Ven.
Xian Zhong
I
have recently received a job working in the kitchen. I have never worked in a
prison kitchen ever. No do I want to. I thought it was the worst thing to ever
happen to me. After a few days of working I started to see how things are done
in order to feed the population of the yard I am on. I started to realize the
amount of energy, time, concentration and awareness it takes to feed about 600
people three times a day. Before working in the kitchen I would get angry when
salad would end up in my desert or in my pudding. Now I see exactly how easy for
that to happen. I myself am guilty of accidently learning salad in the area
designated for the putting.
I
remember the contemplation you taught us to think while we are eating
food. How we think of the kindness of
other people who prepared our food, who grow our food, who clean our food, who
transport our food. Being mindful of all these processor and my new
understanding of an institutional kitchen has helped me become more
understanding and compassionate towards the people who work in the kitchens.
Even after work I go outside and volunteer taking care of the softball field to
help get the grass growing and landscape the field. I use the manual labor time
to go into deep thought and become aware of my personal faults in which I am
working on to become a more humble person.
When master Hueiguang talked about marriage
and for relationships he said that we must treat our partners as our houseguests.
I have never been married before, but I do understand that heating my
girlfriend or significant other in this manner world be beneficial and keep
everything fresh and new. I am also using this with my friends, regular
acquaintances and strangers, It has made a big difference in the number of
happier faces around me and more people have been open for conversation. A good
teaching goes a long way. I am happy to put it in practice and reap the rewards
of it- HAPPINESS
Sincerely
Steve
(Guan Le)
