Ten Thousand Things

"Ten Thousand Things" is a Buddhist expression representing the dynamic interconnection and simultaneous unity and diversity of everything in the universe.

RAGAMALA in Nara • MIKOAN in Kyoto • Buddhist & Vegetarian Cuisine in Taipei, Tokyo & NYC – Vegetarianism: the Most Powerful Strategy Against Global Warming

Posted by Jean Miyake Downey on June 5, 2009

While sightseeing in Nara a few years ago, I came across a humble, tiny flyer, advertising a Mustard Seeds Indian Handicraft fair trade sale benefiting handcrafters in India, organized by former Kansai resident Maura Hurley. Because of my travel schedule, I couldn't make the sale, but stopped by the restaurant hosting the sale, RAGAMALA, and, near Nara's wonderful five-story pagoda, next to Sarusawa "Set the Living Things Free" pond, I found a vibrant oasis of enlightened cuisine – spicy, pure vegetarian Indian food – and Indian music.

The owner told me that Ragamala (which means a chain or necklace of ragas), seeks to nourish the sense of sound, and that their vegetarian cuisine springs from their concern about healthy cuisine and environmental activism. So here, in Nara, was an outpost of Indian millennia-old vegetarian tradition that springs from the belief in ahimsa, nonviolence towards all living things.

This remark about the nexus between vegetarianism and environmentalism inspired me to do some reading. I knew that the meat industry has contributed in a large measure to the destruction of Amazon rainforests and incredible amounts of pollution, but, until recently, I didn't know that the meat industry is neck-to-neck, if not worse that the oil industry, when it comes to creating global warming.

Just after dialoguing with Ragamala, I read Kathy Freston's powerful article "Vegetarian is the New Prius" detailing the connections between the meat industry and global warming:

Last year researchers at the University of Chicago took the Prius down a peg when they turned their attention to another gas guzzling consumer purchase. They noted that feeding animals for meat, dairy, and egg production requires growing some ten times as much crops as we'd need if we just ate pasta primavera, faux chicken nuggets, and other plant foods. On top of that, we have to transport the animals to slaughterhouses, slaughter them, refrigerate their carcasses, and distribute their flesh all across the country. Producing a calorie of meat protein means burning more than ten times as much fossil fuels--and spewing more than ten times as much heat-trapping carbon dioxide--as does a calorie of plant protein. The researchers found that, when it's all added up, the average American does more to reduce global warming emissions by going vegetarian than by switching to a Prius....

On a hopeful note, Kathy concluded by detailing the movement towards vegetarianism among trendsetters and the "explosion of environmentally friendly foods."

In late 2006, Kaori Shoji wrote on the same trend taking off in Japan, "Tokyo café society goes for a hipper diet: New vegan cuisine lures chic clientele." Restaurants like BROWN RICE CAFE, PURE CAFE, and NATURAL HARMONY ANGORO reflect this shift, which in Japan has connections with the macrobiotic movement that officially began in the 1950's but has traditional Japanese roots that goes back to ancient Eurasian influences. The Tokyo Vegetarian Guide has a list of the many vegetarian restaurants there.

My favorite macrobiotic dream destination in Tokyo is a little restaurant in Kugayama named TAO (on the Inokashira line). It is a small wooden space, with photographs of the Aurora borealis on the walls. The vibe is so slow and calming and their natto is out-of-this-world, I really think the aura of Tao penetrates throughout Kugayama and beyond, along the Inokashira line, up to Kichijoji, which has some great vegetarian restaurants as well.

A Buddhist nun runs MIKOAN, a vegetarian nirvana tucked away in one of Kyoto's mysterious corners. Finding the restaurant feels like a labyrinthine quest journey. It's about 150 meters south of Shijo on Teramachi. Just past a big brightly lit DVD/book store, there is a tiny traditional toy-snack shop and just next to it one of Kyoto's many NARROW passageways (this one goes back to the west). Look for the sign in the road. At the end: Mikoan, its gracious proprietors, and a five-course meal in a radiant space that features space for community events, reading material, and knick-knacks for sale (Buddha keychains advising respect for all living beings, "Save Article 9" T-shirts, & postcards featuring the resident cat).

