Crispy, Golden, Waffle, Waffle.

I picked up this magazine called Tricycle. It bills itself as an independent voice of Buddhism, and contains articles from many different Buddhist views. Yes, they got all kinda’ different Buddhists out there, Japanese, Indian, Tibetan, Chinese, Korean, and western, and a few more I’m sure I’ve forgotten to mention or am unaware of, they all got a similar but different take on Buddhism. Then, within each of these different cultural ideas of Buddhism, there are different lineages and teachers and sects and whatnot. It’s a mess really, but what philosophy isn’t?

Yes, I did say philosophy. Buddhism, I’m told, is not a religion, it’s a philosophy. Interesting, I think, considering the expert I heard saying that was the Dalai Lama who is the spiritual leader of one lineage of Tibetan Buddhism, and in his linage there are many, many gods and goddesses and all kinda’ religious looking ceremonies and rituals.

I think the philosophy is interesting and in a nut shell I think it says this- slow down and pay attention to what the heck you are doing. Don’t hurt others. Respect all life, even a lowly bug. If you have an opportunity to be of service to others, do so. Don’t spend too much time wallowing in past memories or creating future fantasies because when you do, you are missing what is happening right now, and now is really all there is.

I can appreciate all that, so I occasionally pick up some Buddhist philosophy to read.

All that fine bit of meandering takes us right back to Tricycle, the magazine. Which illustrates that life is a circle. Which brings to mind Rob Schneider’s performance as the Asian Minister in the movie “I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry” Did you see it? He was too funny! Everything is a circle you know…

In Tricycle I was reading this guys account of meal time at the monastery he stays at for retreats. They don’t talk during meals. They are supposed to be contemplating the food. They are supposed to become aware of eating. They are to notice the taste and texture of the food, and to appreciate where it comes from. I guess the idea is if you are talking or reading or watching TV while you eat, you are not going to be as aware of what you are doing. Ultimately, they meditate on where the food comes from and give thanks to the whole process.

I thought that sounded pretty righteous so I tried it. I had a nice big waffle on a plate and it was covered with butter and real maple syrup and as I dug in I started thinking about the origin of this waffle.

I pictured the ground and the seed, the sun and the rain, the clouds and the wind. I pictured the nutrients in the soil and the growth of the plant which became the grain that was harvested. I pictured the harvest, the people working in the field and the people driving the trucks, the people milling the grain and bagging the flour, the people working at the plant where the flour was packaged with other ingredients to be organic waffle mix.

I pictured the people loading the packages onto trucks and shipping it to another place where it was repackaged and shipped again and the people who received it in the warehouse and moved it to pallets to be loaded onto trucks to go to stores. I pictured the people who drove the trucks and the people who unloaded the trucks and the receiving clerk in the store warehouse and the people in the store who placed the bag on the shelf.

Then I saw myself picking up the bag and going through check out and loading the car and unloading the car and mixing up the waffle mix with an egg and oil and oh yes, the egg and the oil came from someplace as well and I had to go back and imagine all that too.

By the time I was done with breakfast I was exhausted! I felt like I had traveled a million miles! How do these people in retreat do this visualization at every meal? Isn’t it kind of like watching a TV program while you eat? You are the director and the star and you give out the Oscar to the food for nourishing your body and give thanks to everyone in the cast and crew and all your family and support systems and all that. It’s like one long Academy Awards thank you speech!

I thought the idea here was to still our minds and be totally aware of where we really are right now, and what we are doing right now. Instead, my mind was off gallivanting across time and space tracking the waffle’s epic journey from grain seed to my mouth!

I decided in the future to just pay attention to the yummy waffle on my plate, and how it tastes. My mantra will be something like this: waffle, waffle I love waffles, crispy, golden, waffle, waffle.