Today, the little monk Yunxin enjoyed an exquisite vegetarian meal.

He and several of his fellow students ate five dishes together.

The vegetarian dishes prepared for them by the owner of Suiyuan Vegetarian Restaurant were all delicious dishes that he had never tasted before.

So being vegetarian doesn't necessarily mean being austere and tasteless...

For example, the Ziyun vegetarian assortment features red and yellow bell peppers, green celery shreds, pickled cucumber shreds, pickled lettuce shreds, dark brown wood ear shreds, and brownish-white shiitake mushroom slices. The color combination alone is very pleasing to the eye.

The initial taste is a subtle sweetness and the spicy kick of the pickles that linger on the lips and tongue.

It also has a fragrant sesame oil flavor, like many vegetables singing and dancing together in your mouth, holding a vegetable festival.

For example, the honey-scented lily and melon dish.

After the pumpkin is steamed, it is mashed into a puree and placed in a round plate, forming a round, bulging mound.

Pearl-like white lily petals were inserted one by one into this pile of pumpkin puree.

Like a blooming white lotus.

Each petal is as white as snow, slightly curled, and the stamens are golden and tender.

It seems as if osmanthus nectar has been poured over it, making each white lotus petal crystal clear, as if dewdrops are rolling on it.

Pick up a petal and put it in your mouth.

The white lily has a crisp and sweet taste like water chestnuts, and you can feel its freshness and juiciness when it is picked.

The golden pumpkin has a soft, sweet taste that melts in your mouth with just a gentle touch of the tongue.

A suitable amount of osmanthus honey also leaves an incredibly sweet aroma in your mouth.

The pumpkin puree is smooth and sweet, while the lily petals are refreshing and help to relieve dryness.

He kept eating spoonful after spoonful, unable to stop.

There's also mushroom and vermicelli casserole, pan-fried buns, and pickled mustard tuber and vegetable soup.

The glass noodles are smooth and juicy, with a slightly spicy flavor, making them a delightful accompaniment to pan-fried buns.

The fragrant steamed buns have a golden-brown crispy crust and are sprinkled with white and black sesame seeds.

The top retains the softness and smoothness of the steamed bun, while the bottom has a crispy, layered texture.

Each time I chew, I can hear myself making a "crunching" sound that echoes in my ears.

Finally, have a bowl of pickled mustard greens and vegetable soup.

Although the ingredients are very ordinary and unremarkable, it is unexpectedly delicious.

Leaves paired with stems, fresh leaves paired with pickled leaves.

The refreshing and juicy texture, combined with the fermented saltiness, creates a unique and exquisite flavor.

While the young monk Yunxin was out working, he was still savoring the wonderful breakfast he had eaten.

The monk Guanjing was sweeping fallen leaves beside him.

Seeing his junior brother's dazed look, he tapped Yunxin on the head with a broom!

"What are you thinking about! You're not even working properly anymore, and you haven't come for breakfast either. What have you been up to?"

"Ouch!" said the young monk Yunxin, clutching his bald head. "Senior brother, go easy on me!"

"Then tell me honestly, why don't you eat vegetarian meals in the morning? You're still growing, and you need to eat three meals a day on time."

"Uh... I ate my senior brother's food," Yun Xin said embarrassedly.

"Why didn't I see you at Xiangji Kitchen? Did you eat the snacks the volunteers gave you?"

"No, this morning I went to eat vegetarian food outside the temple with Layman Bao Shan and a few fellow disciples."

Guan Jing: "Oh? A new vegetarian restaurant has opened outside the temple? How's it?"

Yunxin: "Uh... it's alright. There are four of us at a table, and the boss served five dishes to each table."

Guan Jing: "It's not easy to cook five dishes in the morning."

Yunxin: "Uh... there are 12 of us, and each of us has five dishes on the table. Each dish is different, so there are actually fifteen dishes."

Guan Jing: "Fifteen dishes? A whole hour for breakfast? And each dish is different? Are they all freshly made?"

Yun thought for a moment and said, "Yes... Apart from the dough that needs to be fermented, which the boss said was fermented in the refrigerator the night before, everything else is stir-fried and made to order. However, many ingredients are common, such as various cucumber strips, celery, carrots, corn, and mushrooms. They are just cooked in different ways and become all kinds of vegetarian dishes."

Guan Jing: "At first, I was a little angry when I heard you say that you didn't come to eat the vegetarian food made by your senior brother. But now that I've heard what you said, she must be a master chef. Someone like me, who has only been in the kitchen for a little over a year, can't compare to her. I'll go and ask my master to give me a different job so that no one will come to the kitchen to eat anymore and I won't ruin the temple's food all by myself."

Yunxin: "Senior brother! That's not what I meant! Your cooking is delicious too, it's just that everyone sometimes wants a change of pace."

Guan Jing: "Junior brother, please don't try to comfort me. I know my true level. I shouldn't be in this position every day hurting your taste buds."

...

Guan Jing is the head cook in the Xiangji kitchen.

Over the past year, the abbot has entrusted him with the management of all the vegetarian meals in the monastery.

Before becoming a monk, he was a man who had never cooked before and had zero cooking experience, but he was very eager to learn.

He really wanted to complete the first task his master had given him.

However, cooking skills sometimes require some talent and enlightenment; you can't make food delicious just by blindly blindly rushing through it.

He often felt that the harder he tried, the more he failed...

Despite putting a lot of effort into preparing the daily vegetarian meals, the diners didn't seem to appreciate it.

He often saw the vegetarian dishes he made being thrown into the trash can by diners, or being used to feed stray cats and dogs.

To be honest, I felt sad. Perhaps he hadn't been a monk long enough and his understanding wasn't sufficient.

He still can't accept the fact that people don't like the food he cooks.

He had asked the abbot to let him resign from the position, but the abbot said it was a course of study to train his character.

If you calm down and observe every flower and tree in the world, you will one day find a resonance between spiritual practice and food.

He feels very wronged now. Why is it that other people who become monks only have to work and chant sutras every day, with the morning bell and evening drum?

He, however, had to learn to cook, while others were chanting scriptures, he was stir-frying dishes.

After everyone has finished eating and the kitchen is cleaned up, he still has to participate in the farm work.

He must be the most thankless monk at Qingyuan Temple.

Look, even my roommate, Junior Brother Yunxin, isn't coming to eat today. What's the point of doing this job?

So Guanjing went to the abbot's office again and asked the master.

"Greetings, Master!" Guan Jing clasped her hands in a gesture of respect.

“I really don’t want to be a cook anymore. I feel I’m not suited for this job. Not only do my fellow monks and fellow worshippers not like the food I make, but even the cats and dogs won’t eat it. It’s clear I really don’t have the talent for cooking. Please let me change jobs, Master. I can ring the bell early in the morning or repair the temple.”

"Amitabha," the abbot said, sitting on the futon and slowly opening his eyes.

"Guanjing, do you know why I gave you this Dharma name?"

Guan Jing shook his head: "This disciple does not know."

The abbot said, "With boundless wisdom, the mind is at ease; speech, silence, movement, and stillness are all natural."

"Sitting is meditation, moving is meditation. When the mind is calm and not attached to any particular state, one will be at ease. In this ease, supreme wisdom will naturally arise."

"The Buddha said: 'One flower, one world; one leaf, one Buddha.' I want to tell you that the small space of the stove is also a small world, a world of flowers and plants, fruits, rice and noodles, and all things can be Buddhas."