A lot has changed since my last post and a few more lie ahead as I'm transitioning from a major phase of my life. In chronological order, I've left the food service industry for auto sales which is about was about as a big a surprise to myself as to every one else in my life. The new hours have cut me free from my aikido practice which I miss dearly. I've also been unable to participate in the weekly activities of my sangha since I work 9 to 9 every Saturday.
So pretty much the three biggest things that have defined who I am as a person no longer do. More recently my longtime girlfriend and I are in the process of separating so there's another thing down in the list of who I am.
The circumstances of this last event have left me with the opportunity to ride out what's left of the lease on our house by practicing as a resident at the Zen Center which will begin later this week. I'm looking forward to this opportunity a great deal as things have lined up just right for it to happen.
Since the only real obligations I'll have will be practice and work and I won't have a television, I'm intending to get back into keeping this up and using it as a tool to examine the practice I'll be fully engaged in. I'll be pushing my practice further than I've been able to before since, aside from going to work for twelve hours a day, I'll be essentially in zen boot camp practicing with and living in a community setting.
So starting with what I have once again, I'll see what happens.
Showing posts with label announcements. Show all posts
Showing posts with label announcements. Show all posts
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Back? Maybe.
A lot has happened since my last post and I'm sticking with the excuse that most of that is what has kept me from writing.
I will say that I now have a smart phone, giving me the ability to post from nearly anywhere even if it does involve typing on a tiny keyboard with my thumbs.
I was also surprised to learn that I'm done with school (it's a long story, but I now have an AA in culinary arts, go me!), so I now have little taking away from myrecrational computer use.
I also just finished Rohatsu sesshin with my nikyu test for aikido right in the middle. That's two ranks below black belt. I've also been giving lectures on how my zen practice has benefited my aikido and leading short meditations for a handful of students who decide to stick around once a week.
I haven't run out of stuff to say but I have been trying to live as the best teaching possible.
I hope to write more in the coming days as my practice has opened up so much in the past six months.
I will say that I now have a smart phone, giving me the ability to post from nearly anywhere even if it does involve typing on a tiny keyboard with my thumbs.
I was also surprised to learn that I'm done with school (it's a long story, but I now have an AA in culinary arts, go me!), so I now have little taking away from myrecrational computer use.
I also just finished Rohatsu sesshin with my nikyu test for aikido right in the middle. That's two ranks below black belt. I've also been giving lectures on how my zen practice has benefited my aikido and leading short meditations for a handful of students who decide to stick around once a week.
I haven't run out of stuff to say but I have been trying to live as the best teaching possible.
I hope to write more in the coming days as my practice has opened up so much in the past six months.
Saturday, August 13, 2011
Back on Top
So the day after that last post, I got my crap together and found a couple places to try for employment, typed up some cover letters and printed out everything I needed to head out. I was feeling pretty good and optimistic about the whole situation. It didn't really matter where I ended up because I would make the best out of it no matter what, plus no preconceived notion I had about any where would match reality.
I was ready. I'd learned my lesson about the whole situation and was about to implement it. All that was left to do was get cleaned up and go.
Then my phone rang. It was a surprise because while I'd saved the number, it was one I'd not expected to hear from.
The restaurant I'd mentioned in my previous post hadn't had an opening a month prior, but here was the chef calling to ask me if I was still looking for a job. "Why, yes, yes I am," I told him.
An hour later I was down there for a second/review interview and the next morning I was at work.
I really like it, but my endurance has been slowed by being out of the game for so long, so I'm having to build back up. My first day, everyone told me I was already doing better than my predecessor. I hadn't gone to aikido for six weeks on top of that so it was tough at first and I went home exhausted.
I have a lot of thoughts about this new phase in my life but I also have so much to catch up on that's happened in the past month I've been away.
