Alan Watts | Chillstep | Sicence of ecology π
Summary
TLDRThe transcript delves into the significance of ecological awareness and its impact on our relationship with nature. It critiques the modern tendency to treat our environment as a resource to exploit, leading to 'spoiled environments.' The speaker discusses the role of tourism and its potential to disrupt natural states, reflecting on the philosophical underpinnings that drive humans to see themselves as superior to nature. This perspective, rooted in scientific naturalism, fosters a technology aimed at nature's conquest, which the speaker argues is misguided. The narrative shifts to emphasize the importance of recognizing our biological nature, suggesting that our denial of it leads to a loss of civilization and culture. The art of cooking is presented as a spiritual practice, where the cook, like a priest, transforms ingredients with reverence and care. The text advocates for a lifestyle that appreciates the process of cooking and eating as a form of yoga and a means to enhance one's cultural and spiritual well-being. It concludes with a reflection on the intertwining of mystical consciousness with everyday life, suggesting that an enlightened state can coexist with ordinary experiences, thus enriching our existence.
Takeaways
- π± **Respect for Nature**: The speaker emphasizes the importance of respecting and living in harmony with nature, rather than being at war with it.
- π§βπ³ **The Art of Cooking**: Cooking is not just a task but an art form that requires attention, care, and love for the ingredients, akin to a priest at an altar.
- π² **Nourishment Beyond Nutrition**: Food is more than sustenance; it's a means of connecting with our biological roots and appreciating the life that nourishes us.
- π· **The Ritual of Wine**: The process of opening and serving wine is a ritual that shows respect and acknowledgment of the value and work that goes into producing it.
- π΄ **Mindful Eating**: Eating should be a mindful and pleasurable experience, not a rushed or mechanical one, to fully appreciate and digest our food.
- π **Recipes and Mastery**: While recipes are a good starting point, true mastery in cooking comes from understanding and feeling the ingredients and creating dishes without strict guidelines.
- π **Beyond the Five Senses**: The ultimate state of consciousness is described as non-dual, meaning it doesn't exclude or negate everyday consciousness but rather includes and transcends it.
- π§ **Everyday Yoga**: The practice of yoga and mindfulness can be integrated into everyday activities, such as cooking, turning mundane tasks into spiritual practices.
- π **The Natural State**: Sahaja, the natural state in Indian spirituality, is the goal where enlightenment is a natural part of everyday life, not separate from it.
- π **Oneness with the Universe**: The realization of oneness with the universe is not an escape from reality but an enhancement of it, where all experiences are part of the supreme consciousness.
- π **The Kitchen as a Social Hub**: The kitchen should be a central and inviting space in the home where cooking becomes a social and engaging activity that brings people together.
Q & A
What is the main concern expressed about humanity's relationship with nature?
-The main concern is that humanity tends to be antagonistic towards nature, viewing it as something to be conquered rather than coexisting with, which leads to the degradation of the environment and a loss of connection with the natural world.
What is the significance of the term 'scientific naturalism' in the context of the script?
-Scientific naturalism is a philosophy that rejects supernaturalism and views humans as products of an evolutionary process. However, the script suggests that despite this view, its adherents often display a greater antagonism towards nature compared to traditional religious views.
How does the script describe the role of a cook in society?
-The script describes a cook as being in a highly responsible and almost priestly role, as they are responsible for transforming raw ingredients into food that nourishes and sustains life.
What is the connection made between the art of cooking and the concept of reverence for life?
-The connection is that cooking, when done with attention and care, becomes an act of reverence for life. It honors the life of the ingredients being used and transforms them into a form that can be assimilated by humans, acknowledging the interdependence of all life forms.
Why is it suggested that rushing through the cooking process is detrimental?
-Rushing through cooking is seen as detrimental because it lacks the necessary attention and care that transforms the act of cooking into a reverent and mindful process. It disrespects the ingredients and the process of nourishing the body.
How does the script relate the act of cooking to the concept of yoga?
-The script relates cooking to yoga by suggesting that when cooking is done with full attention, care, and love for the ingredients, it becomes a form of practice or 'yoga' that aligns with one's spiritual and religious significance.
What is the significance of the ritual in cooking and serving wine as described in the script?
-The ritual in cooking and serving wine is significant as it shows respect and acknowledgment of the value of the food and drink being prepared and served. It transforms the act into a mindful and deliberate process that honors the ingredients and the act of consumption.
How does the script view the consumption of food as a means to an end?
-The script criticizes viewing food consumption as merely a means to an end, suggesting that it leads to a lack of appreciation for the process of cooking and the act of eating. It argues that this perspective can result in poor eating habits and a failure to nourish the body properly.
What is the role of the five senses in the experience of the Supreme state of consciousness as described in the script?
-The five senses play a crucial role in the experience of the Supreme state of consciousness. The script suggests that this state is not separate from everyday consciousness and that it comes through all senses, much like a concrete and unmistakable sensation.
How does the script differentiate between the state of sahaja and samadhi in the context of mysticism?
