A zen meditation on meals

Enlightenment — it’s what’s for dinner in ‘How to Cook Your Life’ documentary

PROFILE. Zen Buddhists use a number of techniques to center themselves:  meditation, lectures from learned teachers ... and making dinner? Yep. Edward Espe Brown, onetime chef at the acclaimed Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, claims that “when you’re cooking, you’re not just working on food, you’re working on yourself.”

Brown is the subject of a new documentary, “How to Cook Your Life,” by film-maker Doris Dorrie. In it, he shares his philosophy of the kitchen, based on teachings that go back a generation (to Brown’s teacher Suzuki Roshi) or 30 (to Buddhist school founder Master Eihei Dogen Zenji, who lived 800 years ago).

Brown learned to bake bread in his early 20s at Tassajara, a serene Northern Californian retreat. Food rituals at the center include one where participants eat from and wash a series of bowls to appreciate all the steps of a meal. “It’s a whole teaching of taking care of yourself and following through,” says Brown. “It’s all part of the ceremony.”

In 1970, Brown published “The Tassajara Bread Book,” a humble little cookbook that originally printed only 3,000 copies. Thirty-five years later, there are close to a million copies sold. Brown later worked in Greens Restaurant in San Francisco, and now continues to teach cooking and meditation.

Despite his acclaim, Brown isn’t pursuing a culinary career. “I used to be way more interested in cooking, learning how to do a number of things,” he says.

“Now I know enough things to do so I’m happy. ... I’m not a professional, I don’t need to keep being on the cutting edge.”

In his classes, Brown emphasizes the connection between preparing food and nourishing the soul.

For students raised in the modern age of takeout and microwaves, even the simplest methods can be a challenge. “Most people could stand to practice giving more awareness to their physical movements and activities,” Brown says, emphasizing concentration when doing simple tasks like washing rice or chopping vegetables.

While physical skills are taught in Brown’s Zen cooking classes, he works on more general food knowledge as well, building confidence in his students. “You actually can trust your own taste,” he says. “You can develop your taste and refine your taste. ... People have this sense of awakening and sense of empowerment.”

And in doing so, Brown notes, people become more aware of the gifts and resources around them: “What a wonderful spirit that brings to our life.”