Last evening, I was in the mood for a spicy vegetable and lentil stew. My mouth was watering at the prospect of having a delicious rice with stew combo. There was a *small* hurdle to that plan which was that I can’t cook to save my life! Yet, I wanted to see what I could do to make a stew. I was going to improvise.
I started out by getting out the carrots, tomatoes, onions, gourd, cucumber, curry leaves and other assorted items and put them on the kitchen counter. As I washed the vegetables, I started going into the zone. As I peeled the vegetables, I went deeper into the zone. My mind was becoming still and everything around started becoming quieter.
I started cutting the carrots first into 3 equal pieces and then slicing each piece into 6 long fingers, then chopping up the fingers into 6 small cubes. As I was cutting, everything became slower and slower, calmer and calmer until there was deep stillness. That’s when I remembered that cutting vegetables is a complete meditation practice at par with sitting inside a pagoda or a Buddhist temple and meditating. In fact, more so – I only go to a monastery during a retreat, but I can cut vegetables every day.
Being fully present each time your knife slices into a cucumber is like being present for each breath as it comes in and as it goes out. Whenever a stray thought arises to distract, I reminded myself that paying attention while cutting vegetables with a knife is absolutely essential.
This state of deep calm stayed with me throughout the making of the stew. It seemed to me that each action is permeated with deep meaning and joy. This is the meaning of life: cutting vegetables! This is how wannabe cooks attain enlightenment: one diced carrot at a time ?
The universe outside of us is only a reflection of our inner state. The quieter our mind gets, the quieter the world gets. The only real way to bring change into the world is to begin by bringing change into ourselves. World peace can only be achieved through self-peace. After all, if I cannot bring change into myself, how can I expect anything else or anyone else to change?
And here’s the most beautiful thing: If I undergo deep transformation and learn to live totally at peace with myself and with everything around me, I realise that nothing else and no one else needs to change. And when I stop trying to change everything and everyone around me, they begin to change automatically, without any trying or effort on my part.
Let’s begin a new movement – World peace through diced vegetables!
P.S. The stew turned out decently