-Sahaja is described as a higher state than samadhi, being the natural state where illumination fits in with ordinary consciousness. Samadhi is often associated with an ecstatic, absorptive state that seems incompatible with everyday life, whereas sahaja represents a state of natural and continuous enlightenment that is integrated with daily living.
What is the importance of understanding the non-dual nature of reality as per the script?
-Understanding the non-dual nature of reality is important because it signifies that the ultimate reality has no opposite and is not incompatible with all other states and manifestations of life. This realization allows for a Supreme Consciousness that can contain any subordinate state of consciousness, thus integrating the mystical or enlightened state with everyday experiences.
Outlines
πΏ The Consequences of Ignoring Ecology
The first paragraph discusses the importance of ecological science and how neglecting it can lead to a destructive impact on the environment. It talks about how humans can create 'spoiled environments' and the paradox of tourists seeking untouched locales while contributing to their degradation. The text also touches on the philosophical shift from viewing humans as separate from nature to recognizing our biological roots and the influence of scientific naturalism on modern attitudes towards the natural world.
π½οΈ The Sacred Art of Cooking and Eating
This paragraph emphasizes the significance of cooking as not just a necessity but as a spiritual practice. It highlights how the act of preparing food is a responsible and almost sacred duty, transforming ingredients into nourishment. The narrative criticizes modern life for treating meals as mere utility and stresses the importance of taking the art of cooking seriously, comparing the cook's role to that of a priest at an altar.
π₯€ The Modern Disconnect with Food and Ritual
The third paragraph continues the dialogue on the ritual of eating, criticizing the modern tendency to view food as medicine and the commercialization of meals. It discusses how this perspective detracts from the enjoyment and spiritual significance of food, leading to a culture that is more focused on the pursuit of status and wealth rather than the actual experience of eating and living.
π· The Civilizing Influence of Food and Wine
Here, the speaker delves into the cultural and spiritual significance of food and wine in Western tradition, asserting that they are inseparable components of a civilized diet. The paragraph explores the ritualistic aspects of wine consumption and the importance of understanding and respecting the process and tradition behind the preparation and enjoyment of food and drink.
πΎ Honoring Life Through the Art of Cooking
The fifth paragraph speaks to the ethical responsibility one has towards the life forms that sustain us, advocating for a deep respect and gratitude for the food we consume. It draws parallels between the act of cooking and religious rituals, suggesting that the transformation of ingredients into a meal is a sacred process that should be approached with reverence and care.
ποΈ The Ritualistic Nature of Skilled Work
This segment discusses the ritualistic quality inherent in all skilled work, from cooking to surgery. It draws attention to the importance of full attention and care in performing tasks, likening the meticulousness of a good cook to the reverence of a priest at an altar. The text also touches on the cultural repression of the sense of smell and its unconscious influence on human behavior.
π The Spiritual Practice of Gratitude
The seventh paragraph focuses on the spiritual practice of giving thanks, suggesting that saying grace is not just a religious act but a recognition of the interconnectedness of life. It emphasizes the importance of acknowledging the sacrifice of the life forms that become our food and the responsibility that comes with consuming them.
π³ The Transformation of Cooking into a Yoga
The eighth paragraph elevates cooking to the level of a spiritual practice, or 'yoga,' suggesting that the act of cooking can lead to self-realization when approached with the right attitude. It speaks to the necessity of taking time to cook with love and attention, and how this can transform the everyday act of cooking into a meaningful and fulfilling experience.
π From Recipes to Intuition in Cooking
The ninth paragraph discusses the journey from relying on recipes to developing one's own intuitive sense in cooking. It emphasizes the importance of understanding the transformation of raw materials into a meal as a deeply personal and creative process. The text also highlights the joy of dealing with leftovers and the mastery that comes from inventing meals without following traditional recipes.
π§ββοΈ The Integration of Mystical Experience with Daily Life
The final paragraph explores the concept of Sahaja, a state of natural and constant enlightenment that coexists with everyday consciousness. It challenges the notion that mystical experience is separate from daily life, suggesting that the highest state of consciousness is one that can contain all other states without duality or exclusivity, reflecting the ultimate reality behind the universe.
Mindmap
Keywords
π‘Ecology
π‘Tourism
π‘Scientific Naturalism
π‘Biological Beings
π‘Cooking as a Spiritual Practice
π‘Ritual
π‘Wine as Food
π‘Oneness with the Universe
π‘Sahaja
π‘Yoga of Everyday Life
π‘Non-Duality
Highlights
The importance of paying attention to the science of ecology to avoid creating spoiled environments.
Tourists often ask if a place is 'spoiled', reflecting the impact of human visitation on natural environments.
The concept of the 'tourist trap', where the natural state of a place is lost due to commercialization.
The idea that humans are in a state of war with nature, viewing ourselves as separate from and superior to other life forms.
The rise of scientific naturalism in the 19th century and its impact on views of human evolution and our relationship with nature.
The belief that the natural universe is a mechanical process that can be fully understood and controlled.
