Culture

How to cook your life

Sraddhā — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 08:35:05 +0000

I remember seeing the trailer of this film in San Francisco. I missed the screening of this film and it was not available on dvd then. I happened to pick it up from my library.

It is a cooking class with Zen priest and chef. This is a film about Zen chef Edward Espe Brown who has penned many Tassajara cookbooks. It is quite a fun film that talks about food as a way of life. There is a bit of zen advice too. He talks about how long it took him to finally understand the Buddhist ritual of offering food to Buddha, when you know for sure it is not going to be consumed. You make your effort and then you offer it. You say this is my offering and then you leave.

According to Ed Espe Brown, if you cook and make an effort at it, a lot of problems can be sorted out. For when you cook, you are not just working on the food, you are working on yourself and the people who eat it. When the cook is joyful, everyone is relaxed. When the cook is anxious, it gets passed around. When you work on food, you are using a lot of acupressure points. You feel connected to the source when you cook. When you don’t cook, you have just lost that important connection. For food and nourishment should not come from a box.

One of the chapters talks about anger- western culture likes to control things, when the object does not do what you want it to do, you just whip it to submission. If the object/people/countries don’t respond, you destroy them. He explains how this is not a sustainable solution from the point of view of Zen.

Another chapter deals with affluence. There is so much food everywhere. Food is not precious, it is just commodity, a thing that gives you energy to move. It has become too much effort to cook. Encountering a potato makes people nervous. I could totally relate to the affluence and waste. It is too much effort to cut down waste. Even after dozen years of living in the west, it does not cease to shock me every single time I see so much food being offered at restaurants. Except at fancier places where the meal costs half my paycheck. Then I come out being really hungry. That was the main course? I thought it was the appetizer.

I also got to know there are people who use the food that the supermarkets have left out as they are past “Use by” date. This does not mean the food is bad, but the super markets cannot sell them. To stop going it to waste, there are people who use them.

This is what Ed B says about cooking (and maybe living in general).

Make sincere effort, this means the blemishes show. Make your best effort, it is not perfect. It’s not like there are no mistakes or faults, it is not like you are working on a masterpiece. You don’t have to produce a masterpiece. Just take care of something. Make a sincere, honest effort, you will have something to eat.

In short, if you cook and understand the food, you can understand way more of life. It definitely gave me a lot to chew on.

I remember seeing the trailer of this film in San Francisco. I missed the screening of this film and

it was not available on dvd then. I happened to pick it up from my library.

It is a cooking class with zen priest and chef. This is a film about Zen chef Edward Espe Brown who

has penned many tassajara cookbooks. It is quite a fun film that talks about food as a way of life.

There is a bit of zen advice too. He talks about how long it took him to finally understand the

buddhist ritual of offering food to Buddha, when you know for sure it is not going to be consumed.
You make your effort and then you offer it. You say this is my offering and then you leave.

Giftmas

Sraddhā — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 01:13:25 +0000

Christmas used to be one my favorite festivals. How I loved the homemade plum cake and homemade sweet wine that my friends offered me in India. The plum cake made in India is uniquely Indian, I have not tasted anything like it in the west. The carol singing and the cheap costumed Santa dancing to the Indian drums in a tropical place, going house to house looking for donations. Christmas was so much fun, until I moved to the west.

When I moved to the west, December quickly degenerated into a season that I truly disliked. Every year, I would simply wait for december to somehow vanish. I was not sure if I had to say “Merry Christmas” or “Happy holidays”. I could not understand the gift buying madness and people being so stressed out. And, the office parties were even more horrible. It was so put on.

Couple of years ago, I simply stopped buying gifts for friends, for any occassion. Bridal showers and baby showers were driving me nuts. I could not cope with the greed of people who wanted more and more. I thought I did not want to do something that messes up my mind so much. Probably this was the time frame that I was into Yoga 24×7. I am thankful to Yoga for putting me in touch with every single thought I have. Until then, even though I knew something bothered me, I did not know how to deal with it. Studying Yoga helps me quite a bit with understanding my thought process.

The solution I came up for the greed was to give folks homemade food or wine (storebought of course), flowers, gift certificates to restaurants and things that would simpy disappear after being consumed. I do not entertain gift registry any more. No, I will not buy the 28 inch pan with some special coating for anyone or the 2009 edition of baby monitor thingy to anyone. I checked myself out of the vicious cycle of gifts. I simply wished my friends would do the same. Not give me any gifts. If I did receive any gift, I started donating it to Goodwill or Salvation Army.

I read in the book “Health, Healing and Beyond” that Sri Krishnamacharya did not accept any gifts.

At one point, the King of Mysore offered a large piece of land, which he refused. A beautiful horse was sent as a gift – and sent back. Upon another occasion, the Maharani gave some beautiful jewels, and these too were returned. The only special favors he accepted were presents of fruit, vegetables and flowers. Anything more valuable might lead to dependence, loss of autonomy.

I do understand that giving a gift goes back in time and is really an ancient concept. The economies of many countries depend on how much spending is done to buy wanted or unwanted things. I do wish it would be kept simple enough for everyone to enjoy and keep the economy buzzing. I don’t know if there can be such a balance. I am happy to report that this is the first year in the decade that Christmas is not bothering me. I understand the entire mechanics and I simply let it go, to put it in yoga parlance. I have made peace with it.

Faith – Source of Authentic Action

Sraddhā — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 20:51:00 +0000

Faith is the source of authentic action. From the core of man comes faith, and from that, meaningful existence. I found this article in Hinduism Today, which quotes from the Vedas.

Good Hair

Sraddhā — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 21:27:32 +0000

This film starts with Chris Rock wondering what is good hair. His tiny little daughter is unhappy with nappy hair and questions him why she does not have good hair. He sets off on a mission to figure out what this is all about. His questions take him all the way to India, Atlanta and Los Angeles. Although the movie is very funny, thanks to Chris Rock, it deals with difficult issues of conformance and the superficiality of looks.

It talks about how important it has become for black women to have straight hair. They have been constantly bombarded with the images of European women having hair that moves. Apparently a lot of black women spend more on their hair than the rent or mortgage and the pain that one needs to go through to obtain a man made standard of what is considered good looks.

I enjoyed the section where Chris Rock goes to India to check out how Indian hair is exported to Los Angeles. All the way from a temple in Thirupathi. This section of the movie was quite hilarious, but I had not known that human hair was exported, it was sold and more precious than gold. The temples in India are such a rip off. They sell the hair that is offered to God as prayer.

This starts of with Chris Rock wondering what is good hair. His tiny little daughter is unhappy

with nappy hair and questions him why she does not have good hair. He sets off on a mission to

figure out what this is all about. His questions take him all the way to India, Atlanta and Los

Angeles. Although the movie is very funny, thanks to Chris Rock, it deals with difficult issues

of conformance and the superficiality of looks.

Expose

Sraddhā — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 23:44:05 +0000

This is obscene. Not because they ask you to expose. Asking to expose yourself to yoga is quite clever. Obscene are the prices inside the store. The yoga mats and the spandex clothing are unbelievable. I am so used to seeing the “Ohm” symbol on the asses of my fellow yogis in SF. I knew they were for cool people. While I was always content doing my yoga in Old Navy yoga clothes, I thought the name lululemon sounded kuku.

Lulu and lemon sounded silly and quite ridiculous to me. I did not know these are clothes I cannot afford in this lifetime, or don’t want to as I have no need for them. I spent less than one minute in this store and made for the exit. This is a shop specific to yoga clothing and was started in Vancouver. It definitely has a huge following everywhere I go. Just when I am studying and going deeper in yoga and realize that you don’t need much at all to be in the Yoga path, here is one store that will sell you so much to look the part. Amazing, how many people fall for it.

Giving thanks, a little early

Sraddhā — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 23:47:46 +0000

Thanksgiving in Canada comes way earlier than in the US of A. It is a better time to give thanks. The trees are putting on a beautiful display of colors. Food prepared to give thanks, looks similar to the country south below. It is definitely more mellow than the thanksgiving in the US, a lot of shops are open. According to this article, thanks giving is mainly a celebration of survival through difficult times.

