Hale Sofia Schatz - If the Buddha Came to Dinner: How to Nourish Your Body to Awaken Your Spirit

Excerpt from Grace from The Practice of the Wild by Gary Snyder. Copyright 1990 by Gary Snyder. Reprinted by permission of North Point Press, a division of Farrar, Straus and Giroux, LLC.

Stephen Berg, my monk friend from Crow with No Mouth: Ikky. Copyright 1989 by Stephen Berg. Reprinted with the permission of Copper Canyon Press, P.O. Box 271, Port Townsend, WA 98368-0271.

Excerpt from The Sunrise Ruby from The Essential Rumi. Copyright 1995 by Coleman Barks. Reprinted by permission of the author.

The information in this book reflects the authors experience and is not meant for self-diagnosis or intended to replace the advice or care of a medical practitioner. Rather, this book should be used for educational and inspirational purposes only.

Copyright 2004 Hal Sofia Schatz

All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher. For information address Hyperion, 1500 Broadway, New York, New York 10036.

The Library of Congress has catalogued the original print edition of this book as follows:

Schatz, Hal Sofia.

If the Buddha came to dinner: how to nourish your body to awaken your spirit / Hal Sofia Schatz, with Shira Shaiman.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN 978-0-7868-6883-4

1. Nutrition. 2. Spirituality. I. Shaiman, Shira. II. Title.

RA784.S382 2003

613.2dc21 2002032707

eBook Edition ISBN: 978-1-4013-0604-5

First eBook Edition

Original paperback edition printed in the United States of America.

www.HyperionBooks.com

Everybody who cares about their long-term health would do well to read this book.

Jon Kabat-Zinn, Ph.D., author of Wherever You Go, There You Are

This book will change the way you think about eating forever.

Cheryl Richardson, author of Take Time for Your Life

Hal Sofia Schatz translates the wisdom of the oldest cultures on earth to our modern lives, showing us how to reclaim our health and, in the process, ourselves. Her work is subtle, joyful, and transformational.

David S. Ludwig, M.D., Ph.D.; Director, Obesity Program, Childrens Hospital Boston; Associate Professor, Harvard Medical School

Nurture the spirit

Be sparing with energy

As though holding a full bowl

Sun Bu-er, twelfth-century Taoist master

To my children, Micah, Josef, and Yasemin, who are loved from a deep well of nourishment. May your lives be an inspiration for others. And for Steven, who keeps my heart.

May all spirits be deeply nourished.

Numerous people have supported and inspired the creation of this book. Without my familys unconditional support, this work would not have come into being. With deep gratitude and love, I wish to acknowledge my husband, Steven, who has been my partner and advocate in actualizing the heart of nourishment for nearly thirty years. For the innumerable ways he joyously gave his attention and guidance and graciously kept our lives going while this project came into being, I thank him and thank him again. For being a continual source of nourishment for me, I thank my children, Micah, Josef, and Yasemin, Ellie and Norman Schatz, Aunt Rosie, Valihe and Orhan Bayu, my nene Salihe, Aunt Lamia, and Uncle Vecdi.

Many friends and colleagues have generously provided guidance and inspiration, among them Deepbluewindhorsewoman, Deepblackjaguarwoman, and Deepbrownmudwoman, Myla and Jon Kabat-Zinn, David Ludwig, Lama Surya Das, Cheryl Richardson, Michael Gerrish, Andr Gregory, and Cindy Kleine.

I am profoundly appreciative of the brilliant mind and loving soul of my collaborator, Shira Shaiman. In Shira I found a trusted friend and colleague with the uncanny ability to understand, synthesize, and organize my lifes work into a form that can reach far beyond the limits of my office. I cant imagine a more harmonious collaboration, or one filled with more laughter, lightheartedness, delicious meals, or shared joy of Krishna Das, whose inspired chanting we listened to for countless hours and must certainly infuse every page of this book. Without Shiras incredible ability to translate this ancient material into modern language, this book would still be a good idea hiding somewhere in my heart. This relationship is a blessing from God. And for that, I am deeply grateful.

I learned quickly that writing recipes is no small task, and I am enormously appreciative of Aimee Shifmans inspired contributions to Recipes from the Hearth. Aimee invested hundreds of hours and brought her passion for cooking and fantastic organizational skills together to help create these exquisite recipes.

Many hours went into client interviews and transcriptions, and for their abiding good help I am appreciative of Sara Kopf Levine, Ying Yu, and Yasemin Schatz.

To my trainees, the Women of Wisdom, who journeyed with me this year and committed themselves to this work, including testing recipes, Ginger Burr, Brenda Fingold, Pamela Gregory, Sara Kopf Levine, Caroline Lindeke, Liz Linder, Lynne Meterparel, Leslie Miller, Roberta Orlandino, Merriann Panarella, Patricia Prior, Aimee Shifman, and Ying Yu. I am most grateful to all the other recipe testers, George Mandler, Susan Mead, Amy Hannes, Ilana Fleisher, Jeannie Smith, and Josef Schatz.

For their visual assistance with the cover, I am grateful to Kate Canfield and Micah Schatz. For their artistic contributions, I am thankful to Liz Linder Photography and to Lisa Sawlit.

A sincere thank you to Jean Chalmers, Monica Dimino, Ellen Grosman, Ismail akaloz, Aya erman, Yasuko Nakai, Fumiko Matsuura, Michi Kondo, Larry Shaiman, Jackie Fearer, Ray and Barbara Bane at Star Lookout House, Holly Bishop, Tom McNeely, Jessica Chang, Michael Noyes, and Ginza Restaurant and Kei Okada for their assistance throughout many stages of this project.

To all my clients, thank you for trusting me to be part of your courageous journey along the path of nourishment, and for sharing your stories here.

I offer my heartfelt gratitude to my literary agent, Colleen Mohyde of the Doe Coover Agency, who believed in this project from the very beginning. I want to thank Bob Miller at Hyperion for his generous support and for having a visceral response to this nourishment work. Finally, I am grateful to my editor, Mary Ellen ONeill, for giving me a great deal of freedom to write, providing invaluable editorial direction at just the right time, and for trusting the work to try it in her own home.

Its April in New England. Ive been spending time in my garden, clearing away the dead leaves, pruning, getting ready to plant. Where I live in the suburbs of Boston, I have room only for a modest garden. Yet even in this relatively small space life abounds. When you turn the iron handle and walk through the large, white gate, you enter a meadow of wildflowers and peach and apricot trees. Continue following the path around the side of the house, and youll find the garden with its mulberry tree, roses, plums, raspberry bushes, grape arbor, kiwis, and little rows of spring and summer vegetables. But all of that is to come later. Today, its still early spring, and as I survey my garden I decide its time to prune the grapevine.

This morning I pick up the clippers and set to work, just as Ive done for many years. You have to