“Healthy and Delicious Bread is the Progeny of the Baker’s Extraordinary Effort”
Recently I gave a talk on Buddhism to kids. I explained about the law of cause and effect, which, for little kids, seemed a little too difficult.
In order to help them understand it better, I thought I could use something to illustrate my points. So the other day, I bought several kinds of bread at a nearby bakery. The bread was to grab their attention to show them a short movie about a Japanese baker by the name of Mitsuo Hirose, who is well-known for his additive-free
bread. He has his own shop and several trainees; he is working hard to teach them whatever skills he has.
In the movie, he tells his trainees,
“Don’t fill the dough with cream like a robot. Use your heart!”
“If you’re unable to pay careful attention to the people around you, how can you bake an excellent bread?”
I was moved by his passionate guidance. He also says,
“What is most important when baking additive-free bread is to have a strong mind that can resist your own inclination to use additives so that you can save time and energy.”
After I gave the bread to the kids, I showed them the movie. I really hoped the kids would understand, if only a little, that healthy and delicious bread is the progeny of the baker’s extraordinary effort.