The critique of modern technology as being dedicated to the conquest of nature, based on a resentful attitude towards it.
The denial of our biological nature in various aspects of modern life, from clothing to social institutions.
The paradox of people being fascinated by the mammalian qualities of the human body while also considering them vulgar.
The role of food and cooking in human life, with the cook compared to a priest performing a sacred ritual.
The importance of taking the art of cooking seriously and recognizing its fundamental spiritual and religious significance.
The critique of viewing food purely as medicine or a means to an end, rather than an enjoyable part of life.
The idea that the way we eat and our attitudes towards food reflect deeper cultural values and beliefs.
The importance of taking the time to cook well as a form of reverence for the life contained in our food.
The joy of inventing new dishes and using leftovers creatively as a test of a cook's skill and inventiveness.
The ultimate goal of transcending reliance on recipes to develop a deep, intuitive sense of flavors and cooking techniques.
The concept of sahaja, a state of natural, non-dual consciousness that integrates the everyday and the enlightened.
The idea that the highest state of consciousness is like a mirror, reflecting all experiences without exclusivity or duality.
The challenge of describing the awakened state of consciousness, which is more like a sensation than an idea.
Transcripts
[Music]
if we do not pay attention to the
science of
ecology we more and more tend to be
beings who foul our own
[Music]
nests and who
create what we would call spoiled
environments wouldbe tourists are always
asking about their various foreign
countries is it spoiled
yet that means doesn't it have enough of
us visited the place to make it no
longer worth
visiting have we
turned the Hawaiian Islands the
[Music]
Caribbean
Japan Burma still on anywhere you like
have we turned it into a tourist
trap a place in other words
[Music]
where uh you can no longer find human
beings in their natural
state but find them in a new
state the tech the what I would call
the um early technological
state of being at war with
nature
of continuing the Jewish and Christian
Superstition that
man is to be top
[Music]
dog
man is as it were not a feature of
nature but a stranger in the
earth who has as it were come into this
Planet as an embodied
spirit and whose nature as being
spiritual is alien to the nature of the
[Music]
earth It's Curious you see that even
since the 19th century since the rise of
what we call scientific
naturalism since the rise of a
philosophy of life in which
supernaturalism and the supernatural
origin of man are repudiated and we look
upon ourselves as products of an
evolutionary
process rather than a supernatural
process we evolved yes according to the
doctrines indeed the dogmas of
scientific naturalism we evolved from
our lower animal
friends but
the people who believe in this
philosophy are even more than
traditional Christians and
Jews antagonistic to the processes of
nature the outcome of scientific
naturalism is a
technology which is dedicated to the
conquest of
nature because it's based on a Doctrine
which we deeply resent even though most
of us believe it and this Doctrine is
that the natural
universe is a mechanical
process which because it is mechanical
and nothing other than mechanical that
is to say because it can be described
and accounted for in a strictly logical
way we curiously therefore feel that it
is essentially
stupid
[Music]
all
machines even though we revital or
intelligent as wooly
minded because you will give yourself a
case of extreme intellectual
pupinisiimo
definite precise and rigorous
and that will advertise the fact that
you are after all someone who's come to
your
senses actually you've lost your senses
and you've only found your
mind and it's very truly said that you
have to go out of your mind to come to
your
senses that is to say you have to be
liberated from the confusion
of the symbolic world with the real
world and I've talked a great deal about
that thus
far but here as you see the great
problem of 20th century man basing his
way of life on 19th century ideas which
are today the common sense of most
educated
individuals that
uh there is an implacable
resentment against our biological
situation we Endeavor in myriads of
different ways to conceal the fact that
we are biological
beings our
clothes our social institutions in ever
so many ways are trying to
say we are not
[Music]
mammals
and anything that emphasizes our
mamalian qualities is really
considered
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um
vulgar of course we can't
resist the truth that we are mammals and
that's why uh American men are
absolutely fascinated by female mamama
by
breasts
uh because you know truth will
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out so
then when it comes down to a very very
fundamental biological science and
art the art of so rendering food that it
becomes extremely well
absorbable
we have our
quams and we don't really go to
it and yet you see uh as I suggested in
the previous talk
here the human being is like a
whirlpool in
water the human being is a pattern of
life which is a particular form of
activity in a stream but the human
stream consists of
water
[Music]
milk a
wheat
cow
vegetables uh all food stuffs whatsoever
are in the process of being processed by
us in your lifetime you have processed
innumerable tons of
groceries and therefore you are what you
eat every fiber and cell of your bodies
is uh beef steak and uh potatoes and so
on in the course of being processed
humanly
and therefore those people who stand at
the entryway whereby this stream enters
the human organism and becomes changed
into our form is in a very responsible
position for as
cook standing at the kitchen range you
are most veritably a priest at an
altar and if you do not
realize the Priestly and magical nature
of your function as a cook you are doing
the human race a great
disservice the trouble is of course
