Paradox

I dislike the violence in food: the slitting of my duck’s throat and watching it try to gulp the air; its death throes… Yes I’d rather serve a carpaccio of heirloom tomato with a sprinkle of salt and fresh basil. But I don’t think the buddhists have hit the nail on the head. Or the Greeks with their divine proportions. Hiding reality doesn’t make it untrue. No vegetarian has removed the violence from nature. And so as a father and husband and artist and writer and chef… as a disciple… I raise my ducks and feed them and watch my baby boys grow and waddle until they gulp and throe. Feathers removed corpse turns to carcass. I grill the butchered breast and serve it. Not because I want to but because I face it I face it I face it until it makes me sick. In the steely winter air.

The temple food that I make is not just food to fill the stomach. It is food that supports us in our practice to find our inner peace. And thus help us attain our enlightenment. Using and eating seasonal ingredients and finding a way to harmonize with nature through food, eating just enough to fill our bodies, while reminding ourselves to let go of our greed is the purpose of temple food. We can enjoy abundance even without excess. Not adding too much or taking anything away, but doing everything in moderation is the way of spiritual practice. (Jeong Kwan)

I’m not thinking about summer. Though it’s been nice to visit the garden for my needs and when I need them. Everyday picking picking squash blossoms and tomatoes and cucumbers and herbs. To visit the farm stands and farmer’s market for honey and melons and pole beans. But I’m not thinking of summer the sweltering heat the meadow ticks the wild blackberry thorns the poison ivy… Summer protects her abundance. And so must I… protect my abundance and that is where my thoughts have been from my perch on the hill on quiet days… it is easy to see when abundance ends and excess begins. I see it in them yes I feel it in them when they walk through the door. I smell it on them. And I recognize it yes I recognize it. Everything that is in excess is opposed to nature*.  The stormy winds have brought difficult ideas from the North. I ponder them and slowly slowly slowly… slowly I act on this introspection. 

*Hippocrates