I met two great people from Tassajara, one of them the tenzo with whom I talked shop for several hours on what it means to be tenzo on a further level than I've discussed here before. I got a tattoo as a constant reminder of my practice and turned 30 (in that order...) There have also been many developments in my practice and in how I experience the world through them, so I hope to get back in the habit of writing now that I have a little more structure to lay habits on top of for the foreseeable future.
I was ready. I'd learned my lesson about the whole situation and was about to implement it. All that was left to do was get cleaned up and go.
Then my phone rang. It was a surprise because while I'd saved the number, it was one I'd not expected to hear from.
The restaurant I'd mentioned in my previous post hadn't had an opening a month prior, but here was the chef calling to ask me if I was still looking for a job. "Why, yes, yes I am," I told him.
An hour later I was down there for a second/review interview and the next morning I was at work.
I really like it, but my endurance has been slowed by being out of the game for so long, so I'm having to build back up. My first day, everyone told me I was already doing better than my predecessor. I hadn't gone to aikido for six weeks on top of that so it was tough at first and I went home exhausted.
I have a lot of thoughts about this new phase in my life but I also have so much to catch up on that's happened in the past month I've been away.
I met two great people from Tassajara, one of them the tenzo with whom I talked shop for several hours on what it means to be tenzo on a further level than I've discussed here before. I got a tattoo as a constant reminder of my practice and turned 30 (in that order...) There have also been many developments in my practice and in how I experience the world through them, so I hope to get back in the habit of writing now that I have a little more structure to lay habits on top of for the foreseeable future.
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Two Months of Fun (?/!)
Ango started today and I'm not too sure what to expect out of this summer practice period so I'm trying not to expect anything. It marks my first official assignment as tenzo (as far as I'm concerned, all the other stuff was a warm up). I have full control over the kitchen as well as all planning and purchasing.
Since I can't take two months off (my supercool and exciting) job, I'll only be able to prepare breakfasts and a couple dinners during the week. I've planned out all of the meals with the exception of two dinners a week and will coordinate purchasing and prep for all of them.
My activities this week will be limited in the evenings by Aikido since I have a test Thursday, and this weekend because my dad will be coming into town for the weekend for a visit and to attend my jukai ceremony (which I'll write about later).
It's an odd feeling with so much to do and no real choice about doing it. It has to get done and I'm best qualified to do it. I feel some resistance at times, it comes and goes. The meals don't have to be fancy, people just need to get fed. It's definitely far easier to do what I need to do when I'm in charge. I've always been more comfortable as a second in command, just making sure nothing slips through the cracks, but it's good to be calling the shots and being successful.
By the time the sesshin rolls around the last week of June, everything should be running super smooth and should be a very different experience than the last two sesshin I worked. The previous retreats have had a huge buildup right before the start as we go from normal life to retreat life with meal planning and coordinating to do, but all of that anticipation will have been burned off by then, it already feels like a relief just to have it started. All the meals for the whole practice period are oryoki, so by the final week I will have run through most of my recipes a couple times leaving no questions about prep, leaving me more mental space to just relax and enjoy it.
Every meal I prepare for the sangha feels like a session of zazen and after so many it feels so much more comfortable to slip into tomai sanmai (rice-washing samadhi)*. It should be interesting to see what happens after I've prepared the next 80 something meals in the Zen kitchen.
---------
*a new term I discovered that my girlfriend refers to as "cooking face." Apparently I do a mean Bodhidharma impression while I'm cooking and have for years. Virtual high-five to anyone who can find the kanji for "toumai sanmai"
Since I can't take two months off (my supercool and exciting) job, I'll only be able to prepare breakfasts and a couple dinners during the week. I've planned out all of the meals with the exception of two dinners a week and will coordinate purchasing and prep for all of them.
My activities this week will be limited in the evenings by Aikido since I have a test Thursday, and this weekend because my dad will be coming into town for the weekend for a visit and to attend my jukai ceremony (which I'll write about later).