that the average person who
cooks in our
culture is a harassed
[Music]
housewife who has to do this every day
to get meals ready
for
children and
adults who are fundamentally in a hurry
to do something else other than
eat breakfast in the morning is usually
a mad
house because everybody has to get up to
get the children off to school in time
and get the husband of the family off to
work in
[Music]
time and this is usually pop to the last
minute among other reasons because of
course going to bed the night before was
postponed to the last
minute because there was some fun going
on the night
before uh over which and because of
which one had to hurry through dinner in
order to get out to it whatever it
was when we do tend to regard uh
meals as medicine rather than and
diet we will take uh packages of
ordinary food
stuffs and we will find on them in small
print the same sort of chemical analysis
of what's in it as you get in a bottle
of
pills every package of food has to have
its contents spelled out you see as if
it were
medicine you buy say an ordinary
envelope of gelatin
and there's a chemical formula on
it because we are looking at this uh
this
food for what good it will do for
us we are firmly of the opinion
therefore that we eat in order to live
rather than that we live in order to
eat therefore the pleasures of the table
the art of the kitchen is is simply
relegated to being a means to an
end it enables us to continue our
biological existence in order to in
order to what make
money or uh be
cultured and people who listen to music
or go to plays or read books with the
motivation of becoming cultured people
never listen listen to the music don't
understand the play and don't really
read
books because they always have one eye
on what kind of person this activity is
turning me into what status it gives
me therefore one never really does it so
in order to be
human in order to be cultured and
civilized in the highest sense of the
word it is that
absolutely necessary to everyday life
that we take the art of
cooking uh
sincerely that we
regard
the process that goes on at the table as
one of fundamental spiritual and
religious
importance and make it a
yoga not only the what goes on in the
kitchen but also what goes on at the
table
itself must for us
become
uh an
occasion where we regard ourselves as
involved in one of the most
important worthwhile things that we
do because you see if you only eat in
order to
live you will not digest your food
properly you will bolt
it wolf it down just to stop the
knowing and so I must quote Henry
Miller throw anything down the hatch to
stop the kny feeling and swallow a dozen
vitamins if that doesn't work see a
surgeon if that doesn't work get a
Hollywood
funeral they're the duest the cutest
funerals why you can have your beloved
propped up reading something like the
bag of adita and smoking a cigarette
forever cigarette guaranteed not to rot
away before the lips or the buttocks oh
death where is thy sting oh grave where
is thy Victory Jolly what
eh
but that's the problem you see of
this
using
food merely as a means to an
end I was in the
airport trying to find something for
lunch just before coming down here and
there were three girls in their late
teens sitting at a table next to us
and their lunch consisted of french
fried potatoes with ketchup and
Coca-Cola that's what they were putting
down and
uh this sort of thing goes on all over
the
place you uh Lucius BB who was a great
Bon vant once said that south of the
Mason Dixon line everything is fried in
rancid axle
grease and that's pretty much true uh I
remember not so long ago that for my
sins I was lecturing in the state of
Virginia and
uh I
was in in colleges most of the time you
see and I was condemned therefore to eat
the offerings of college
cafeterias and uh sorority and
fraternity house cooking and it was so
abominable that I literally
starved uh you may say I'm fussy but I
will not
eat uh unless I am literally starving
and have been starving for days and days
when anything will taste good but a
normal person should not be asked to eat
the
incredible uh
messes
of ruthlessly boiled
vegetables uh meat that has suffered in
electronic purgatories for
hours and is served to you in a gravy
that is made of water Buon cubes and
Library
paste uh this is simply not fit for
human consumption and the fact that the
whole academic world without question
faculty and students eat this notorious
garbage is of course rotting their
brains and uh making them
uh highly
uncivilized uh that it's just
unpardonable there is no excuse for this
at all and part of the reason is that
college kitchens are supervised by
dietitians as distinct from cooks and
these two classes of persons are really
mutually
exclusive because the dietician thinks
of food in terms of its chemical
contents in terms of its calories its
vitamins its proteins and so thinks
through a test tube whereas an
accomplished cook thinks with his
tongue and with his belly and with what
fundamentally is good for his
gut and uh he comes an accomplished cook
comes from a long tradition be it of
French cooking or of Chinese cooking or
of uh Indonesian cooking Indian cooking
or whatever it is he has a long long
historic iCal tradition behind him of
excellence and the French cook no one is
more proud no one is more uh delighted
with his art and the Vintner who goes
with him is also equally important as a
person in seeing that human beings
remain civilized at the table and that
the table is not simply treated uh in
the same way as the bathroom the
bathroom is the output
room and is always sort of relegated to
unconsciousness because we don't like to
admit that we do these
things and so when you you you carry the
bathroom attitude to the kitchen as I
suggested already the kitchen begins to
look like a bathroom because it is just
the input
room and no real reverence is accorded
to the art of
cooking well I think that uh
if we want to have a true
civilization we want to be people of
great culture great
Humanity uh a lot of it begins in the
kitchen and goes on around the eating
