Homemade loaf of bread
Today, as I have been for many days now during the COVID-19 isolation period, I am baking bread. With grocery deliveries taking a week buying bread from the store isn’t working well. I love the taste of homemade bread except for sandwiches. For those I must admit I prefer the softer texture of commercial breads.
Homemade bread is much more flavorful and considerably more dense than the commercial product. Homemade bread is great for dipping in vinegar and oil. For sandwiches I try to slice it as thin as possible and I trim off the crust.
Due to a lack of preservatives homemade bread doesn’t last as long, and I’m picky about wanting my bread soft and fresh tasting. Usually I only get through about two thirds of the loaf. At that point I cut it up into small cubes and then make bread pudding. So I’m having a lot of fresh bread and bread pudding lately.
Bread making is a good analogy for life, and certainly for a Buddhist life.
The steps to make bread are fairly simple. Measure ingredients, mix well, let rise, punch down, let rise again, form the dough, let set, then bake.
For our Buddhist practice with the Lotus Sutra we have the necessary ingredients and the highest quality ones available. The trick is of course to mix well. Sometimes we may overdo one or the other. Avoiding practice or avoiding living.
Then letting things sit and being patient while our lives rise, letting the yeast of Odaimoku work its magic and allowing our lives to rise. Then being willing and open to the beating down or the tests and obstacles that arise. These events may seem unnecessary or may even be things we wish to avoid. However enduring allows us to rise again. We do this continually in the years of practice.
Continually rising and shaping the dough of our lives allows a beautiful self to be baked and yielding a flavorful bread of life.
What are some of the events that have served to challenge you in life and faith?
