The world is full of restaurants where people come to sit, to enjoy each other’s company, and of course to eat. Karma Kitchen is a little different. As one of the more public projects of Charity Focus, Karma Kitchen is a restaurant that offers individuals the possibility to be a server one day, and a guest the next. In this radical place, there is more laughing, more cheer, and more spontaneity than in most restaurants. Here one can come alone and leave feeling a part of a big family and an even bigger ideal – to live a life based on the generosity and service to others.

Vlad: How did Karma Kitchen begin and what is the basic premise behind it?

Karma Kitchen is an experiment in generosity. On the outside it looks like a regular restaurant, but the atmosphere is different; it’s friendlier, there is more human connection in the air and it leads to an elevated and festive atmosphere. It’s really quite wonderful and no two Sundays are the same. Each week the staff people are all volunteers except the cooks who work for the restaurant and get compensated.

Part of the idea is that this is a special experience for the volunteers. As a volunteer, you are serving the food, but you really want to have the feeling that you are connecting with people. In this attentive openness towards a customer, you might learn that someone has just come to town, or they are on their way somewhere. Maybe someone wants to sing a song, or an anniversary has just happened. There’s any number of things that can be revealed, and if something has been discovered about one of the guests that might be shared with the whole restaurant, the waiter might check with the guest and alert the maitre d’. So there’s this additional dimension where all those who are volunteering are alert to hidden possibilities.

Of course, for the volunteer, there’s also the experience of just trying to meet the basic demands of being a good waiter or dishwasher. It just so happens that at the restaurant [Taste of Himalayas], which is where Karma Kitchen is now, there’s a fellow named Juan who is the most extraordinary dishwasher. One time, as a volunteer, I was assigned that task. I was muddling along as best I could wrestling the dirty dishes, spraying them, and loading them into this commercial machine. There were two of us and sometimes we would fall behind. Then Juan would sweep in. We’d have to get out of his way because Juan is known as “The Hurricane.” Seemingly throwing dishes in every direction and making a big racket, but never breaking anything, he’d just completely take care of the whole mess. In the time that it would take me, or any ordinary person, to do 3 or 4 dishes, he’s done 50. It was really amazing.

Watching Juan showed me how much we miss in this culture by overlooking the maestros that exist in every field of endeavor. We celebrate the maestro who is the conductor of the orchestra, but no one like Juan gets celebrated. I watched Juan wash dishes. I actually watched very carefully, and I saw that he had mastered something to such a degree that it deserved my real feeling of respect and honor. So Karma Kitchen is a place in which one has all kinds of fresh impressions, like my impression of Juan. I think it’s because the basic premise is novel and unexpected. It’s really an exploration of what happens when you actually try to act from generosity and service.

Vlad: Why do you think it’s so popular? There is always a line out the door.

Well, you go there and it’s really fun. It’s really rewarding. I’ve met people and had some astonishing experiences as a guest. For instance, I met this woman, Susan Schaller, and heard her story—which is truly amazing. I could not believe I was sitting across from a person with a story that is the equivalent of the Helen Keller story. That’s my most dramatic experience in meeting someone new there. But people love it because it’s really enlivening.

Vlad: So everything is run by volunteers, what do you think motivates people to volunteer their time on a Sunday afternoon to work in a restaurant serving food and washing dishes?

If your wife has been trying to get you to wash dishes for years, and you’ve been resisting that and now you’re volunteering to wash dishes, that’s strange, isn’t it? [laughs] It seems that people are drawn to the possibility of giving something instead of just concentrating to getting something. And those who already have experienced that shift from “myself and what I want” to a focus on giving and sharing with others know the special feeling that can happen. The thing about Karma Kitchen is that it’s like a little laboratory where people are experimenting and trying to put something new into action. I think that’s what draws people. There may be a few people who just go there to get a meal because they don’t have any money and that’s ok, too, because often they end up coming back to volunteer and serve as well.

Vlad: Is the idea of a pay it forward restaurant spreading? I hear about other locations?

