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The accomplished Zen cook is something of an alchemist. He or she can transform poisons into virtues.
The Zen cook doesn't do this by adding a secret ingredient, but by leaving something out. The Zen cook leaves out attachment to the self.
For example, anger is considered a poison when it's self-motivated and self-centered. But take that attachment to the self out of anger and the same emotion becomes the fierce energy of determination, which is a very positive force. Take the self-centered aspect out of greed and it becomes the desire to help. Drop the self-orientation from ignorance, and it becomes a state of unknowing that allows new things to rise.
-- Bernard Glassman and Rick Fields, Instructions to the Cook
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