It's an odd feeling with so much to do and no real choice about doing it. It has to get done and I'm best qualified to do it. I feel some resistance at times, it comes and goes. The meals don't have to be fancy, people just need to get fed. It's definitely far easier to do what I need to do when I'm in charge. I've always been more comfortable as a second in command, just making sure nothing slips through the cracks, but it's good to be calling the shots and being successful.
By the time the sesshin rolls around the last week of June, everything should be running super smooth and should be a very different experience than the last two sesshin I worked. The previous retreats have had a huge buildup right before the start as we go from normal life to retreat life with meal planning and coordinating to do, but all of that anticipation will have been burned off by then, it already feels like a relief just to have it started. All the meals for the whole practice period are oryoki, so by the final week I will have run through most of my recipes a couple times leaving no questions about prep, leaving me more mental space to just relax and enjoy it.
Every meal I prepare for the sangha feels like a session of zazen and after so many it feels so much more comfortable to slip into tomai sanmai (rice-washing samadhi)*. It should be interesting to see what happens after I've prepared the next 80 something meals in the Zen kitchen.
---------
*a new term I discovered that my girlfriend refers to as "cooking face." Apparently I do a mean Bodhidharma impression while I'm cooking and have for years. Virtual high-five to anyone who can find the kanji for "toumai sanmai"
Monday, April 18, 2011
On the Clock Again, Finally
After nearly a year, I finally clocked into work today. For the last two weeks I've been working on nailing down this job that I was told was a sure thing halfway through my first interview. It's been a little bit of a rollercoaster to get it finalized as the management has been super busy, but today it was official.
My varied experience in the several jobs that I've more or less suffered through over the last 12 years will serve me well as versatility in this small kitchen is desired. I couldn't have imagined a better fit for me. Just to begin with the schedule is perfect, weekdays 10a-3/4p. I'll still have time for Aikido and weekends for any obligations or activities at the Zen Center as well as weekends to spend with my girlfriend. I have the option of picking up other shifts, but this is what they hired me for.
What I'm most excited about is seeing what effect my practice will have on job performance. I'd just barely begun my adventure in sitting when I'd quit my last job and I'd seen a difference in how I dealt with other people and different situations but now I've been practicing intensely without the backdrop of the professional setting save the few lab classes at school and my cooking as tenzo which are a little different than "real life" kitchen work.
I'm excited to learn new things at this job and the management is excited to teach me. It will be different than school though since I'm used to knowing more than my fellow classmates and am usually ahead of the curve. Here I'm the only student so the pace will be faster and much more hands on. There will be no time to fall behind.
The management is interested in food in the same ways that I am. Learning new cuisines, techniques and ingredients isn't about knowing more than others or being cutting edge, they want to absorb the information because it's there, they want to experiment because they can. Their explorations of vegetarian and vegan cooking is not to exclude meat but to see the things that pop up out of necessity in meatless cooking to share it with people who would otherwise shrug away from vegetarian meals.
Cooking in the Zen setting is different than professionally cooking as everyone is at least trying to keep their egos in check. In the professional kitchen, the ego serves to get you noticed and is how you advance. From what I've learned of this kitchen, that shouldn't be an issue as the crew is small and the management is most interested in team building so this should be a friendlier work environment.
Another thing I noticed while cleaning today is how long it's been since I spoke freely while doing kitchen work. Zen kitchens are like zendos in that right speech functions not in total silence, but only on what is at hand. It should be interesting to at least have the option of idle chatter to pass the time.
It's so odd, after nine months of off and on job hunting to be getting settled, that pressure is no longer there but I'm still squished from it sitting on my shoulders for so long.
Let's see what happens.
My varied experience in the several jobs that I've more or less suffered through over the last 12 years will serve me well as versatility in this small kitchen is desired. I couldn't have imagined a better fit for me. Just to begin with the schedule is perfect, weekdays 10a-3/4p. I'll still have time for Aikido and weekends for any obligations or activities at the Zen Center as well as weekends to spend with my girlfriend. I have the option of picking up other shifts, but this is what they hired me for.
