Winnie Lim

journal on cooking, emptiness, and creativity

highlight meaning of spring

highlight I embraced the sensation of zero

highlight had I at last become a person

highlight By contemplating life as it is, stripped of all extraneous added valu

highlight Wrapped up in the routines of our daily lives

highlight I found great freedom in this way

highlight the importance of this and of all else that happens in the course of sitting

highlight We have to become better acquainted with nature

highlight The Zen precept to “live as you are”

highlight Modern civilization has continually sought to eliminate hard labor

highlight Many Japanese unconsciously regard the renunciation of the world

highlight I pondered the lapse of time

highlight the great thing about cleaning at Eiheiji

highlight Zen discipline is not a staircase or a means of getting somewhere

highlight society is full of people who spend so much energy

highlight whoever prepares food in a monastery kitchen should do so in a spirit of seeking the way of Buddha

highlight As my days at Eiheiji piled up

highlight self-annihilation has been an important task imposed on Zen monks

highlight What convolution

highlight Zen, it has been said, aims to compress human physical needs to the barest minimum

highlight But here at Eiheiji, eating was a major undertaking.

highlight Sitting this way, you become immovable.

highlight In Zen monasteries, the practice of eating

highlight discipline at Eiheiji

highlight But anyone who has received a modern education with emphasis on the concept of “freedom”

journal a tiny blip is perhaps still a blip

journal the magic of travelling