Alan Watts | Chillstep | Sicence of ecology 🌐

Summary

The 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

• 🌱 **Respect for Nature**: The speaker emphasizes the importance of respecting and living in harmony with nature, rather than being at war with it.
• 🧑‍🍳 **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.
• 🍲 **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.
• 🍷 **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.
• 🍴 **Mindful Eating**: Eating should be a mindful and pleasurable experience, not a rushed or mechanical one, to fully appreciate and digest our food.
• 📚 **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.
• 🌈 **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.
• 🧘 **Everyday Yoga**: The practice of yoga and mindfulness can be integrated into everyday activities, such as cooking, turning mundane tasks into spiritual practices.
• 🌟 **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.
• 🌍 **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.
• 🏠 **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

00:00

🌿 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.

05:01

🍽️ 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.

10:01

🥤 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.

15:02

🍷 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.

20:02

🌾 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.

25:03

🕊️ 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.

30:05

🙏 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.

35:05

🍳 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.

40:05

📚 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.

45:08

🧘‍♂️ 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.

Keywords

💡Ecology

Ecology is the branch of biology that studies the relationships between living organisms and their environment. In the video, the importance of paying attention to ecological science is emphasized to prevent the degradation of natural environments. The speaker discusses how a lack of ecological awareness can lead to 'spoiled environments,' which is a metaphor for places that have been negatively impacted by human activity.

💡Tourism

Tourism is the activity of traveling to and staying in places outside one's usual environment for leisure, business, or other purposes. The script mentions tourism in the context of how it can lead to the 'spoiling' of foreign countries, where an influx of visitors can change the natural state of a place and turn it into a 'tourist trap,' which is a location overly commercialized for tourists.

💡Scientific Naturalism

Scientific naturalism is a philosophy that asserts that the natural world is all that exists and can be studied empirically. The video discusses how this philosophy has led to a technology aimed at the conquest of nature, which is seen as a mechanical process devoid of inherent value. This perspective is critiqued for its detachment from the natural world and its consequences on human culture and lifestyle.

💡Biological Beings

Biological beings refer to any entity that is composed of cells and capable of undergoing growth and reproduction. The script touches on the denial of our biological nature in modern society, where there is a tendency to hide our 'mamalian qualities' and to distance ourselves from the natural world. The speaker argues for an acceptance of our biological nature and a deeper connection with the natural environment.

💡Cooking as a Spiritual Practice

The video presents cooking as not just a mechanical process but as a spiritual practice, where the act of preparing food is seen as a form of reverence and connection with life. The speaker likens the cook to a priest at an altar, emphasizing the importance of the ritualistic and mindful approach to cooking as a way to honor the life contained within the food.

💡Ritual

Ritual is a series of actions performed according to a prescribed order, often with a symbolic meaning. The script discusses the importance of ritual in cooking and wine tasting, suggesting that the deliberate and mindful actions involved in these practices reflect a deep respect for the process and the ingredients. Ritual is portrayed as a way to elevate everyday activities to a higher plane of consciousness.

💡Wine as Food

In the context of the video, wine is described not merely as an alcoholic beverage but as a form of food, integral to the dining experience in many cultures. The script highlights the cultural significance of wine, its role in religious practices like the Christian Eucharist, and the ritualistic approach to serving and enjoying wine as part of a meal.

💡Oneness with the Universe

The concept of oneness with the universe refers to the mystical or spiritual understanding that all things are interconnected and part of a single, unified whole. The video discusses this concept in the context of everyday life, suggesting that the enlightened state of consciousness, which perceives this oneness, can coexist with normal consciousness and is not necessarily separate or detached from everyday experiences.

💡Sahaja

Sahaja, a term from Indian spirituality, refers to a state of being in which one's true nature is spontaneously and naturally realized. The video contrasts Sahaja with more commonly known mystical states of ecstasy or rapture, suggesting that Sahaja represents a higher state of consciousness that is integrated with ordinary life and allows for a natural expression of enlightenment.

💡Yoga of Everyday Life

The term 'Yoga of Everyday Life' in the video refers to the practice of integrating spiritual awareness and mindfulness into routine activities, such as cooking. The speaker uses this concept to illustrate how ordinary tasks can become acts of yoga or spiritual practice when approached with full attention, care, and a sense of reverence for life.

💡Non-Duality

Non-Duality is a philosophical concept that suggests reality is not composed of separate entities but is an interconnected whole. The video uses this concept to explain the Supreme state of consciousness, which does not exclude or separate itself from any other state or manifestation of life. Non-Duality is presented as a way to understand the coexistence of the highest state of consciousness with the everyday world.

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

[Music]

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

[Music]

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

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[Applause]

[Music]

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

[Applause]

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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

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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

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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

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[Applause]

simple because the meaning of the

[Music]

mass which Jesus was trying to point

out

was that the Christ

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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

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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