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This talk continues Shohaku Okumura Roshi\\u2019s commentary on Dogen Zenji\\u2019s Tenzo Kyokun \\u2013 Instructions for the Zen Cook. (Covering the third paragraph on page 37).

In the previous paragraph of Tenzo Ky\\u014dkun, D\\u014dgen said we should see things not with our common eyes, but we should see things with the dharma eye or Buddha\\u2019s eye; and here he\\u2019s saying: anyway, we do have a competitive mind. How can we use this competitive mind for our practice? First he said: \\u201cIf you\\u2019re resolute in your intention and are most sincere, you will vow to be more pure-hearted than the ancients and surpass even the elders in attentiveness.\\u201d

So he said that instead of competing with the contemporaries, the people around you, you should compete with the ancient masters, or elders. This is kind of a tricky thing, an interesting thing. D\\u014dgen said when we really, sincerely want to work as a tenzo, in order to develop or improve our ability to make better dishes, somehow we need to compete; compete with ourselves and compete with others. How can we use this competitive mind to become better?

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This talk was originally given at Sanshinji in Bloomington, IN on September 26, 2007. Please consider supporting Okumura Roshi\'s teachings and the activities of Sanshin Zen Community by making a contribution on this podcast\'s page\\xa0(http://sanshin.podomatic.com), at Sanshin\'s home page\\xa0(http://sanshinji.org/home/), or at the D\\u014dgen Institute website\\xa0(http://dogeninstitute.org/home/donate/).