Of course, Kyoto is the world's capital of Zen Buddhist cuisine. Chinese and Korean monks first introduced Buddhist vegetarian cuisine, SHOJIN RYORI, into Japan. KJ's John Einarsen told me about Hakuun-an, the FUCHA RYORI restaurant at Mampukuji, an Obaku Ming Dynasty era Zen temple in Uji, near Kyoto. (Fucha Ryori is also served at Kofukuji temple in Nagasaki). I didn't have enough time during my visit at Mampukuji to try it, but I did enjoy a Shojin Ryori lunch at Daitokuji temple's restaurant, IZUSEN. There are dozens of tofu (including my favorite style: YUBA) restaurants throughout the ancient city.

Rick LaPointe's 2002 article about a visit to Hakuu-an (with Japanese food writer Elizabeth Andoh) explains the background to the five courses served at Mikoan, Hakuu-an, and in all traditional Japanese cuisine:

...The guidelines for the preparation of fucha, which have become the basis of all washoku (Japanese cuisine), were canonized by early monks and are easily grouped into five sets of five rules:
* Goshiki (five colors): aka (red); kiiro (yellow); ao (green); kuro (black); shiro (white).
* Goho (five methods): niru (simmer); musu (steam); yaku (grill); ageru (fry); tsukuru (create).
* Gomi (five flavors): shiokarai (salty); suppai (sour); amai (sweet); Nigai (bitter); karai (spicy).
* Gokan (five senses): miru (sight); kiku (hearing); kaku (smell); ajiwau (taste); fureru (touch).

The final set of fives is called the gokan no mon — the five viewpoints or outlooks — a Buddhist doctrine referring to the state of mind to be maintained while partaking of the food. The first tenet is to ponder deep gratitude for the people who prepared the meal. Second is to perform deeds and have thoughts worthy of receiving such nourishment. Third is to partake of the food with no ire. Fourth is to realize that eating this food is feeding the soul as well as the body. And finally, the fifth consideration is to be seriously engaged on the road to enlightenment.

Following the gokan no mon might help you sooner attain some kind of enlightenment, but the other rules are not just for show; they actually lend an important nutritional balance to the meal...

Cheryl Chow, a Mainichi Daily News columnist who lived in Taiwan, told me that Taiwan has hundreds of Buddhist vegetarian restaurants. Her favorites are Kuan Shih Yin (29 Minchuan E. Rd., Sec. 2) and Fa Hua (132 Minchuan E. Rd., Sec. 3). Paula McEachern writes that they represent a continuity of ancient values:

Most of these eateries are easily recognized by the backwards swastika that adorns Buddhist establishments in Taiwan. In fact, vegetarian restaurants are so prevalent that Taipei residents and guests can easily satisfy a craving for vegetable edibles in virtually any part of the city.

For some people in the West, the word "vegetarian" may still evoke images of California hippies and passing fads. For Chinese people, however, vege-tarianism is viewed in terms of its long and venerable history, which is rooted in the ancient philosophical and religious beliefs of Taoism and Buddhism.

"As early as the sixth century B.C., Taoist theory encouraged people to seek harmony with nature by leading a simple, balanced life, sustained by a predominately vegetarian diet. Buddhist teachings, which reached China in the first century B.C., reinforced much of the Taoist worldview, including its preference for the vegetarian regimen. In particular, the Buddhist code of ahimsa (non-injury) prohibited Buddhists from killing living creatures for food.

In New York City, my first stop is often at an old favorite, ZEN PALATE, a stylish restaurant that seeks to inspire enlightenment through delicious fusion vegetarian cuisine. Buddhist New Yorkers opened the first Zen Palate in 1990; now there are two restaurants––one in the theater district and the other in the financial district. Other NY vegetarian gems: HANGAWI, "a vegetarian shrine in another time and place," a Korean restaurant infuses a spiritual atmosphere into its cuisine; CHENNAI GARDEN, a midtown kosher South Indian restaurant opened by Leah Kahalani, whose father was a Jewish Indian raised in Mumbai; and CARAVAN OF DREAMS, a kosher raw restaurant that evokes the Silk Road....

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