table in Christianity after all we have
the mass as a central
right the Holy Communion the eating of
bread and the drinking of wine because
in Mediterranean civilization at the
time when Jesus lived bread was the
staple food and wine was the staple
drink people didn't drink water for
God's sake because you could never trust
water what was in it therefore if you
had a certain alcoholic content in the
water it was
drinkable but beyond that of course the
nurture of grapes and the production of
very fine uh
loved and matured wine was a way of
bottling
sunshine and you will find to this day
that in any restaurant where wine is not
served in Western culture they do not
understand
food food and wine in the western
tradition are
inseparable and wine is not alcohol in
the sense of uh vodka or whiskey or
whatever is hard Li wine is
food and when an Italian family is asked
a questionnaire to put down what it
spends on
food what it spends on drink they will
always include the wine under the food
expens they don't imagine that it's
spent on
drink yes they would say all right if we
bought some whiskey that would be drink
has the think some food and wine
food and uh so it uh
the these things blend themselves
together and when anybody who really
understands wine opens the bottle of
wine you will notice that they always do
it with a certain ritualistic
attitude they will carefully draw the
cork they will sniff the cork see that
the flavor is all right then they will
pour a little wine into a glass and uh
allow it to roll around the glass and
you should always use they're rather for
table wines like um carrots burgundies
cha sa all those wines you should use a
rather large glass what the French call
a ballon a balloon glass so that almost
like brandy you can catch the perfume of
the wine in the
glass and you roll the wine around and
sniff it and you may take a tiny sip to
see that it's all
right meanwhile the wine pourer stands
beside you to see if you approve it may
be yourself as person the table you put
it down then you serve the other guest
but you don't fool the FI is kind of
glass to the top you fill it about 1/3
or 1/2 so that an area is left about the
wine to catch the
[Music]
perfume and then you gently savor it you
don't W it down
Scout now you see there's a ritualistic
attitude to that wine is something
precious and then and
Valu and uh you if you follow wine and R
interested you can learn the art for
example of being almost
blindfold I don't mean that literally
it's the bottle that's blindfolded
because you need your eyes as well as
your nose and tongue to test wines you
need to look at it how it clings or
doesn't cling to the side of the glass
and so on and Experts of course can
guess rather accurately what wine
they're
drinking where it's
from it's not easy to in fact it's
probably kind of fairy tale that people
can pin down the actual
Vineyard just uh they can do so
occasionally in a fluky way if they
happen for example to uh be the
manufacturer of that wine itself they
might pin down the actual
[Music]
V but you see uh in in where wherever
wine is revered the serving of wine is
attended with ritual now I'm pointing
out what is uh good cooking also is
attended with ritual because you are as
cook a priest at an alter and you are at
a vital moment in human life in the
point point where uh other biological
existences be they animal or vegetable
are being transformed so as to enter the
human system and to become
us and so as linu Tang Once beautifully
put it a fish which has died for you and
is not well cooked has died in
vain here you see we Face a serious
ethical problem since we do depend on
all these other creatures for our life
what is our responsibility towards
them you can't avoid this you can become
a
vegetarian if you're screamish about it
but that's only a gesture you're still
destroying living beings to
eat apples
Tomatoes cabbages
lettuce all the
things
Cals you're still destroying other forms
of
life and so the only possible good
ethical response to finding ourselves in
this
situation is not only of course the
obvious one of putting to good use the
energies which we derive from them but
also the immediate respect shall I say
the grace the
Thanksgiving of honoring in what we
eat by cooking it to
[Music]
Perfection and perfect
cooking will involve therefore ritual
because
ritual is
actually any activity whatsoever
done with full attention and
care when you watch a surgeon or even a
lowly dentist at work and he is a good
surgeon or a good dentist you will
notice that he has a certain ritualistic
attitude to the way he disposes his
tools and to the order in which he does
things there are certain
dentists who you recognize at once as
having surgeons
fingers they
are
loving quiet peaceg giving
fingers that work with a kind of quick
but unhurried
expertness and you can see the same
thing in a driver of a
car or in any expert Workman at any
craft
whatsoever and you will always see he
goes about what he's doing with a
certain
uh way of Behaving that is very much
like the behavior of a priest at an
altar
[Music]
now I don't know how many people know
much about what priests do at
altars even
Catholics uh don't always know very much
about
this and they think ceremony ceremony
ceremony a lot of empty
gesturing but actually the way in which
a priest celebrates the
mass is this is quite
practical all the ceremonies connected
with it were
originally functional
activ why are the candles on
nor we think candle is a way of lighting
a candle beside something is a way of
paying respect to
it well yeah but originally one needed
some light to see what you were doing uh
to read any book you might
have and
uh why was incense of think Protestants
especially have what we call Protestant
noses and find incense in church very
repugnant but that is all connected with
our putting down of the sense of
[Music]
smell this is one of the most
interesting things in our culture is our
repression of Snell
[Music]
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cats all creatures are very conscious of
smell find their way
by but we when we say it's like the
