Mindful Consumption (Episode #29)

Welcome to episode 29 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 episode, the presenters, Zen Buddhist monk Brother Phap Huu and journalist Jo Confino, discuss the Four Nutriments – edible foods, sense impressions, volition, and consciousness – and share their own experiences and understanding of this core Buddhist teaching. By further delving into each Nutriment, the two find Buddhist insights and practical ways to explore and shift how we can consume mindfully.  Brother Phap Huu shares his thoughts about practicing moderation and gratitude for our meals (plus, the benefits of chewing each bite a full 30 times); nourishing our consumption when we eat; being mindful in an addictive society and recognising the energies in us; volition as a source of energy; wholesome individual and collective consciousness (and habits); mental formations; lazy days; and: what is enough?  Jo considers food politics and ethics; addiction and suffering; shifts in the mindfulness of eating; the impact of big cities on our consumption; the possible dangers of volition (with a story from the 70s television drama Colditz); collective ‘rivers’ of consciousness; and forgiveness. The episode ends with a short meditation guided by Brother Phap Huu. 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/ List of resourcesPlum Village Communityhttps://plumvillage.org/#filter=.region-eu  Sutras: ‘Discourse on the Four Kinds of Nutriments’https://plumvillage.org/library/sutras/discourse-on-the-four-kinds-of-nutriments/  Dharma Talks: ‘The Four Kinds of Nutriments Mindful Cooking Retreat’https://plumvillage.org/library/dharma-talks/the-four-kinds-of-nutriments-sister-tue-nghiem-2019-06-06-mindful-cooking-retreat/ Dharma Talks: ‘Nutriments for Healing’https://plumvillage.org/library/dharma-talks/nutriments-for-healing/  Hungry Children Programhttps://donation.plumvillage.org/hungry-children-program/  ‘51 Mental Formations’ https://plumvillage.org/transcriptions/51-mental-formation/ Colditzhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colditz_(1972_TV_series) Sister Chan Duchttps://plumvillage.org/people/dharma-teachers/sr-chan-duc/  Quotes “The bread in your hand is the body of the cosmos.” “Don’t eat your thoughts. Don’t eat your project. Eat your food.”  “Whatever we consume, it becomes our energy.”  “When we are lining up for the food, we are practicing moderation. We eat just what is enough. And this is really crucial, because it helps us not take more than what we need from the Earth.”“I think people have a sort of a reverence for the taste of food, but not for the food itself.”“’If you take a single piece of carrot, and before you put it in your mouth, just look deeply at that piece of carrot and you can see that the entire universe is in that piece of carrot.’ He [Thay] was saying that for the carrot to grow, it needs the air, it needs the water, it needs the soil, and it needs the sun. And for the sun to exist, the whole universe has to exist. And then, from a human perspective, it needs the farmer and the person picking the crop, and then delivering it to the shop, and then the shopkeeper to sell it to you. So in just one carrot, if you really stop and look, you would develop a reverence for that carrot because you see that all of life was needed for it to exist.” “We have to speak about very practical things so that we can have a journey, a practice, so that we can become aware of our habits. We have personal habits, and we even have collective habits, as a