Sharing Food Mindfully

Despite the chaos at home and the fact that to get to my pantry I still have to walk outside and come in another door, I decided to make Indian curry for the potluck at meditation tonight. It was a lot of work, as most international food is, but it was worth the effort.

Several times a year we have an abbreviated sit followed by dinner, where everyone brings whatever they want with little coordination. It always works out just fine. Tonight was no exception.

We sit on our meditation cushions around a low Korean folding table that is always just the right size it seems. Tonight there were 6 adults and an adorable 18-month-old little girl whom we have “known” since she was conceived. She happens to be the best adjusted baby I have ever met. The smile never left her face even when she fell down.

It was difficult not to think about dinner as I sat there trying to still my racing mind. I felt like there was a ping-pong match going on between painting details and the food we were going to eat. But the half hour sit officially ended with the bell. We had a short reading, adding the 6th awareness out of the 8 we will eventually explore. These are things like Having few desires, Quietude, Diligence. At this point I can’t recall all 6, but hopefully by the end of these readings, they will stick in my head.

Then we prepared to eat. The beautiful little table was loaded down with my curry and rice and a myriad of vegetarian salads and even crusty wholesome bread.

We determined to eat mindfully for the first 5 minutes, savoring every bite and putting our forks down in between bites. The only sound was the babbling of the baby, who hadn’t signed on for silent eating. It was amazing how heightened my sense of taste and smell were during that period of quiet eating.

At the 5-minute gong, we could then resume the conversation which is normally at a minimum since we meditate in silence. After seconds and thirds and continuous picking at the fruit salad, we finally cleaned up just as mindfully, making sure the space was left just as we had found it. We noted the absence of crackers, brownies, and cookies had left very few crumbs to sweep up.

There’s just enough curry and salad left for lunch tomorrow. I wonder if I will remember to eat mindfully.