Not about Zen and not about cooking - not about anything!

I didn't realize constant idiotic bitching was part of Buddhism.

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I gotta agree with the OP...but I'd call the guy an obvious fraud and a nutjob--fruitcake will do as well.

You don't need to study any Zen or Buddhist teachings to finger this guy as a total whackjob. I mean, at some point one would expect Buddhists to be calm and kind and understanding. Two seconds after the scene where he claims his teacher gave him the name "Cow eating patience grass" was a scene where he lost it over a perfectly workable top off a bottle. Is it zen to freak out over unimportant things and then chop off the top of the bottle? Did you see an assistant coming in to grab it from him and right it? Looked like he was just pouring massive amounts of that into a bowl and was out of control of his emotions over a trivial thing.

Later, he makes a big speech about ducks in the ocean and one would think it was partially a 'go with the flow' type of idea. His master made that point. If you don't like the bluejay's cry (which is frickin loud by the way)--then you must change your perspective...until you do learn to love it and I guess eventually become one with it.

That's not what this whacko does. He looses it with people over salt and in every scene he's in the kitchen--gets frustrated and a little rude and demanding with people, then turns around and cries for some old kettles. He's paying lip service to his own teachings. He'll cry over the flaws and dents in old kettles that still want to carry tea but get irritated and a little mean with people who aren't following his instructions or have questions in his cooking class. Is that zen? Isn't the point that people have faults you must accept? Otherwise, he ought to throw those kettles in the garbage then.

Some of his explanations are non-sensical. He's full of it--even at times when he's telling stories about his teacher's teachings. He says his teacher claimed that our culture was all about change. I'd agree. He added his own spin about countries destroying each other and how that tactic--trying to destroy what you couldn't control would only work on that one country. That's outrageous and the quality of what his teacher had to say and what his supposed teachings were -- were night and day. You can almost tell when he's ad libbing and his contributions are hollow and thinly veiled puffery.

Bonus marks to the Americans in the beginning who attempt to explain to a German that the word patients is wrong by repeating 'patience patience patience' over and over again impatiently. Leave it to an American to define a word with the same word--if you say it enough times the meaning ought to come through. "Not 'patients'--'patience....patience...patience'" Patience is patience--that would make for a crummy dictionary for sure--the meaning of any word is the actual word.

Guys a fraud and anyone who thinks differently is a dupe. I've seen lots of people with more self-restraint than this guy in a professional setting and they're not zen--they're simply professional and many may have a moral obligation to their fellow men to not humiliate them publicly.

It doesn't take a Zen practitioner to figure out Espe is a lying sack of it. It takes ordinary sight and the ability to make rational decisions based on available evidence.





I am a leaf on the wind - watch how I soar.

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But, please, do go on! Tell us just in what way you find Brown's teachings "non-Buddhist"? What has your experience with Buddhist priests been that leads you to find this one so disappointing? Which Zen masters have you encountered that have led you to expect them not to act like "fruitcakes"? Tell us more about what you expect Zen philosophy and teaching to be, so we can know why you disliked this movie so...

Oh! You lose your temper trying to open the plastic wrapper on cheese too do ya? So it's 'zen' to try to open cheese wrapped in plastic with your bare hands is it?

I use a knife or a pair of scissors to open cheese packages. Sometimes I have to take a moment to look for one. I guess it's Zen to give up before making an attempt to look around in a kitchen for something to cut with. That's what he does. He claims there's nothing to open it with before he looks for anything--in the kitchen he's standing in. That's not Zen--that's Whacko and totally contradicts his lofty speeches.

What's Zen about trying to open plastic by twisting it? When was that technique ever successful? What's Zen about getting frustrated over a common everyday occurrence we all cope with in the course of things? What's zen about giving up trying to look for a cutting utensil while standing in a kitchen? What's zen about trying to open a package that will absolutely meet with failure and anyone above the age of 6 would have experience with plastic wrappers. What's zen about trying the same technique of twisting the wrapper when it clearly isn't working?

So the "Zen" message is: Get impatient. Lose temper. Give up. Try a failing technique repeatedly expecting a different result.

I am a leaf on the wind - watch how I soar.

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