(Translated from the Pali original)
Thus I have heard. One morning, in the kitchen of the Nob Hill Monastery, six bread-eating yogis were practicing mindfulness of chewing on a superb Cherry Pecan Levain. Then Rachel the Levain Lover, addressing the group, exclaimed: "Bread making is indeed excellent and of great benefit to devas and humans. Thus it has been said. Tell us, Buzz Kill Dan, why is it said?"
In the ensuing pause, Bliss of Pure Rye (ie Buzz Kill's wife, Juliann), using her powers of clairvoyance, surveyed Buzz Kill's mind and perceived the following stream of thoughts: I want to talk, I want to talk, I WANT TO TALK! Ple-ple-ple-pleeaaaze, ask again - you have to ask three times, so I don't appear too eager to spout! I want to talk, I want to TALK! Out of compassion for Buzz Kill and seeing the value of a talk on bread making, Bliss of Pure Rye seconded and thirded the request. Buzz Kill then put down his tea cup, cleared his throat and spoke.
There are six excellent benefits in making bread. What six?
Making bread, one cultivates generosity.
Beings love bread. Especially human beings. There is gratification in savoring a well-toasted slice of fresh sourdough slathered with butter and a dollop of wild blackberry jam. So it appears, so it appears. But being mindful and fully aware while chewing, tasting and swallowing, one discerns the fleeting and insubstantial this pleasure. One witnesses the incompleteness of the enjoyment and desire to repeat the experience again and again. Bite after bite, contemplating in this way, one discerns an even greater pleasure in seeing others enjoy the gift of bread. Likewise for the receiver of toast - good is the taste, but better is the delight in the baker's act of giving. Seeing directly for oneself, in the here and now, that the act of sharing bread in these ways by bakers and eaters brings with it a joy that is luminous, radiant and longer lasting than tasting it, one cultivates generosity based on joy. Thus one gradually abandons, weakens, uproots and destroys the unskillful habit of giving out of guilt, fear, or the wish for approval. Baking day and night one realizes "Indeed it is a Great Cosmic Joke that I fear sharing - even though it leads to what is abundant - and am driven to hoard - though it leads to what is limited and unsatisfying."
Making bread, one cultivates patience.
Ripening a
starter over three days, one cultivates patience. Accepting that the
dough, contrary to one's wishes and expectations, does not in the
present moment possess the soaring lift and elasticity of
well-kneaded dough, one cultivates patience. Observing
clearly the intention to shape the dough into loaves before it has risen to
completion on the one hand, and on the other, seeing that wish pass away right then and there without acting on it, one cultivate patience.
Making bread, one cultivates mindfulness.
By keeping the bread in mind, one cultivates mindfulness. Thus, while checking email, one reflects "The dough is resting." While doing the dishes, one reflects, 'the bread is rising.' While listening to one's wife scold one for getting flour everywhere and never cleaning up, one reflects 'this bread of mine has been proofing for an hour now; it is would be fitting to preheat the oven.'
Making bread, one cultivates concentration.
Kneading
with a consistent and balanced rhythm, one develops concentration,
putting aside hope and fear with reference to the loaf to be.
Abandoning doubts about the quality of the ingredients or one's own
abilities to bake well, one focuses exclusively on the activities of
baking. Thus based on the object of bread making, one develops concentration, maintains concentration and
concentration reaches its limit.
Proximity to dough is a factor of concentration. How is that? Here a baker, resolving to bake well, abides close to the dough. Dwelling close to the dough, she observes the rising dough's qualities of stillness and expansion. Appreciating those qualities and considering that it will be at least an hour before it's ready for baking, she inclines the mind towards practicing seated or walking meditation in order to strengthen these very qualities of stillness and an expanded awareness within herself. Thus concentration is developed and, through repeated practice, goes to its culmination.
Making bread one cultivates effort.
Rising early to mix and knead the dough, one cultivates effort.
Kneading the dough for a full twenty minutes instead of quitting after
ten because one is tired or thoughts about how there's no time to make
bread these days, one cultivates effort. Guarding the mind from
straying to such self-defeating modes of thought and abandoning those
thoughts when they have arisen, one cultivates effort.
Making bread, one cultivates wisdom.
By seeing well-kneaded dough as well-kneaded dough and poorly kneaded dough as poorly kneaded dough one cultivates discernment leading to release as well as really good bread. Loaf after loaf, reflecting on the bread's qualities - hard or soft, dense or fluffy, chewy or crunchy, moist or dry, sour or sweet - one sees penetratively "Bread will possess these qualities when made in this way and those qualities when made in that way." Contemplating the process of bread making thus, one discerns that bread is anatta - without an enduring self - merely the results of impersonal causes and conditions - not separate from laws governing nature's unfolding. Comprehending in this way that indeed one's very own mind is exactly like this loaf of bread and the processes that brought it about, one cultivates wisdom, delights in wisdom, and becomes gift of wisdom to the world.
Thus it has been said that there are six excellent benefits to bread making.
When he had finished, Katherina the Spelt Worshipper rose from her seat and proclaimed joyously: "So it is! So it is! Danny the "Buzz Kill". You have mixed what had been unmixed, shaped what had been unshaped, and baked what had been half-baked." The others - Patricia the Early Riser, Rachel the Levain Lover, Juliann the Pure Rye Praiser, and Trip the Honey Eater- nodded silently in approval.
This concludes the Discourse of the Six Benefits of Bread Making.
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