I’m Eiten — a Tendai Buddhist monk, professional chef, and creator of this space.

Like you, I am someone on a journey. Mine began over thirty years ago, at Trident Booksellers & Cafe on Newbury Street in Boston. That’s where I discovered Master Dogen — trained as a Tendai monk before leaving to found the Soto Zen school of Buddhism — and his book, Tenzo Kyokun, or Instructions for the Cook as it is often translated.

That discovery was my gateway. Little did I know then that, decades later, I would be climbing Mt. Hiei to undergo the intense training required of all Tendai monks aspiring to walk the Bodhisattva path. Or that I would spend two months breathing the same mountain air as Dogen, within a hundred yards of the very spot where it is said he realized his enlightenment. But I did, and through a similar karmic connection we have been brought together right here, right now.

Let me teach you how to turn the simple mundane act of cooking into a profound daily practice by combining knowledge gained over twenty years working as a professional chef with my first-hand experience training at Japan’s most rigorous and demanding seminary, Hieizan Gyo-in. Secluded in the Yokawa section of Enryaku-ji on Mt. Hiei, the Gyo-in overlooks the ancient capital of Kyoto. For over a thousand years, it has trained the founders of Japan’s major Buddhist sects.

Uniting my training as a professional chef and ordained monk, I will share my understanding of the three core pillars of shojin ryori, a Japanese Buddhist culinary and meditative tradition refined over centuries in the temples and monasteries throughout the country. Based upon the ageless wisdom of these pillars, I will help you develop a sustainable daily practice. A practice accessible to you anytime, anywhere that nurtures body, mind, and spirit.