Resources for the tenzoThe tenzo, one of the officers in the roku chiji, is literally “in charge of seating” -- ten 典 means in charge of and zo 座 means seating. We don’t know why, but likely this was originally a job that covered making sure people's practical needs for things like seats, robes and food were met, that there were flowers and incense for offerings, and that other supplies and finances were managed. This included overseeing the kitchen, and might be why the role eventually focused on that.
As tenzos, we can take our leadership attitude from the phrase nichijo sahanji: the everyday affairs of tea and meals. We cook and eat every day and may not consider it practice. However, in order to live, we have to take in the lives of plants and animals. One of the main points of Dogen’s Tenzo Kyokun is that preparing meals is an activity of the buddha and an important opportunity for developing practice. When it’s our turn to prepare meals for the sangha, we shouldn't think of it as just another work assignment, or resent the time out of the zendo. Cooking and zazen aren’t two separate things; both require paying attention to what we’re doing and its effect on others. Thus Dogen says that if we’re going at this without understanding what it means, we’re doing a lot of hard work and wasting the opportunity, just as is true for all other daily activities. If we’re wholeheartedly preparing meals for people, it doesn’t matter whether the ingredients are fancy or not. We’re transmitting care, hospitality and support for practice. At the same time, the people who are eating can cultivate gratitude for all the interconnectedness that the meal represents. An important part of the tenzo's leadership is in modeling practice: using temple resources wisely, being resourceful, serving others, and paying attention to practice in daily life. Practical areas of tenzo responsibility
Planning the menu
After reviewing the information about nyoho food, you can use the planner template at the right of this page to put together appropriate menus. The planner assumes you're engaged in oryoki practice, but it will still be helpful for thinking about informal meals. In addition to the materials, color and amount of food, we also have to consider cooking method so that we're not cooking everything the same way. Consider boiling, steaming, braising, baking, pickled or raw. Frying is not an option because oil is not used in meals being eaten with oryoki. (This includes oily salad dressing, greasy melted cheese, items soaked in butter, etc.) Bowls and utensils are cleaned only with hot water, which does not dissolve oil; the cleaning process merely spreads a thin layer of oil over all the bowls and utensils, which is wiped up with the linens. Bowls and utensils become and remain slippery, increasing the chances that someone drops a bowl of hot soup in his lap, and cloths become sticky. Be on the lookout for any food that will produce an oily film and remove it from the menu. Finally we have to consider serving and eating: can this food be easily served into an oryoki bowl and eaten with spoon and ohashi? That lets out stringy cheese, long spaghetti, huge leaves of lettuce, things with wrappers or seeds, and thick or pasty cereal. Also avoid servings that would require cutting in the bowls before eating or would stain the setsu. Remember to leave your dinner menu open for the use of the day's leftovers. Dinner is not considered a meal, but medicine (yakuseki). This harkens back to the early sangha's practice of not eating after noon. Thus there is no chanting at dinner and there are only two bowls used. It's your opportunity to turn leftovers into two acceptable dishes: combine soups or salads, cook pasta in leftover soup, or bake grains, soup and vegetables into a casserole. Acquiring the ingredients
Whether you're growing your own food, buying it from farm stops or grocery stores, or receiving donations, you'll need some systems within the dharma center for managing those purchases or gifts. Set a budget based on the number of retreat days, meals per day, and participants per retreat. If you're setting registration fees for your sesshin or retreat, make sure they cover the costs of the food. Determine who will be buying food and how. Does the center use a credit card? Are buyers reimbursed? If someone donates ingredients or meals, how do thank-yous happen? Don't forget to consider the amount of food storage you have on hand. Feeding a lot of people for seven or even five days may require more refrigerator or pantry space than you have in the center's kitchen. Will you temporarily stash food at nearly sangha members' homes? Buy half before the retreat and make a grocery run at the midpoint? Opt for non-perishable ingredients to stretch your cold storage? Fortunately, it’s pretty simple to figure out how much food you need, because you actually know how much each bowl will hold: 1 cup for the first bowl, 1/2 cup for the second, and 1/4 cup for the third. Multiply by the number of people and add half as much again for seconds. Don’t go by the serving size in the recipe or on the package; consider the actual bowls people will be using. If the meal is information and you're not using oryoki, people may eat a bit more. Overseeing kitchen workers
In another place, the tenzo would be managing a kitchen crew - people chopping, prepping, making the third bowl - getting ready for serve-up, helping with clean-up - in some places, making the dinner so the tenzo can rest That means assigning work, teaching skills, explaining the plan, overseeing the product - in North America, these folks are not monks and may be beginners - can’t just add cooking to the general work rotation, abandoning them in the kitchen Not just that they can’t find the peeler and the corn starch - not yet immersed in all the context you have about meals as practice - part of your job is to model and explain that context -- not the family reunion - they don’t know what they don’t know -- may think it’s just grunt work and resent the disturbance Challenge is that you can’t be talking and lecturing the entire time - but all work practice is an exercise in investigating interconnectedness - help them see how what they do affects others -- how they have to enable serving and eating Leading kitchen liturgy
Idaten (韋駄天 or 違駄天) is the god of the kitchen and protector of temples and monks. Idaten was originally Skanda (not the same as skandha) in Hinduism, the son of Shiva and a general of his army. When incorporated into Buddhism, he became a protector of the dharma. He often looks like a military leader, with a sword across his arms and his hands in gassho. Particularly in Zen, he’s a protector of the temple and monks, enshrined in the living quarters and kitchen or dining area. As the kitchen god, he looks after the provisions. He’s a great runner, and instantly shows up when there’s trouble. There’s a story that when thieves or demons tried to seal the Buddha’s ashes, he ran after them and caught them. In a residential practice situation, there are two short services for Idaten every day that are not led by the tenzo. Sutra Chanting For Idaten (Idaten fugin 韋駄天諷経 ） Directly after morning service, whoever is available (those not doing shitsunai kankin) is led by the doan in chanting the Heart Sutra / Hannya shingyō, followed by the Disaster-Preventing Dharani (Shōsai shu) three times. Eko: Having chanted the Heart of Great Perfect Wisdom Sutra and Marvelously Beneficial Disaster-Preventing Dharani, we offer the merit generated thereby to the dharma- protecting Venerable Deva Idaten, the envoy who oversees meals in the kitchen, the god in charge of hot water and fire. May there be tranquility within the temple, safety inside and out, the prevention of fire and theft, and the support of donors and practitioners. Kitchen Sutra Chanting (sōkō fugin 竈公諷経） ) The tenzo, when beginning to prepare rice and side dishes (around 10 AM), has his/her/their assistant perform sutra chanting for the stove god. The assistant chants the Great Compassion Dharani (Daihi shu) and dedicates the merit. It's also permissible to perform this sutra chanting for the stove god immediately after morning sutra chanting. Eko: Having chanted the Great Compassion Dharani, we transfer the merit to the kitchen god of this temple, that he may guard the dharma and protect the people. There is also a food sending ceremony before breakfast and lunch; this is led by the tenzo. Food sending Assistants set up a table between the kitchen and the sodo, and put out the food to be served, and set up a bowing mat and incense burner. As soon as morning or noon service is over, an assistant strikes the umpan 36 times slowly. The tenzo, wearing okesa, offers incense, faces the sodo, spreads out the zagu and makes nine full prostrations. When finished, the tenzo has servers carry the meal to the sangha hall. It is not permitted to carry out the food until nine prostrations have been done. The tenzo takes his/her/their place in the sodo for the meal. Overseeing serving and cleanup
See Sanshin's kitchen cleanup checklist at the right side of this page as an example. |
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