Say No to cellphones

Sraddhā — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 19:45:05 +0000

I have a choice to figure out if I need to get a cell phone or a land line. Although mobile phones are better, I prefer a land line. There seems to be a definite break from work or home instead of the blurred line between the two. And, I really dislike it when people are speaking over the phones at a restaurant, coffee shop or just talking while walking on the streets into their headsets like zombies. What is the need to be connected constantly? I know I definitely sound backward when it comes to technology. The whole of the last year I did not have a cell phone for most part and I must say I enjoyed it a lot. I am not sure if I can replicate the lifestyle of a bum now that I have to start working full time living in a real city. But I do want to keep the peace with me that I had accumulated over the last year. Peace++

I read today that Hugh Jackman stopped the broadway play asking the person in the audience to stop the phone ringing. He is awesome! But, for some reason I do not get so annoyed when the phone rings non stop in a yoga class, even during the savasana. I know yogis should know better and remember to turn it off, but still I sort of forgive people when they forget to do that.

Back to the West

Sraddhā — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 16:27:00 +0000

Fat

Sraddhā — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 08:07:42 +0000

Can a yoga teacher be fat? I could not help thinking about this, when a fat teacher, sort of obese, taught a class at a yoga ashram in India. He was supposedly the guru and the face of the ashram. The class was okay, but I was not used to this style. He was mostly seated on a chair and he walked around once or twice. Before he taught this class, I was told many times that this guru was going to teach on this particular day and the energy of the class was going to explode. We were primed up to this class. I felt no explosion of any sorts.

I wouldn’t ask for my money back for the class, that’s just about how much I liked the class. I like my teachers lean and inspiring. That way, I know they are practicing their yoga, they are grounded and in touch with yoga and are not just talk. Isn’t the body a telltale of one’s yoga practice?

I would not trust a UI designer whose website looks so bad, who has never bothered to spell check the sample writing or when the links do not work correctly. The website of UI designer or a writer has to be simply good. That is what they do and I expect a high quality product from them.

On similar lines, I think a yoga teacher cannot be fat, essentially because all teachers are students forever. A serious yoga practice needs to be done with mindfulness and the bandhas. Practice with bandhas lead to good muscular control and the body tends to get lean. Unless the teacher is injured or suffering from some health condition, there is no way, a serious student can get fat.

The classic yoga texts are a great help in taking one’s practice from a beginner level to an advanced practice, which an asana teacher must be doing. The astanga yoga in the yoga sutras says clearly that greed is something one must conquer to get serious about yoga. Greed of food and anything else is to be avoided. Moderation is highly recommended.

Sri Krishnamacharya’s Yoga Rahasya also discusses food and its moderation.

Āhara means food. But the root word har is to kill. You eat food to kill the hunger. If you do not take care, it can kill you in excess. Eat only when you are hungry and always in moderation.

Hatha Yoga Pradipika goes into such details about the diet and how it must be followed to gain a mastery of pranayama and asanas.

What do the readers think? Can a yoga teacher be fat? Or, am I wrong in expecting a teacher to be lean?

A picture is worth a thousand words

Papi — Sat, 09 May 2009 16:42:10 +0000

It is a common enough saying – a picture is worth a thousand words – and unlike certain other oft-repeated proverbs, this is one that we know instinctively to be true. Human beings like pictures. A graph is easier to understand than a list of numbers, a picture is easier to grasp than a long-winded description. Some yoga posture are well nigh impossible to describe in words, yet a simple stick figure can show you exactly how to fold and twist your arms, legs and other appendages to achieve it, should you choose to do so. For that matter, the use of an Indian toilet is so much easier to understand when drawn in a picture. Easier drawn than used, of course, but that’s a different story altogether.

Why do we comprehend pictures so much better than words? The answer lies in the trajectory of our evolution. We were visual beings long before we had any concept of language. Our ability to process visual images is deeper, more nuanced, and infinitely more developed than our ability to express thoughts in words. Language is a crude tool compared to color, shape, and perspective.

Stick figures in particular are fascinating. They’re the oldest known art form. Long before he could talk coherently, man was scribbling pictures on any surface he could, making art, playing God, and setting himself apart from any other animal that shared the planet with him. Even today, we can see that phase in little children, who are fascinated with comics, and other simple pictographic narratives (along with the desire to crawl and hide in dark confined spaces).

Our reliance on sight does have a dark side too. When we ask ourselves in a new age funk why people cannot get beyond things like a person’s skin color or appearance, the answer is the same as why we’re moved to tears by a few dabs of paint on a canvas. We are visual beings. Beauty may be skin deep, but the perception of it goes to the very core of our being.