To cook is not preparation according to Dogen. It is practice. It is the expression of our sincerity. To cook is not to prepare food for someone or for yourself. When you cook, you should express yourselves in your activity in the kitchen. You should take plenty of time to do it and work on it without expecting something, without something in your mind. You should just -- cook. Even cleaning is not preparation for rituals.
Cleaning itself is practice and then we observe rituals and then we clean up again. That is also an expression of our sincerity. That is our way. So we should always appreciate what we are doing. There’s no preparation for something else.
Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 65-12-16 as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC
