Monks Have It Easy
ACCORDING TO DOGEN, the thirteenth-century Buddhist master who founded the Soto Zen school in Japan, the position of tenzo, or monastery cook, is only suitable for someone who’s highly realized. My condo is no monastery, so hopefully that means only a little bit of realization is required for me to do the family cooking. A little is all I have.
With two children under three and a full-time job, another thing I have little of is time and energy. As a result, my dinner solution is frequently to order pizza or Chinese food. Dogen would not approve. He was very clear: “Do not just leave washing the rice or preparing the vegetables to others but use
