Lemongrass Curry for Mother Earth

WA K E U P
O F OTHER S
When we started our plant-based journey, a lot of sadness and anger arose. Sadness about
all the suffering of sentient beings caused by the eating habits of humans. Anger at all the
humans supporting that suffering for brief moments of pleasure. We started to ask direct
questions like, “Do you not care that an animal died for this?” We pressured the people
around us. But of course this didn’t work. People rarely perceive such harsh words as invitations for reflection.
So over the years, we practiced looking more deeply into our anger. We found that
part of it was a result of wrong perceptions about human beings and their reasons for
acting in ways that produce pain. Rather than judging others, we saw that behaviors that
make other beings suffer result from deep misconceptions, such as a belief in separateness and an inability to experience interbeing. A lot of compassion arose from that insight.
Judging others would mean playing the same game of “you’re wrong and bad, I’m right
and good” that is at the core of discriminative, dualistic thinking, which itself causes a lot
of pain. Through exploration, we realized how deeply discriminative thinking patterns are
ingrained in our cultures and minds. We are very happy to share that today, we experience
a lot more gentleness and compassion towards ourselves and others.
Our exploration also led us to a point where we learned to compassionately hold and
take care of the outrage and sadness that naturally arise when we see beings hurting each
other. Our practice enables us to attend to those feelings with gentleness and tender compassion. For us, that creates inner calm and stability.
For us, over the years, eating a plant-based diet has transformed from a desperate
protest to a loving practice for ourselves and the world.
May our collective awakening bloom!
Luise, Source of Unconditional Love (pronouns she/her), and Valentin, Source of
True Compassion (pronouns he/him), are
currently enjoying the wonderful autumn—
sometimes together with their Wake Up
Sangha in Aachen, Germany. When they are
not on the journey of finishing their energy
engineering studies, they both like to learn
about loving communication, community building, Buddhist psychology, and the
transformation of suffering.

These words from our teacher, Thầy, are like the sound of the bell reminding me to
pause for a moment to recognize what is present within and around me. However, even
though I live in a peaceful and supportive monastic environment, I still find myself getting
carried away by thoughts, emotions, my own stories, and other distractions.
Before becoming a monk, I grew up eating meals lovingly prepared by my mother
and sister. I enjoyed food from restaurants and vendors on the streets of Việt Nam, my
home country. This eating and drinking, though, was done to satisfy my hunger, quench
my thirst, and entertain my taste buds. When I became a monastic in my thirties, I realized
how unmindful I was when it came to food. I lacked understanding of the suffering that
so many creatures go through to sustain our human lives. Meditation has given me the
opportunity to deepen my awareness of and my relationship with food, and it has helped
me to transform my habit of eating rapidly while daydreaming.
I gradually learned to eat with more awareness and appreciation. I was able to see the
sun, the rain, and the farmer in a carrot. Each morsel of rice and each cup of tea became
more real with my growing awareness of their deep connection to nature. As my awareness grows, I find that our vegetarian diet helps me to stay healthy and cultivate more
compassion for living beings.
The fourth of the Five Contemplations, recited before each meal, reminds us to eat
“in such a way that reduces the suffering of living beings, stops contributing to climate
change, and heals and preserves our precious planet.” What if this small act of reducing
suffering with each meal were multiplied by countless people practicing in this way? Together, we could offer an immeasurable contribution to the health of our planet.
It’s this potential that inspires me to cook vegetarian dishes to offer to our community
at the monastery.
I remember how Thầy would skillfully and compassionately invite those used to eating meat to offer a loving and healing gift to Mother Earth by reducing their meat consumption by 50 percent. Perhaps by offering the following recipe for a classic dish we enjoy in the monastery, I can help inspire compassionate eating. You may be inspired to try
eating vegetarian meals several days a week and see how you feel. How is your body? Do
you notice any changes in your relationship to Mother Earth?
An extended version of this article is available at mindfulnessbell.org.
The Earth is inside of us, in each morsel of food, in the air we
breathe, in the water that we drink and that flows through us. Enjoy
being part of the Earth and eat in such a way that allows you to be
aware that each bite is deepening your connection to the planet.
—T HÍ C H NHẤT HẠN H , H OW TO E AT