Instructions to the Cook ~ A Zen Master's Lessons in Living a Life that Matters - Hardcover

Rick Fields; Bernard Glassman

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0517703777 ISBN 13: 9780517703779

Publisher: Bell Tower, 1996

Synopsis

In Instructions to the Cook Glassman draws on the teaching of Dogen, the thirteenth-century founder of the Japanese Soto Zen tradition, to relate his own experiences as twentieth-century abbot-cum-entrepreneur. This book, written with Rick Fields, describes Glassman's vision and his work. It is the fruit of his long years of Buddhist practice and also of all the ways in which he has tried to improve the quality of life for those on the bottom rungs of society. The Greyston Foundation, which Glassman established in a poverty-stricken section of Yonkers, is a network of businesses and not-for-profits, including a gourmet bakery that provides training and jobs for the unemployed, three apartment buildings with social services for formerly homeless families, and a major facility for people with HIV/AIDS, which will open in 1997.
With this book as our guide we can discern more clearly how to nourish both ourselves and others through integrating the economic, social, educational, and spiritual dimensions of every endeavor. According to Glassman, one of the most useful metaphors for life is what happens in the kitchen. Zen masters call a life that is lived fully and completely, with nothing held back, "the supreme meal." Some chefs keep their recipes and methods a secret, but others are willing to share their failures and successes so that the rest of us can learn how to cook our own "meals." Offering such precepts as "Use what you have," "Don't reject anything," and "Recognize your faults as your best ingredients," Brooklyn-born Glassman is forging a new, American brand of Buddhism, applying the principles of spirituality both in the community and in the marketplace, successfully practicing nonattachment while swimming with the sharks.

About this title

From the Back Cover

tion of Jon Kabat-Zinn's Wherever You Go, There You Are, one of America's most provocative and celebrated Buddhist teachers presents a distillation of Zen wisdom that can be used equally well as a manual on business, spiritual practice, or cooking.

Reviews

Based on a 13th-century Japanese manual of the same title, this guide to modern-day Zen practice also details the history of Glassman's work in the world. An abbot of Zen communities in New York City and Los Angeles, Glassman is also the founder of the Greyston Mandala, a network that includes a commercial bakery, apartments for the homeless and other not-for-profit community development projects in Yonkers, a suburb of New York City. In Zen Buddhist tradition, the preparation of a meal is used as a metaphor for leading a meaningful life. Glassman and Fields (coauthor of Chop Wood, Carry Water) detail the five main "courses" of life: spirituality, study, livelihood, social action, and relationship and community Most widely recognized of the Greyston ventures is the successful bakery. Besides being a teacher of Zen and a noted social activist, Glassman is a pragmatic businessman. His description of how he and others who work with and for the jobless and homeless of Yonkers dealt with government agencies, banks, suspicious residents and the vagaries of the marketplace will satisfy the appetites of readers whose interest is as much in business practice as in Zen practice. In setting out his guidelines for conducting business, e.g., establishing self-directed management teams and sharing success with the community, Glassman occasionally strikes an imperious tone (reflecting the authority invested in Zen leaders), but the menu he offers is fresh, appealingly presented and thought- provoking. First serial to Tricycle magazine; author tour.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Bell Tower
• Publication date: 1996
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0517703777
• ISBN 13: 9780517703779
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 171