Hun, Zhi, Po, Shen, & Yi Bowls

Proposed Meal Protocol
5 Mt/Miryai Mt. Eating Protocol
In the Living Gods, Let the hallowed Light of Transcendent Truth be praised. Let the Sweet Mystery of Miryai awaken in the heart of hearts.

The following proposal is for an individual, extended family, collective or Mars settlement where a meal protocol might prove advantageous. It has some similarities to the Oryoki eating bowl tradition of Zen Buddhism, where some schools use 3, others four or five eating bowls. Unlike these traditions, the first largest 2 cup bowl  proposed here is not a grain bowl, but a vegetable-fruit-salad bowl, the second 1.5 cup bowl is a soup or bean bowl (vines) as it is in the Zen tradition, and the third 1 cup bowl is a starch bowl with either grain, pseudograin, potato or other starchy vegetable.  The fourth .75 cup bowl is for beverages, and the last little .33 cup bowl is for concentrated flavors, condiments, sauces, fats, dips, dressings and desserts.

The average Asian weighs 156 pounds, the average American weighs 177.5 pounds, a 20% difference that should be represented by larger bowl sizes in the west, larger than the traditional Asian sizes that evolved a long time ago. (The ones below are common 5 Bowl Asian sizes appropriate for 150 pound individuals. Heaping contents above bowl rim is one possible approach to larger individuals). We would note that sufficient calories are consumed in Zen monasteries, despite smaller bowl size and limited meals, by offering seconds and thirds during meals and thru concentration on calorie dense starches like rice. In the pattern proposed here, there are no second servings, grains are limited to 3 cups every 5 days, and fiber heavy calorie undense vegetables are stressed, along with many fast days per period. Sufficient calories are nevertheless met thru additional daily meals (and increase in bowl size if necessary).

Eating windows are assigned to a 2/5th portion of the day, about 10 hours, with 5 serving events (truncated to 3 and to different times if schedules do not permit the following): One five hour block should be starch centered with low fat, and the other less starches and more fatty foods. The best scenario for an even blood suger level thruout the day is for the first 5 hours to be less insulin stimulating and the second five to contain more starches, altho the typical pattern in times past was to have starches in the morning to give more energy for physical work. If, however, strenuous exercise or work is concentrated in the morning hours, it might be wise to reverse this order and eat starches earlier.

So one pattern is for starches, starting with oatmeal, in the morning and followed by a late evening salad. Another is  morning coffee or tea circa 8am,  a large salad about 11:00am, with a smoothie sometime within the morning hours. (Fat soluble vitamins should be eaten with the salad.  The afternoon 5 hour starchy block starts with a midday meal around 1pm, followed by a dinner before 6pm. The afternoon events follow a "starch solution" format, the morning salad a "nutritarian" format. (A 14 hour fasting period each day, with only water, coffee or tea is to enable internal cleansing.) Timing of meals should be adapted to local needs, weather and season.
 

• BOWL 1: (Average Calories 30 (brassicas) -90 (berries)  per cup) This is the largest bowl, traditionally 2 cups in size in Asia. Zen tradition uses this bowl for rice and other grains, they do not touch it with their lips. (For larger westerners, this bowl would proportionally be sized at 2.4 cups.) It is herein assigned to non starchy vegetables, greens and fruits, not grains as in the east. (This is to lessen the over consumption of grain at the expense of phytonutrient rich vegetables and fruits. A minimization of grains is a type of fasting in Taoism called Bigu.) The bowl should contain a minimum of 51% of the assigned foods, the remainder can be 0-49% non assigned food.
• BOWL 2:  (Average Calories 15 Cukes) -225 (bean) per cup) This is the second largest bowl, traditionally 1.5 cups in size in Asia.  Zen tradition uses this bowl for soups, proteins like tofu. (For larger westerners, this bowl would proportionally be sized at 1.8 cups.)  It is herein assigned to vines like beans, cucumbers, melons, squash, kiwi, grape, berries, chayote, romanesco zuchini and tomatoes, and mushrooms, usually in the form of soups as in the east. The bowl should contain a minimum of 51% of the assigned foods, the remainder can be 0-49% non assigned food or water.
• BOWL 3:  (Average Calories 166 (potato) - 225 (grain) per cup) This is the middle bowl, traditionally 1 cups in size in Asia. Zen tradition uses this bowl for vegetables or pickles. (For larger westerners, this bowl would proportionally be sized at 1.2 cups.)  It is herein assigned to starches like grains, pseudograins and starchy roots, not pickles as in the east. The bowl should contain a minimum of 51% of the assigned foods, the remainder can be 0-49% non assigned food.
• BOWL 4:  (Average Calories 50-110 per cup) This is the next to smallest bowl, traditionally .75 cups in size in Asia. Not all Zen schools use this 4th bowl. (For larger westerners, this bowl would proportionally be sized at .9 cups.) It is herein assigned to beverages like coffee, tea, vegetable and fruit extract juices,  and fruit juices. The bowl should contain a minimum of 51% of the assigned foods or water, the remainder can be 0-49% non assigned food.
• BOWL 5:  (Average Calories 50 (fruit) - 383 (avo) per cup)  This is the smallest bowl, traditionally .33 cups in size in Asia.  Not all Zen schools use this 5th bowl. (For larger westerners, this bowl would proportionally be sized at .4 cups.) It is herein assigned to calorie dense, concentrated rich flavors, pickles, condiments and deserts. The bowl should contain a minimum of 51% of the assigned foods, the remainder can be 0-49% non assigned food.


The Oryoki pattern here results in roughly 45% non-starchy vegetables & berries (bowls 1 & 4), 45% starches (bowls 2 & 3), and 10% fruit (bowl 5). Berries during breakfast are a very low starch fruit and have been included in the non starchy veges category. Extracts and juices of bowl 4 are more carb rich when extracted from fruit, less so when extracted from veges. The overall calorie density of most meals is around 500 calories, making 4 meals necessary for a c2000 calorie diet. (to reduce calories eliminate one meal and substitute fat free dressings and fruit for flax oil, avocados and olives.)
 

Our names for the 5 Bowls, are taken from the 5 Spirits of Chinese Medicine. (The origin of the Five-Shen system is found within the Shangqing lineage of Taoist practice):

• HUN BOWL 1: 2 Cups, Wood bowl. Hun – Ethereal soul - Somewhat like western notion of spirit, resides in the Liver.
• ZHI BOWL 2: 1.5 Cups, Water bowl. Zhi – Will - Urge to exist, urge to do, willpower, resides in the Kidneys.
• PO BOWL 3: 1 Cup, Zephyr bowl. Po – Corporeal soul - Soul of the body, provides physiology, resides in the Lungs.
• SHEN BOWL 4: .75 Cup, Fire bowl.  – Mind - Waking consciousness, waking thought, the Shen resides in the Heart.
• YI BOWL 5: .33 Cup,  Earth bowl. Yi – Intellect - Scholarly memory, resides in the Spleen.

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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