( Dogen’s Instructions for the Cook – XXVI)
My view is just my view, but is one that is sometimes criticized by Buddhists of a more literal or traditional bent … who often tell me that my beliefs and comments will land me next life reborn as a wild fox, or perhaps in a Buddhist Hell.
According to Professor Foulk, the first
reference here is to “thefamous story of a poor old woman who made an offering to Buddha of the waterthat she had used to rinse rice and, as a result, was reborn as a deva or humanfor fifteen kalpas [long ages], gained a male body [typically necessary for Budhahood in traditional Buddhism], and eventually became a buddha herself” … the second is about “King Ashoka [who], legend hasit, tried to contribute a huge amount of gold to a monastery, but was preventedby his son and ministers. … Finally he took half a crabapple thathe had in his own hands and … gave the fruit to themonks. They received it courteously, ground it into flour, and baked it into acake, which was shared by all. This was Ashoka’s final establishment of hisgood karmic roots.”
(I mean, one may not need to take literally every belief of ancient Buddhism … such as that belief about women, still felt in some corners of Buddhsm)
As for the [proper]attitude in preparing food offerings and handling ingredients, do not debatethe fineness of things and do not debate their coarseness, but take asessential the profound arousal of a true mind and a respectful mind.
Have you not seen thata single bowl of starchy water, offered to Him of the Ten Names, naturallyresulted in wondrous merit that carried an old woman through future births; andthat half a crabapple fruit, given to a single monastery, enabled King Ashokafinally to establish his vast good karmic roots, gain a prediction, and bringabout a great result? Although they create a karmic connection with the Buddha,[donations that are] large and vacuous are not the same as [ones that are]small and sincere. This is the practice of a [true] person.
From: Tenzo Kyokun - Instructions for the Cook by Eihei Dogen - Translated by Griffith Foulk
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