person who is alleged to have got into a
coach with Dr Johnson and a fastidious
lady being in the 18th century when
people very fastidious about Washington
he looked at him and said sir you
s he said on the contrary M you SM I
it's
[Music]
stink you see we don't like
smells and particularly we don't like
the smell of the human
organ we would rather smell of
disinfectant of lavoris or uh something
chemical like that then would smell of
people therefore the clean uh good
healthy Western civilized type of person
smells
chemicals in fact he SMS like a public
toilet rather than snowing
humans and uh to be smelly you see is to
be
stinky means the same
thing and therefore curious the sense of
smell becomes the transmission
sense of the
unconscious it becomes immensely
important just because it's
repressed and we get all kinds of
messages which for reasons that we don't
understand influence our likes and
dislikes of other people we like the
people who smell
goodies dislike the people who don't
smell goodies although this never passes
through conscious mind an enormous
amount of communication Comes This Way
memories for example are wonderfully
evoked by
smells all sorts of situations in
childhood when we weren't so unconscious
of
smell are evoked it's why we like the
smell of freshly cooking coffee so much
it reminds us of wonderful breakfasts
long ago of home of mother of the
kitchen smells of freshly cooking bacon
you know all that sort of thing goes
with the smell of burning Autumn
Leaves and all these really cherished
[Music]
smells and immediately evoke memories
that's why you see in uh Buddhist and
Hindu and Catholic Worship incense is
used because there are certain smells
connected with the shall I I say the
religious Consciousness which evoke that
[Music]
Consciousness and uh in a very very
powerful
way so then this is the sort of mystery
that goes on at
altars where people are doing
things that indicate basically reverence
for Life Albert
schweiter reverence for
life this is the sacrificial bread and
the sacrificial wine upon which your
life depends and therefore honor is done
to
it the Christian idea of the communion
is really very very
[Music]
[Applause]
simple because the meaning of the
[Music]
mass which Jesus was trying to point
out
was that the Christ
[Music]
sacrifice was
basically the grinding up of Wheat and
the crushing of
grapes the sacrifice of every living
creature which maintains the human
pieces this is my body which
is therefore for the death of All
Creatures which give other creatures
life is the ongoing process of Love of
self
offering which constitutes the very
nature of the biophysical
world and therefore if you say grace
before
meals what you should really thank is
the dead cow The Dead Fish or the
crushed grain which you are about to eat
and say to this thank you very
much for allowing your life to be
transformed into
mine and so the natural outcome of Grace
is eventually to allow your life to be
transformed into the life of other
beings still be they ever so humble be
they merely bacteria or
worms because they in their turn are a
sort of
yeast from which life continues to go
on
so now uh all those of you here who are
at any time engaged in
cooking must uh become aware of the high
Dignity of this
heart and of the possibilities in it for
yoga and
self-realization no more must you ever
throw something together to stop the
knowing
team there is no point what
whatsoever in
cooking without giving yourself adequate
time for
it because you will find that time spent
on other
things to such an extent that it affords
no time for cooking is a way of wasting
your
life on abstract fripperies instead of
things of true material
consequence anybody who
cooks should
therefore set aside a sufficient time of
the day to do it to
Perfection there is no point in cooking
at all unless one Cooks
perfectly because to do anything less
than that is a serious irreverence to
the fish to the dead animals and to the
crushed grains that we
use I don't want to sound
moralistic as if uh naughty naughty to
be irreverent to these creatures I'm
merely saying that if you aren't
reverent towards them you will not eat
well because the process of transforming
the valuable living elements into great
dishes is really worth
it but the basic thing in being a good
cook is that you must love the natural
elements which go into
it in other words when you get spread
out on the chopping
board various meats and
vegetables
eggs and so
on
[Music]
you must
start by feeling of love for those
[Music]
things r the vegetables in your
hands look how Exquisite they are when
you slice say a Purple Onion look at the
lines the patterns in what is then
displayed look at a fish laid out in
front of you the wonderful music of its
scales what a beautiful thing it is the
way the bones are
formed when you slice meat look at the
marbling in it the quality the
color relish all that sniff all
that and if you love those raw materials
you will be able to cook because cooking
is a process of loving it is
loving
uh it is a
transformation through love of these raw
materials into assimilable and truly
edible
form and a person therefore who is
engaged in the ritual of cooking will
never make the mistake of of
hurrying now there are moments in
cooking where you have to have your wits
about you because timing is terribly
important as in boiling an egg as in
making a
sule as in making certain sauces as in
frying with butter where the butter has
to be at a certain temperature and
mustn't be allowed to
burn uh cooking certain kinds of pastry
requires perfect timing but perfect
timing and hurrying are two completely
different things hurrying in is always a
failure instant coffee is a punishment
for people who are in too much of a
hurry there is only one way of cooking
coffee that is perfect which is jungle
coffee where you put coffee into cold
water and you allow you but you see
you've got to watch it and the moment it
comes to the begins to come to the boil
you turn it off it must never boil and
then you stir it and you put the lid
back on the pan to keep the heating and
