The Five Contemplations

• Our Summer 2010 Potluck — Portland, Oregon, USA

  The Contemplations are spoken before meals in the Order of Interbeing:

• This food is a gift of the earth, the sky, numerous living beings, and much hard work.
• May we eat with mindfulness and gratitude so as to be worthy to receive it.
• May we transform our unwholesome mental formations, especially our greed, and learn to eat with moderation.
• May we keep our compassion alive by eating in such a way that we reduce the suffering of living beings, preserve our planet, and reverse the process of global warming.
• We accept this food so that we may nurture our sisterhood and brotherhood, strengthen our sangha [community] and nourish our ideal of serving all beings.

 

These principles guide our mission on this website: to facilitate cooking and eating with mindfulness in such a way that we help to reduce the suffering of living beings, preserve our planet, and reverse the process of global warming.