Formal lunch

Formal lunches have become even more awkward for me 

during the Summer Retreat then they were during the

winter, when I was new and focused on mastering the

protocols. On these occasions, we get in line by dharma

age, fill our begging bowl with selections from the table,

and walk solemnly past the throng of lay practitioners. They

stand to one side, palms together, until the last of us has

passed by. Only then can they approach the lay table to

serve themselves.

Excerpt from EVERY BUDDHA SAME PRICE, page 344