DBZ: Entering the Zen Kitchen

The Water Is Your Own Life: Entering the Zen Kitchen

A single grain of rice contains limitless possibilities. How will you illuminate them?

Join Muken Sensei, daitenzo (head cook) at Dai Bosatsu Zendo, for a three-day exploration of Zen practice in the monastery kitchen. The tradition of Zen monastic cooking, established in the earliest Chinese Buddhist temples, unites sharp attention with a nurturing heart to bring elegant meals from simple, seasonal ingredients to life. In the Zen kitchen, nothing is wasted – every movement becomes meditation, a reverential offering.

This workshop will begin with an introduction to Buddhist temple cooking and formal Zen meals, using jihatsu (nested bowls). Participants will practice preparing and serving nutritious vegetarian meals for the monastic community, working intuitively with few recipes. While carefully attending to the subtleties of flavor and the harmony of ingredients, participants will learn essential kitchen skills including knife techniques, dish presentation, and the art of no-waste. Drawing from a variety of culinary traditions, this course will invite participants to discover how to bring the practice of Zen cooking into their own kitchens.

The weekend includes regular zazen (seated meditation) with the monastery residents, as well as a group discussion around Dogen Zenji’s Instructions to the Cook, the foundational text for the Zen kitchen. Participants will also have the opportunity to forage for edible plants on the monastery grounds. No prior cooking experience is necessary, all that is needed is a curious mind and a sense of adventure.

Muken Mark Barber Sensei has served as daitenzo of Dai Bosatsu Zendo since 2020. Currently a teacher-in-residence at New York Zendo Shobo-ji, he began tenzo work at the Zen Center of Syracuse and has worked as a bread baker in Manhattan.

The fee for this course is $175 for nonmembers and $150 for Zen Studies Society (ZSS) members. Note that the member price is for ZSS members only – please consider becoming a Supporting Member. If you have any questions, please email office@daibosatsu.org before registering. ZSS Health Protocols apply.

If you are able to support students in financial difficulty, please consider making an additional donation. If you are experiencing financial difficulty, you may apply for a reduced rate here.