What I'm most excited about is seeing what effect my practice will have on job performance. I'd just barely begun my adventure in sitting when I'd quit my last job and I'd seen a difference in how I dealt with other people and different situations but now I've been practicing intensely without the backdrop of the professional setting save the few lab classes at school and my cooking as tenzo which are a little different than "real life" kitchen work.
I'm excited to learn new things at this job and the management is excited to teach me. It will be different than school though since I'm used to knowing more than my fellow classmates and am usually ahead of the curve. Here I'm the only student so the pace will be faster and much more hands on. There will be no time to fall behind.
The management is interested in food in the same ways that I am. Learning new cuisines, techniques and ingredients isn't about knowing more than others or being cutting edge, they want to absorb the information because it's there, they want to experiment because they can. Their explorations of vegetarian and vegan cooking is not to exclude meat but to see the things that pop up out of necessity in meatless cooking to share it with people who would otherwise shrug away from vegetarian meals.
Cooking in the Zen setting is different than professionally cooking as everyone is at least trying to keep their egos in check. In the professional kitchen, the ego serves to get you noticed and is how you advance. From what I've learned of this kitchen, that shouldn't be an issue as the crew is small and the management is most interested in team building so this should be a friendlier work environment.
Another thing I noticed while cleaning today is how long it's been since I spoke freely while doing kitchen work. Zen kitchens are like zendos in that right speech functions not in total silence, but only on what is at hand. It should be interesting to at least have the option of idle chatter to pass the time.
It's so odd, after nine months of off and on job hunting to be getting settled, that pressure is no longer there but I'm still squished from it sitting on my shoulders for so long.
Let's see what happens.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
As Seen on HoustonBelief.com
I was featured today for my intro post on HoustonBelief.com today.
"Zen in the kitchen
Anthony Bourdain inspires a young Buddhist chef to see the universality of food."
If you haven't read it check it out, you might learn something about me you didn't already know.
Apparently name dropping is a pretty good way to get recognized. I seem to have been misquoted as having been "inspired" by Anthony Bourdain rather than "influenced." And in context, I was referring to wanting to write, not my views on cooking and spirituality.
Oh, well... guess that's the life of a celebrity. ;)
"Zen in the kitchen
Anthony Bourdain inspires a young Buddhist chef to see the universality of food."
If you haven't read it check it out, you might learn something about me you didn't already know.
Apparently name dropping is a pretty good way to get recognized. I seem to have been misquoted as having been "inspired" by Anthony Bourdain rather than "influenced." And in context, I was referring to wanting to write, not my views on cooking and spirituality.
Oh, well... guess that's the life of a celebrity. ;)
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
New Opportunities
So after my "fantastic" weekend, some awesome opportunities opened up for me.
The first I didn't know about until yesterday, but actually happened Friday. Andy, author of the Bayou City Buddhist invited me to join in on the Buddha bus at the Bayou Buddhist Houston Belief site. Of course I said yes, so that's in the works right now. <<<EDIT: It's up now>>
The second, and somewhat expected but still exciting, was the first leadership meeting we had at the dojo concerning the future developments my teacher wants to make for the school. Lots of volunteering for various things occurred, one of the more notable for me that of dealing with organizing food for our parties. The other was formally signing up to be instructors for private lessons as well as administrative duties, which should bring me some much needed cash. We also intend to have Zen meditation to complement our class occasionally, so I was volunteered to (help?) organize that due to my experience. So all of that's pretty exciting.
The last has to do with business at the zendo. The Rohatsu Sesshin is coming up in December and me being without a job/money wanted to see if there was something I could do in exchange to be allowed to attend. Seeing as I have yet to even attend a 1 day sitting, I though offering my services in the kitchen would be a nice transition into such intensive practice. Since the preparation and service of food is formal practice as well, I won't really be missing out on anything but a little extra boredom and aching legs.