you allow a little time for the grounds
to
settle and then pour it off through a
fine strainer in case any ground should
be left through and you have got
absolutely perfect coffee but it takes
it takes your presence of mind it takes
watching to do
it as so also does boiling eggs which is
a very subtle art yeah there is no
formula for boiling an
egg because there are too many variables
enter into
where what is the temperature of the egg
what is the quality of the egg how hot
your flame is how high you are above sea
level uh when you think water begins to
boil all sorts of questions like that go
into the boiling of an egg and no egg
timer uh will by itself teach you to
boil an egg you have to get a feel for
your own stove for your own kitchen for
your own climate for the kind of eggs
you buy from the market and then
eventually you will know uh almost
instinctively how to boil an
egg
so I would say then the basic attitude
is one of
uh
concentrating not by sort of forcing
your attention on things that's not the
way to
concentrate I think the attitude of
concentration is very well shown if you
watch the conduct of the Japanese tea
ceremony the whole idea of which is that
the simple Act of serving powdered green
tea in hot water which is
whisked can be so utterly
delightful and that the contemplation of
the bows and the bamboo instruments that
are used in this procedure can
give such aesthetic
relish that it is worth dallying
over and spending 2 or 3 hours just
doing
that so in the same way you will find
that very good
Cooks have extremely interesting
kitens that they
will
for example have the kind of kitchen
where there is not one single utensil
not one jar or saucer which is not an
object of
buy such people will go out of their way
to collect
Mexican BS because they are so warm
feeling and
lovely to have the most
beautiful jars for examp example they
will buy the wonderful jars that are
made for use in
Labs with uh the ground glass Stoppers
that fit very snugly beautiful
functional
shapes they are much better than the
ordinary kind of glasswar for such
purposes that is served in
supermarkets go to a lab manufacturer
buy all sorts of bottles and uh
beautiful instruments they are perfect
for use in the
kitchen so you find that a good cook
always has an interesting and colorful
kitchen because a good cook makes the
kitchen the most attractive Center in
the house a good cook will find
that the company invited for dinner will
tend to gravitate to the kitchen while
dinner is being prepared this may be an
embarrassment to the
Cook if uh you're doing something
extremely complicated which requires
that you spread uh yourself over quite
an area and you have to move rather
swiftly from part to part of the kitchen
and don't want to be interrupted by
conversation but that is true only of
certain very complex
vises uh everyone who really enjoys
cooking tends also to like showing off
and to like to cook under other people's
eyes and they instinctively also like to
watch it being done because it
stimulates the appetite and therefore
you ideally should have an arrangement
in your home where if you don't actually
live in the kitchen have like a big farm
kitchen it's always a good idea to have
this the kitchen and living area
separated by a bar where the actual
stove is in the bar under a uh suction
fan so that people before dinner can
come with their drinks and sit at the
bar and watch you make things right
under their noses and you can carry on
conversation and not be separated from
your
guests this is likewise the principle of
cooking say skaki Yakitori tempera and
all those various Oriental dishes which
are served at the table or fonded book G
or swiss cheese fondu and uh all those
things that are cooked right right
[Music]
there now as you are of course a Tyro a
beginner in the art of cooking you will
find that you depend on the recipe
book on instructions as to how to go
about it and that's quite right and
proper because recipes have been worked
out and tested over many hundreds of
years and uh are things to learn
from but as you the more you begin to
understand and get a feel for cooking
the less you will need
recipes and you will find yourself in
the delightful situation of being able
to invent all sorts of different meals
where you're not following recipes but
you're creating your
own especially is this true in the art
of dealing with
leftovers this is a real test of Mastery
in cooking a good cook should not waste
anything should find out how to convert
all things that are left over from the
kitchen into something exciting and
that's you see a real test of your
inventive
genius and eventually you come to know
uh in your bones in your nerve center in
the
nose what goes with what how to treat
certain
things and it becomes therefore incre
increasingly difficult for you to
explain to anyone else how it's
done the Chinese DST book written by
Danga has a number of examples in it of
uh The Yoga of everyday
life and two of the ones he mentions
particular are the art of the wheel
right and the Art of the
butcher the wheel right is an Old
Gentleman 70 years old who makes Wheels
with absolute
perfection that do not wobble on the
axle and do not grip on the axle but
revolve quite evenly but he because he
doesn't know how he does it he cannot
explain to his son how to do it as well
as he can therefore still is working
although 70 years
old then there is the
butcher who uses his knife so skillfully
that it hasn't been had to be sharpened
in 17
years because it always goes exactly
through the joints in the
bone and that which is infinitely thin
can enter where there is no space this
is dang's fanciful way of putting
it but that knife that goes whoo you see
and never has to go
crack is always in sharp
form so in this way he uh says there is
something
incommunicable about all great Arts he
says also following his mentor
ler the five colors make the eyes blind
the five tones make the ears deaf that
means if you think there are only five
colors you're blind
if you think there are only five tones
you're
[Music]
