Page 62 - EH57

60 EASTERN HORIZON | BOOK REVIEWS

BOOK REVIEW BY BENNY LIOW

The Compassionate Kitchen: Buddhist Practices for Eating with Mindfulness
and Gratitude. By Thubten Chodron. Shambhala: Boulder, 2018. pp 137. US$
14.95 www.shambhala.com.

This is Venerable Thubten Chodron’s latest book where she shows us that
eating and activities related to it—preparation of food, offering and consuming
it, and cleaning up afterward—can contribute to awakening and to increased
kindness and care toward others. Venerable Chodron, abbess of Sravasti Abbey,
a monastery in eastern Washington State, offers traditional Buddhist teachings
and specific practices used at the Abbey, along with advice for taking the
principles into our own home in order to make the sharing of food a spiritual
intention for anyone. By eating consciously and mindfully—and by including
certain rituals—we find ourselves less obsessive about food and can enjoy our
meals more.

She explain that every aspect of our daily activities can be a part of spiritual
practice if done with compassion—and this little book guide offers wisdom
from the Buddhist tradition on how eating mindfully can nourish the mind as
well as the body.

It is divided into ten chapters. Chapter 1 begins with a brief introduction into
how food is offered at Sravasti Abbey. For instance, all food at the Abbey is
provided for through the kindness and generosity of friends and devotees. As
the Abbey observes a vegetarian diet, all food offered is meatless. The abbey is
home to a residential monastic community as well as lay trainees.

Chapter 2 brings us to the topic of our motivations for eating. Venerable
Chodron explains that the Buddhist practice is to eat to nourish our body and
sustain our life. If we do this in a balanced way without attachment or greedily
seeking more and better, our motivation is karmically neutral, bringing neither
pleasant nor painful results. It is on the basis of such a neutral motivation,
that we can cultivate a virtuous motivation. As such, when we are at meals we
should contemplate our motivation for eating. The Five Contemplations during
eating, based on the Chinese Buddhist tradition, are explained in detail in this
chapter.

Chapter 3 is about food offerings where we consecrate the food by imagining
that it has become blissful wisdom nectar, pay homage to the Three Jewels, and
offer to them, according to the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. In this chapter those
familiar with Tibetan Buddhist practices will understand the verses chanted
before eating.

Chapter 4 introduces the reader to what is called Dinner Table Dharma.
Venerable Chodron explains the many benefits of eating together regularly as a
family during breakfast, lunch and dinner. One of the key benefits for children,
teenagers, parents and grandparents when they eat together is that it opens
up conversations during meal time, thereby giving them the opportunity to
connect, bond, and learn from one another.