Bodhicitta as Appetite

“Trust undergirds faith. Or is it the other way around? And if there is no appetite, no desire, no magnetic pull toward that which needs to be done, must be done, then the excitement will be short-lived. Appetite makes perseverance possible, that internal resolve to weather the most confusing and chaotic days without losing our way and ways.” -Norma Ryuko Kawelokū Wong Roshi

I’ve been thinking about bodhicitta lately. Translated from Sanskrit as “Awakening Mind,” it is most often expressed in the US as the “Wayseeking Mind.” Bodhicitta can be interpreted as the direct experience of awakening, but also as the tugging, hungry, seeking mind that leads us to the meditation cushion, to koan study, retreat, taking vows, and to spiritual community for the sake of all beings (including ourselves). It is the appetite for transformation, the seeking that activates growth and change, stability and ease. Bodhicitta is a great wish to be free, and to help others be free; the generative cause of awakening.

Wong Roshi’s writings often speak to me of bodhicitta, and I was struck by her use of the word “appetite” in the quote above. It almost seems naughty. Too close to thirst, clinging, dukkha. But it’s also an unapologetically visceral word, grounded in practical reality–a grounding that those of us who are convert Zen Buddhists could often use some help remembering. Hunger means there is nourishment needed. That’s all. We must listen to the appetite (in our bodies, heart-minds, homes, the land, and our communities) for wellbeing and transformation–even cultivate it.

We are in the midst of confusing, chaotic and terrifying days. How can appetite, bodhicitta, support us to persevere without, as Wong Roshi says, “losing our way and ways”? I think that the answer is right there. Our way. Our ways. I think we must keep practicing broadening our view from “my mind,” “my path,” “my appetite,” to ours. The wayseeking mind seeks liberation for all beings, with all beings. Just as there is collective/community greed, hate and delusion, I believe there can also be collective/community appetite–a collective wayseeking mind that propels us, together, toward transformation while feeding our hunger here and now. How do we cultivate community appetite? Huge question. But I think one simple answer is by making Clouds delicious. By actively creating a Clouds in Water that folks want to keep coming back to; a banquet of stillness and response which can sustain us in the hard days ahead. 

By Rev. Jinzu Minna Jain (they/them)

Communications and Marketing Director

Novice priest and teacher-ryo member