Sensei Joshin Byrnes is a Zen priest and teacher in the White Plum lineage of Soto Zen; earlier in life he was in the Dominican Order of the Catholic Church. In 2017 he founded Bread Loaf Mountain Zen Community in Vermont and virtually to be a hub for community-engaged Zen practice. Alongside his religious vocation, Joshin spent much of his career working for social change nonprofits in the areas of HIV/AIDS and prevention, child welfare, homelessness, and community based philanthropy.
In this episode, Deepa and Daniel center their dialogue with Joshin on the concept of literal and metaphorical cooking in Zen and Sufism, the home traditions of Joshin and Deepa respectively. Together they explore: grandmother-cooked family meals, Zen master Dogen's Instructions to the Cook, various metaphors of 'cooking your life, 'kissing' the parts of ourselves we may consider 'garbage,' the way our attitude and energy affect food, Dogen's 'three minds,' prasad (food offerings), being more connected to taste apart from eating, the multi-sensory nature of food, Joshin's experience of taking communion on a 'street retreat,' the 'community living room' at BLMZC, potlucks, fasting and the increased appreciation it brings, skillful hunger as opposed to destructive hunger, insatiable appetites for spiritual experience, finding a balance of 'spices,' ritualistically feeding hungry ghosts, Mevlana Rumi's poetic imagery of cooking, Deepa's experience of learning to 'whirl' with the Mevlevi Order of Sufism, learning to want the unwanted, Dogen getting schooled by an old Zen cook, 'slender sadness,' and the Zen concept of 'one taste.'
If you’re interested in residential practice at Bread Loaf Mountain Zen Community send a note to info@BLMZC for more information.
Bread Loaf Mountain Zen Community
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