Over the past several months, I've been publishing a series of articles on the principles that underpin everything I share on my YouTube channel and blog — shun (seasonality), ichibutsu zentai (using ingredients fully), and sanshin (the three minds of the cook). If you've been following along at tenzoskitchen.com, you likely noticed that none of these articles contain recipes. That's intentional.

Shōjin ryōri is often translated as "Buddhist temple cuisine" or "Japanese vegetarian cooking," and while both descriptions are technically accurate, they miss the point. Shōjin ryōri is not a cuisine in the way most people understand the word. It is a dietary practice rooted in Buddhist training — a set of principles that govern how we select, prepare, and receive food. The recipes are simply what happens when those principles are applied.

I trained in esoteric Buddhism at Enryaku-ji on Mt. Hiei in Kyoto, as part of my ordination as a Tendai Buddhist monk. We ate twice daily: once at 07:00 and once again at 12:00. Meals were not designed around personal preference or novelty. They were built around structure, season, and intention. The framework was and is spare: a bowl of rice porridge, pickles, a sesame salt in the morning, and a bowl of rice, a simple soup, a vegetable dish at noon.

The principles ask you to use what is available, use all of it, and bring your full attention to the practice of preparation. What emerges from that discipline is food that is nourishing, balanced, and — perhaps unexpectedly — deeply satisfying.

These articles draw from my experience living on the Mountain, the traditions that were passed along to me, and my reflections on what I learned in the process.

What I realized as I sat down to write the first one is that I had been sharing the branches without first showing you the root. My intention was to correct that by taking a step back from videos and recipes and offer a proper introduction to shōjin ryōri: what it is, where it comes from, and why I believe its principles offer something genuinely useful for how we eat today.

The three articles below are the starting point. More to come.

What is Shōjin Ryōri 精進料理? Shōjin ryōri, the traditional cooking style of Japanese temples, isn't simply a cuisine. It is a practice designed to cultivate holistic well-being of body, mind, and spirit. Read article

Shun 旬: The Philosophy of Seasonality in Shōjin Ryōri In monastery kitchens time is not measured by the clock. It is measured by the moment a bamboo shoot pushes through the soil and reaches for the sun. Read article

Sanshin 三心: The Three Minds of the Buddhist Kitchen The quality of a meal begins with the mental posture of the person preparing it. If the heart is not aligned, the meal is already compromised before the fire is lit. Read article