How to Cook Your Life, a film by Doris Dörrie featuring Edward Brown and his cooking dharma

Edward's Peaceful Sea Sangha   Books by Edward Brown  Edward's memories of Shunryu Suzuki

Like How to Cook Your Life is now available on DVD

Thanks to Yehudah (Alan) Winter, a Shunryu Suzuki student and Early Tassajara Alumni as well as one of Edward Brown's oldest friends for sending me a review of this movie on Edward from The Hollywood Reporter. I read that review and then Googled the movie and here are a few links I came up with. - DC

Official Website - in German but ah, here is the version translated into English. I don't see anything on it about where and when to see the film. I don't find it anywhere else either. Look for it at your local independent film theater - demand it! And it will surely be available to rent before too long. More photos here.

IMDB - The Internet Movie Data Base - the filmmakers are responsible for getting more info on this most important of all movie web sites. They should get on that.

Here's more from IMDB on Doris Dörrie, the writer and director of the film. She made the enjoyable Enlightenment Guaranteed about two German guys in Japan who end up practicing in a Soto Zen monastery for a while.

A review from Variety - that seems pretty important.

A review on The Buddhist Channel out of Singapore which has been featured several times on cuke.

German Films - Film Archive

Here's a book with the same title, a translation of Dogen's by Kosho Uchiyama (other books by him). Dogen, of course, is the founding teacher of Soto Zen who had a lot to say about food preparation such as to treat the vegetables you're cutting with the same care you would your eyes - a line Ed repeats in the movie. This book is Dogen's classic Instructions to the Cook. Here are two other translations of that work:

Nothing Is Hidden : Essays on Zen Master Dogen's Instructions for the Cook (Paperback)
by Shohaku Okumura and Jisho Warner - Shohaku is a dharma heir of Uchiyama

Instructions to the Cook: A Zen Master's Lessons in Living a Life That Matters (Paperback)
by Bernard Glassman and Rick Fields

Incidentally, Edward used to be just Ed, but then a few years ago he decided he wanted to go Edward.