Dr. Vasant Lad - Ayurvedic Institute

says Alana Greenberg, Ayurvedic Practitioner. The beginning of every recipe should be a prayer, and ginger carries the prayer into the food.

says Claudia Welch, Acupuncturist & Ayurvedic Practitioner, over dinner.

Food comes alive in your presence, reaching out, laboring, taking the time, always more to cooking than meets the eye. Each thing asking to be seen, heard, known, loved, a companion in the dark. The body within the body, the place where everything connects. Ripe, succulent fruit, leaves, stems, roots, seeds: the innermost mind awakening, fully manifesting. What are you up to, after all? What is a way of life that is satisfying, fulfilling, sustaining, and sustainable? A sticky honey jar, the half-empty cup of coffee, each asking to fulfill, each offering the touch of the beloved. Enter, plunge into the heart of the matter: an unknown destination, an unknown adventure unfolding with your wits about you and your not-so-wits. Things emerge in life, Life emerging in things. No separation. Concentrating on food, concentrating on myself, with heart opening, hands offering, may everything be deliciously full of warmth and kindness. Coming from the earth, coming from the air, a cool breeze, a spark, a flame, go ahead: Cook, offer yourself, hold nothing back. Cooking is not like you expected, not like you anticipated. What is happening is unheard of, never before experienced. You cook. No mistakes. You might do it differently next time, but you did it this way this time. Things are as they are, even if you say too much this, too little that. And if you want things to stay the same, remind yourself they have no unchanging nature. “Wherever you go, remember, there you are.” O.K.? Go ahead. Keep moving. Watch your step.

Found by Joseph in the introduction to
Brown, Ed. The Tassajara Bread Book. Boston & London: Shambhala, 1995.

Taste buds evolved. Our body created them.
We encountered nature, the bounty,
and the body reduced her permutations
to six.

The body knows the six tastes,
created them, connected them
to cravings, emotions,
the mind, the cry of organs.

This food before us, an altar;
The temple, you.

My lover and I face each other while eating,
God is in our midst.

Meal brings me home to your holiness,
your divine nature.

And through eating,
we create life together.

With each sentence, a new garden, a breath.
I sit down to study and I pray.

Eyes open, eyes closed,
fragile, precious thoughts,
meeting you like a new friend.
You are water for the garden.

Sharing new thoughts with all my experiences,
In meditation,
Time passes, gentle exhalation,
Thought, I’m coming closer to you.
I’m becoming the new knowledge.
Soft and peaceful.

I am already beautiful,
already abundant in knowledge.
studying out of joy.

The moon unfurls her sail, a glowing pearl.
gliding through the waves of the blue night.

Our organs, moons,
sailing on the breath of prana,
a spacious cool breeze.

Silver dust travels from organ to organ.
moon and blue electricity gathering,
into the third eye where ocean
condenses into sapphire.

-Joseph, Feb 2007

Transformation, mystical digestion,
energy changing forms, creating body,
human.
Holy, sacred food,
the body prepared you,
made you beautiful.
The body opens its doors
and you enter the temple
to pray.
Food, inside I hear you chanting,
you’re alive now.
Breathe.
Becoming spirit,
becoming God, aware.

Water at sunrise,
mountain spring in the garden,
a fountain of pink and yellow rain;
the rays of the sun
washing over my body
an ocean of liquid light.

Water, your pour out and enter into me,
bringing to me the taste of,
the song of all beings, their mantra.

You are yoga, union,
elixir of merging touch.
Cooking with you, creating,
bringing us together
You are new combinations
new experiences, nourishing us.

The union of two beings,
all of creation, procreation,
in the flow of water that connects us all,
it changes the universe forever.

Cosmic food,
through water your spirit unites with mine,
and the sound we create together, our mantra,
is what we've never exerienced before.

So I pray, food...in water...I'm opening up to you,
your wisdom; your voice in my body,
the unfolding of your gift.

written by Joseph (http://www.greenbookcafe.com)