Cultivating a Relationship with Food and Our Planet

Welcome to episode 76 of The Way Out Is In: The Zen Art of Living, a podcast series mirroring Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh’s deep teachings of Buddhist philosophy: a simple yet profound methodology for dealing with our suffering, and for creating more happiness and joy in our lives.

In this installment, Zen Buddhist monk Brother Phap Huu and leadership coach/journalist Jo Confino put a modern twist on the Four Nutriments – one of the Sutras of the Buddha – using it as a framework to explore what it is to be a mindful consumer of life. 

With each of the Four Nutriments – edible foods, sense impressions, volition or aspiration, and consciousness – the Buddha gave a little story which the presenters explore and bring into the reality of our times.

The ensuing conversation touches many topics and ideas, like how and why to invest in our spiritual dimension; individual and collective consciousness; shifting consciousness, generating community and a fairer society; practicing moderation; cultivating compassion; habit energies; rebuilding our connection to food; changing the way stories are told; suffering as a bell of mindfulness; and more.  

Brother Phap Huu shares deeply about experiencing burnout; speaking our minds; and adapting Buddhist teaching for each new generation. Jo complements this episode’s theme with personal stories and a new approach to what it is to be courageous. 

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Co-produced by the Plum Village App:
https://plumvillage.app/  

And Global Optimism:
https://globaloptimism.com/

With support from the Thich Nhat Hanh Foundation:
https://thichnhathanhfoundation.org/

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List of resources 

Online course: Zen and the Art of Saving the Planet
https://plumvillage.org/zasp?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=twoii&utm_campaign=zasp

Interbeing
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interbeing  

Sutras
https://plumvillage.org/genre/sutras

Sutras: ‘Discourse on the Four Kinds of Nutriments’
https://plumvillage.org/library/sutras/discourse-on-the-four-kinds-of-nutriments 

Bodhisattva
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodhisattva 

Douglas Tompkins
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_Tompkins

The Order of Interbeing
https://plumvillage.org/community/order-of-interbeing 

John Bell
https://www.parallax.org/authors/john-bell/ 

Who Cares Wins: How to Protect the Planet You Love
https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/305695/who-cares-wins-by-cole-lily/9780241309148 

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Quotes

“Every being has a spiritual dimension and we need to invest in our spiritual dimension. And if young people can invest in it earlier, then the future has a greater hope and a more wonderful and sustainable livelihood that we can lead ourselves towards.”

“Consuming is not just what we eat and drink but what we listen to, what we smell, what we taste, and so on.”

“It’s not that wanting a state of peace means that we can suddenly have peace; we have to nurture the peace inside of us.” 

“Mindfulness gives us the lens of awareness to go inwards and see what we are consuming on a daily basis. What is intentional and what are we consuming that we’re not even aware of?”

“Our way of being is also food for elements that are outside of us.”

“We’re creating a cacophony of thoughts, feelings, and actions that form an individual basis, then create a collective. Often, people don’t feel that their individual behavior has an impact on the collective; often, they think that the collective is the only thing influencing them.”

“Trust the seeds that you plant, but don’t expect them to grow right away.” 

“The Buddha says every action has an impact on the past, the present, and the future. So our actions today actually have an impact 1,000 years later.”

“When we practice a vegetarian or a vegan diet, it is because we are aspiring to cultivate our compassion.” 

“Vulnerability opens support.”

“We know that habit energy is not ours alone: it’s society’s habit, it is our ancestors’ habit. So if we come from a family that has addictions, we know we have addictions in us.” 

“Once we know where food comes from, our gratitude manifests; it is born. And when you have gratitude, food automatically tastes better.” 

“The Buddha says that our world is lived by our shared consciousness.”

“The work that we are doing in Plum Village is helping, wanting to shift consciousness, and showing that love is possible and that love is there and that peace is action.”

“Sense impressions are also teachers. And this is why, for us, the Dharma is not just spoken Dharma, but the way we live, how we show up. That is a sense impression. That is a teaching in itself.” 

“When it’s all about the money, we lose our ethical compass and we lose our connection; we lose our sense of responsibility and accountability. And if money is the object, then there’s going to be a lot of suffering.”

“Why don’t we like good news? Because we’re so conditioned to suffering.”

“The Buddha says that we have to reflect and shine our light onto our views, that we are striving towards. And if that view, goal, or aspiration is destroying our well-being, we have to have the courage to walk away.”

“Courage is being prepared to not be like everybody else.”

“What is our worldview? Are we limited? Are we expanding? I think coming to retreats like Plum Village, or traveling, is so helpful for expanding our consciousness that maybe our way of thinking about what is right is very limited. That’s why, when we learn about ethics, we have to be very open. And in Buddhism, one of the greatest foundations is openness, because what we think is right may be totally different in a different culture. So, consciousness: we have to allow it to expand, be flexible, transform, grow.”