deatha in other words let say we have a
spectrum seven
colors the Chinese think of
five we think of so many 12 tones in the
musical scale but if you think they're
only 12 tones you're
deaf and so uh in taste in all the Arts
of cooking
uh if you depend on the recipe you have
no tongue you could say then in DST
fashion recipes spoil the
tongue that's an exaggerated way of
saying something it's a Hal truth it's a
Truth uh that is imperfect but it's said
that way in that violent way as it were
to attract
attention recipes are very
useful but you will eventually come to
the point
where you will not be able to explain
and therefore you get those awkward
recipes where it says simply season to
taste a pinch of this a dollop of that
and you don't know how big a pinch or a
dollop is well that's because uh you
haven't yet developed the feel for the
way in which certain ingredients will go
with
others but you will
find as you cook in that
attitude that you will become deeply
aware of the miracle of the
transformation of the world into
Humanity through your careful
ministrations therefore we'll become
more aware of your ecological going with
all other forms of life therefore
be more fundamentally
enlightened well
now last
night I was being specific about one of
the yogas of everyday life and applying
it to the art of
cooking and as a concluding session I
want to discuss the way in
which
consciousness of your essential Oneness
with this whole
universe and what we call everyday
consciousness go
[Music]
together you if you read a great deal
about
mysticism you will find descriptions of
ecstasis developed through the practice
of yoga meditation or
whatever that seem to be so completely
absorbing enthralling ecstatic and
rapturous that you cannot conceive that
any body could be in that state of
consciousness and at the same time carry
on everyday
life we hear of great Hindu Mystics like
Shri ramak Krishna Shri Ramana Mahari
who spend hours and hours in stadi they
sit there with their eyes closed in
sheer
Rapture out of this world
[Music]
altogether and uh if that is the ideal
state to which man should attain that
kind of contemplation infation obviously
it is inconsistent with everyday
life but there is a strong tradition not
only in India but also in the Far East
that there is a higher state than
samadi than
Rapture and this much higher state is
called in India
sahaja S A Aja a and that means the
Natural
State the the the state in which which
illumination is quite natural and fits
in precisely with everything in the way
of ordinary Consciousness this is very
much a strong feature also of the Zen
Buddhist
tradition where they have the saying
your ordinary mind is Buddha or is the
da the
way and in
Zen the poet hoko G
has
said Supernatural power and marvelous
activity I draw water I gather
fuel so that for Zen there is no no
distinction whatsoever between what we
would call the normal consciousness of
the everyday world through our five
senses and the Supreme state of
consciousness
of total Awakening and
Enlightenment indeed going back to the
fundamental logic of the
upanishads the great texts upon which
all Indian wisdom is
based they insist again in again that
the Supreme state is without
Duality and without Duality means
without
exclusiveness they would say for example
that to experience the highest state of
consciousness is not merely to
experience the Oneness of things you
would think you see if you experienced
all things as one that somehow the
differentiations which you perceive in
the world outside you would
disappear and that you would
experience uh all around you in every
direction a uniform
Luminosity uh in which all
differentiation was dissolved and I can
assure you that would be an extremely
boring State of Mind to get stuck in
[Music]
indefinitely uh that's not what to
[Music]
expect because the nonu means the
non-exclusive that which does not have
any
opposite and if the Ultimate Reality
behind this universe the fundamental
energy or essence or whatever you want
to call it has no opposite it is
therefore not
incompatible with all other states and
manifestations of life so you could say
the Supreme Consciousness is much like a
mirror because a mirror uh is always
clear and
pure and yet it will reflect anything in
front of it there is no incompatibility
between the silver purity of the mirror
and reflecting uh the face of a lovely
girl or uh a dirty old ashtray it will
take in both and still remain
pure so in a rather similar way the
enlightened State of Consciousness can
uh contain uh any subordinate State of
Consciousness so first of
all I must uh give some attempt to
describe what the uh awaken State of
Consciousness is
like and this naturally is a very
difficult thing to
do because it is in a way like trying to
describe color to someone who is
congenitally
blind and you have to do that by
analogy you can tell a blind person that
color is an
experience
of uh a certain kind of variations in
the
world that could be likened to the
variations of
temperature we speak about hot colors
and cold colors we call Red a hot color
and blue a cold
color and that there are vibrations in a
sense that he knows nothing
about these variations and they are
characteristic of uh all sorts of things
but he must not confuse what we call
color with what he experiences as hot
and cold it's only like
it it's a little bit like that you see
to have to describe uh a novel State of
Consciousness and in a way it's more
difficult than that for the simple
reason
that the consciousness
of the total Unity or nonduality of the
universe is not really like having
acquired an additional
sense
because it comes through all one's
senses it is very much like a sensation
it's more like a sensation than it is
like anything else it's more like a
sensation than it's like an
idea because it's very
concrete very unmistakable the moment
you slip into it and I don't doubt that
there are a number of people in this
room who have at one time or another
slipped into
it it happens quite commonly in
adolescence and uh
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