Tenzo

One of the most beautiful forms of work is the practice of the tenzo, the monastery cook. Just as the Master looks after our spiritual development, the tenzo, through food, looks after the health and fitness of the practitioners.

A very important feature of the practice of tenzo is responsibility, because people who engage in it, whatever their state of mind, meet in the kitchen during the breaks between meditations to prepare the next meal for everyone. This practice helps people to overcome their own fatigue or habits of putting themselves and their comfort first, and develops a readiness to serve and help others. Selfless help offered to other beings is the profound meaning of Buddhist practice. Tenzos carry out their practice with a sincere heart and great generosity.

The work of the tenzo is complemented by the work of the service, i.e. the people who serve the meals. The meals prepared by the tenzo and served by the service are an extraordinary and magnificent gift, enabling everyone to practise, to realise their being and the true nature of phenomena. We express our gratitude for this gift in the prayer we recite before the meal begins.