Customer Reviews

How to Cook Your Life

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

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.

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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!

this is a moving and charming story. i have been baking his bread for 30 years and was delighted to hear and see him. my friends found it unexpected and warm-hearted.

This movie, featuring Zen priest who is also a master cook is not a "how to cook a dish" type of movie. Actually it never shows how to prepare a single dish from the begining to the end, but how to work with our own minds.Zen teachings and commentaries are given by Edward Espe Brown (the priest), but also we have archival footage of the teachings of the Zen Master Suzuki,and also the interviews with the members of the Buddhist community.

Zen is a practice of mindfulness, and of course, there is a lot of it in this movie. But also are other aspects which are so very Zen: honesty, humor, poetry, humanity, compassion toward humans and animals, and the attitude toward the problems in our lives. Brown is a priest and a teacher, but he is has not a stature of a Zen master, yet anyone can see how much it can be learned from a practitioner who spend fourty years practicing Zen. And for those of you who like Dalai Lama and his sense of humor,there is also something charming about the brand of humor represented by Brown, and his master teacher, Suzuki.

Cooking was very important practice in Zen monasteries, but also any work done, and this movies shows how much meaning any work can have. Any work which serves the others can be elevated to a meaningful activity, and yes, be holly to some extend, if done with the right spirit.

And I just want to add a comment fro those who are not familiar with Mahayana Buddhism (to which Zen belongs). You can see Brown talking about old water kettles, and there is a lot of down to Earth poetry in it.But he also sheds a tear, so, why is he so emotional, someone may ask. As a long time practitioner, Ed Brown must have to take Boddhistava vows, which means such a practitioner has the attitude the others first. The vows are that the practitioner will by his/her own will be reincarnated again and again in order to help others, postponing his/her own ultimate state of Nirvana.

This is very courageous and compassionate decision, based on deep love to others.And of course, the meaning of service to others is very much extended, and felt very deeply.So, it is not a self pity, but an overwhelming emotion which came upon him.We could have a priviledge to witness this moment.

I recommend this movie not only to Zen practitioners, or people wanting to have more insight about combining cooking and spirituality, but also anyone who is interested in comparative religion, or spiritual traditions of the world.

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.

This Buddhist teacher is fun, he's human, and needs to have patience. (Like me.) It reminds me of my days chanting, and going to temple. It was the happiest time of my life. The philosophy is simple: pay attention to what you're doing, and be in the moment. He authored a book on making bread, which I bought in the 60's. If you want a video that makes you appreciate the simplicity of life, this is it. (He teaches cooking skills with a chef's knife, but I'm not there yet!)

If you have a little patience while watching this film, you will be greatly rewarded. Edward Espe Brown is not only a wonderful cooking teacher, but a humorous and humble spiritual guide. The side stories about food that illuminate this film's philosophy are enlightening and thought provoking without having to resort to disturbing film footage about our corporate food industry's ugly side. I don't purchase many DVDs, but I had to have this for my small collection. I love to cook, and having this film is like having a spiritual guide at my side to help me be patient and have reverence while I prepare food for my loved ones and myself.

Intriguing, amusing and full of Zen moments. This documentary has profound depth- on the surface the film appears to be about cooking but the koan of the film is without a definite answer. One can find oneself exploring awareness, stillness, meditation, ritual and even cooking. Roshi Ed Brown encourages us to explore food as a metaphor. I was touched when he was examining the old teapot.

What's cooking? I think I got it!

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..

This was quite an insightful movie. I missed it at the theater so was glad to pick it up in DVD.