My offer was received with great enthusiasm. It turns out the tenzo has held the position for two years and done most of the work all by himself so an assistant would be wonderful. I was told today that someone had provided a scholarship for me to attend. I kind of thought they came from the community as a whole, but it seems like I have an anonymous sponsor. If that's the case, I may have a feeling as to who it is but know if they wanted me to know, I would so I'll just be grateful to the community at large.
I've also been asked to help in the kitchen for a couple other occasions before the sesshin that won't be as formal so I jumped at those as well out of gratitude and the opportunity for experience.
So once again, I'm grateful for the generosity of the communities I find myself a member of, inspiring me to return the favor.
I also applied for a job yesterday that I'm pretty excited about, but won't know anything about that for a little while
The first I didn't know about until yesterday, but actually happened Friday. Andy, author of the Bayou City Buddhist invited me to join in on the Buddha bus at the Bayou Buddhist Houston Belief site. Of course I said yes, so that's in the works right now. <<<EDIT: It's up now>>
The second, and somewhat expected but still exciting, was the first leadership meeting we had at the dojo concerning the future developments my teacher wants to make for the school. Lots of volunteering for various things occurred, one of the more notable for me that of dealing with organizing food for our parties. The other was formally signing up to be instructors for private lessons as well as administrative duties, which should bring me some much needed cash. We also intend to have Zen meditation to complement our class occasionally, so I was volunteered to (help?) organize that due to my experience. So all of that's pretty exciting.
The last has to do with business at the zendo. The Rohatsu Sesshin is coming up in December and me being without a job/money wanted to see if there was something I could do in exchange to be allowed to attend. Seeing as I have yet to even attend a 1 day sitting, I though offering my services in the kitchen would be a nice transition into such intensive practice. Since the preparation and service of food is formal practice as well, I won't really be missing out on anything but a little extra boredom and aching legs.
My offer was received with great enthusiasm. It turns out the tenzo has held the position for two years and done most of the work all by himself so an assistant would be wonderful. I was told today that someone had provided a scholarship for me to attend. I kind of thought they came from the community as a whole, but it seems like I have an anonymous sponsor. If that's the case, I may have a feeling as to who it is but know if they wanted me to know, I would so I'll just be grateful to the community at large.
I've also been asked to help in the kitchen for a couple other occasions before the sesshin that won't be as formal so I jumped at those as well out of gratitude and the opportunity for experience.
So once again, I'm grateful for the generosity of the communities I find myself a member of, inspiring me to return the favor.
---------------------------------
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
New Additions
I added a haiku page for stuff I've written and will write. I also put a couple links to haiku stuff down towards the bottom. As I add new haiku, I'll replace the recent haiku at the top of the home page.
I also added a page about some of my thoughts on cooking.
There's also a blog roll now with the blogs I read regularly. I'll probably add more as I get into some of the newer ones I've stumbled across.
I've got a couple more pages in the works to describe in more detail the other things important to me like Aikido.
I also added a page about some of my thoughts on cooking.
There's also a blog roll now with the blogs I read regularly. I'll probably add more as I get into some of the newer ones I've stumbled across.
I've got a couple more pages in the works to describe in more detail the other things important to me like Aikido.
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Address Change
Moved over here from apprentice-zen-cook.blogspot.com since the old address was the closest available to what I wanted, but I never really liked it. This seems to fit better.
I'm not trying to cook up my own dharma as a final result, but rather use it as an ingredient in my life. Each moment will be different, but the dharma will always be the constant ingredient so it will change some of the recipes to the way I deal with different situations life throws my way.
Hope this hasn't caused any confusion.
Thanks for reading.
I'm not trying to cook up my own dharma as a final result, but rather use it as an ingredient in my life. Each moment will be different, but the dharma will always be the constant ingredient so it will change some of the recipes to the way I deal with different situations life throws my way.
Hope this hasn't caused any confusion.
Thanks for reading.
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