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Editorial Reviews
Zen Master and Renowned Chef Edward Espe Brown is captured on film as he guides students through the mastery of cooking and the importance of how we treat our food. Heartwarming, insightful and often surprising.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
20 of 25 people found the following review helpful
By Daiho
VINE™ VOICE
Format:DVD
This delightful and insightful film from German director Doris Dorrie (Enlightenment Guaranteed) demonstrates, in the tradition of great Buddhist teachings, the marvel of life that is and always has been right under your nose, right at your fingertips, right there waiting for you to really see it, really feel it, really smell and taste it.
Ostensibly a profile of American Soto Zen priest Edward Espe Brown , for 30 years the head cook of the California Tassajara Zen Center, the film is in the end more about how we relate to food, and ultimately how we relate to life. In Japan's Soto Zen tradition, cooking is more than just feeding the monks. It's about close attention to detail. It's about respect for the produce of the Earth. In the process, its as much about preparing yourself as it is a meal.
13th century Japanese Zen master Dogen elevated the position of cook within his monasteries to near the importance of the abbot. He saw in the handling and preparation of food a means for cooks to practice mindfulness, and through careful attention to detail maintain the health and morale of the monastic community. He wrote a treatise on the subject, Instructions to the Tenzo, that is still studied in Soto Zen monasteries. In fact you'll see in the film some of the cooks at Tassajara studying this very text.
These days Edward Espe Brown leads cooking, health and meditation seminars in the US and Europe, at which much of the footage for this film was shot. Director Dorrie doesn't shy from showing us more than the wise, Zen-master side of her subject, including segments in which Brown loses his temper with his students, as well as with a plastic wrapper and a bottler stopper. As he remarks to a class at the beginning of the film, he may have been practicing Zen for 40 years, but he's still a human being subject to nervousness and anxiety at the beginning of each new retreat. He notes as well that he still makes mistakes, that mistakes are part of the process of cooking, as they are with life. Perfection, he adds, is to be found in the effort.
While not a kinesthetic subject, Dorrie does a good job of keeping the viewer's attention by mixing up shots and breaking the film up into thematic units. Except for a small diversion on the homeless and a woman who survives by living off supermarket discards, Dorrie remains tightly focused. The understated jazz soundtrack is perfect accompaniment to themes of spontaneity and authenticity.
You won't come away from this film with a handful of new recipes, but you might have a new respect for cooking and the practice of mindfulness.
#
Ostensibly a profile of American Soto Zen priest Edward Espe Brown , for 30 years the head cook of the California Tassajara Zen Center, the film is in the end more about how we relate to food, and ultimately how we relate to life. In Japan's Soto Zen tradition, cooking is more than just feeding the monks. It's about close attention to detail. It's about respect for the produce of the Earth. In the process, its as much about preparing yourself as it is a meal.
13th century Japanese Zen master Dogen elevated the position of cook within his monasteries to near the importance of the abbot. He saw in the handling and preparation of food a means for cooks to practice mindfulness, and through careful attention to detail maintain the health and morale of the monastic community. He wrote a treatise on the subject, Instructions to the Tenzo, that is still studied in Soto Zen monasteries. In fact you'll see in the film some of the cooks at Tassajara studying this very text.
These days Edward Espe Brown leads cooking, health and meditation seminars in the US and Europe, at which much of the footage for this film was shot. Director Dorrie doesn't shy from showing us more than the wise, Zen-master side of her subject, including segments in which Brown loses his temper with his students, as well as with a plastic wrapper and a bottler stopper. As he remarks to a class at the beginning of the film, he may have been practicing Zen for 40 years, but he's still a human being subject to nervousness and anxiety at the beginning of each new retreat. He notes as well that he still makes mistakes, that mistakes are part of the process of cooking, as they are with life. Perfection, he adds, is to be found in the effort.
While not a kinesthetic subject, Dorrie does a good job of keeping the viewer's attention by mixing up shots and breaking the film up into thematic units. Except for a small diversion on the homeless and a woman who survives by living off supermarket discards, Dorrie remains tightly focused. The understated jazz soundtrack is perfect accompaniment to themes of spontaneity and authenticity.
You won't come away from this film with a handful of new recipes, but you might have a new respect for cooking and the practice of mindfulness.
#
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
By E. S. Noyes
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
THIS IS A GREAT DOCUMENTARY ABOUT BUDDHISM, EMOTIONS, COOKING, AGING, SPIRIT... AND IT'S PROFOUND AND FUNNY AND SAD AND TRANSCENDENT. I WAS SO HAPPY TO FIND THIS ON AMAZON, AND FOR A PRICE SO LOW IT WAS SILLY. SNAP ONE UP IF YOU CAN.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
By J. TEETERS
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
Looking at your life and the experiences you have everyday in terms of the kitchen really helped me to switch some of my views and habits. I used to look at cooking, working and doing the many things I do everyday as one endless, thankless task.
Now I am thinking more about what I do as an experience. How to Cook Your Life has brought a perspective to into my life. I just ordered The Complete Tassajara Cookbook: Recipes, Techniques, and Reflections from the Famed Zen Kitchen and the stories and insight are wonderful. Oh, and it has some great recipes too!
Now I am thinking more about what I do as an experience. How to Cook Your Life has brought a perspective to into my life. I just ordered The Complete Tassajara Cookbook: Recipes, Techniques, and Reflections from the Famed Zen Kitchen and the stories and insight are wonderful. Oh, and it has some great recipes too!
Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Deep
I felt like I was right there with his students handling the bread and baking it. It was a calming documentary.
Published 2 months ago by sandra pinkerton
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great movie
I loves this movie. It is sort of hockey, I know. It is more like a fan video of someone you idolize, I know. Read more
Published 2 months ago by momoftwo
4.0 out of 5 stars
Anecdotal evidence for a more fulfilling life
This documentary shows people trying to live life more connected, more substantially, more fulfilling, through a series of vignettes revolving around a Buddhist monastery... Read more
Published 2 months ago by gabek42
5.0 out of 5 stars
soothing and light with deep content
I can watch this video many times and never tire of it, which is why I purchased it after watching a copy. Read more
Published 7 months ago by P. Brescia
5.0 out of 5 stars
great insight into zen, life and cooking
This is a gentle and well made doco providing simple insight into the life of a cook and a zen practitioner. Read more
Published 12 months ago by Mike
4.0 out of 5 stars
cherry blossoms
this is not a fast pace movie, but the story keeps your attention when it goes to Japan; very poetic.
Published on May 8, 2011 by elizabeth joseph
1.0 out of 5 stars
He's NOT a chef.
Calling this man a chef is like calling a camp councilor a psychiatrist. Poor Ed can barely string a sentence together, so how we might learn a thing by listening to him "talk"... Read more
Published on April 26, 2011 by Jedi Librarian
5.0 out of 5 stars
Inspiring and full of heart
I loved this film, and will recommend it for anyone that loves food and sharing a meal with friends. We laughed so much when we saw this..
Published on October 15, 2010 by Maren
2.0 out of 5 stars
A little less gab and a little more grub
**1/2
Famed cookbook author Edward Espe Brown takes the old adage "You are what you eat" to a whole new level. Read more
Famed cookbook author Edward Espe Brown takes the old adage "You are what you eat" to a whole new level. Read more
Published on August 28, 2010 by Roland E. Zwick
2.0 out of 5 stars
Food is a metaphor for life, so eat... white bread?
I started watching this video thinking it would have insights on harmonious, healthy eating. The focus here, Edward Epse Brown, says when he was 10 years old, his aunt cooked him... Read more
Published on July 4, 2010 by Won Lee
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