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.