Karma Kitchen has been giving rise to some copies of itself. I think there is one in DC, in Chicago, and another one or two in the process of being born. Charity Focus projects have had a tendency to spread. Karma Kitchen is one of them, and there are several others. I think there’s a widespread interest in service and a feeling among a lot of young people that there has to be a different model from the selfish, capitalistic attitude of “I’m going to get mine and the hell with you.” Many people feel very deeply that something has to change, and that this change has to be in the direction of some kind of service to a greater good.

Charity Focus projects are like pure versions of this. They’re pretty radical about that, about carrying out their experiments without any focus on the bottom line—without counting the pennies. The interest is in a kind of selfless service. In something that is truly generous.

Vlad: So, they don’t worry about the bottom line?

The truth is that there has to be a certain amount of income or such projects would not keep working. It’s not as though money is ignored. But it’s not worried about—and Karma Kitchen has been more than supporting itself. It almost seems as if there’s a law, that if something is given with certain kind of purity—if something is truly generous—it always causes a reaction of gratitude. And when you feel grateful, the impulse is to give back. So the bottom line takes care of itself.

With Karma Kitchen, there’s not going to be a big worry. If in fact, people were not paying it forward, they would just close it. I don’t think there’s a big commitment to, “We’ve got to keep this going.” Instead, the attitude is “Let’s try this and see if it works. Let’s see what happens.” In Charity Focus’ philosophy, there is a willingness to fail.

Vlad: I ask the question about the bottom line, because I see this transition happening from a more capitalist model, at least around here in the Bay Area, to being more gift economy, and of course it brings up concerns in those that don’t have complete faith in generosity or in this law that you speak of.   

I think you have to verify it. If someone gives something to me, and if it’s a real act of generosity, I know how I feel. I know my impulse and response is that of gratitude and the wish to give back and reciprocate. Karma Kitchen is verifiably functioning. The money comes in—although it may fail in the future. The core people in Charity Focus, while they are very upbeat and full of hopefulness, have not abandoned their critical judgment. They are all very bright people, who look very carefully at things. They are going to be realistic, but they’re also capable of making these unusual leaps and trying things out. It’s how things can actually be tested rather than just thought about.

Vlad: For me, it really comes down to having faith in something that is very pure, Charity Focus is very pure around their intentions.

It would seem to me that purity is an ideal. In moments one might experience a pure impulse, and the next moment one may say, “Oh, I see how I could benefit from that, and I want to benefit from that.” There are moments when something actually pure might act through one, but to think that one can be pure—I would be extremely suspicious of that. For a lot of Charity Focus people, Gandhi is a great exemplar. There is a saying of Gandhi’s that, “if you wait until you are pure before you begin to serve, you will never begin to serve.” You have to start wherever you are and then maybe by following the path of service, you will move in the direction of more purity.

For more info visit:
KarmaKitchen (US), CharityFocus (incubator), DailyGood (news), Karma Tube (videos), HelpOthers (kind acts), Conversations (artists), iJourney (wisdom), MovedByLove (India), CFSites (technical)

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Interview with Smita Khatri – founder of Karma Tiffin

Smita Khatri is a generous soul inspired by what she saw in India decided to bring her love of cooking and service to mankind together into a project that she called Karma Tiffin. As a way of giving to others purely out of love and making people happier and healthier through food, she makes beautiful and delicious Indian food delivered in a tiffin – a common way of packaging food in India a tiffin consists of three metal container stacked together with different dishes inside each one.

Vlad: What is unique about Karma Tiffin?

One time somebody delivered a tiffin to me. I’ll speak from that experience. I did not know what I was going to eat that day and really didn’t feel like cooking so when that tiffin showed up, I was relieved. It was great to see so many different dishes. What made it special was that somebody delivered a homemade meal to my door. Made especially for me! It felt really personal and nice to receive. I think people are charmed by the actual tiffin.

Vlad: What’s your favorite part of the process?

I like going to the grocery store. I like picking up food. Delivering it and the reaction that I get from people. One woman who’s Father just died gave me a hug for at least a minute, it was the warmest – I still remember it vividly. That doesn’t always happen, but when it does its really nice.

Vlad: So how did you get started with Karma Tiffin?

About a year ago, I spent three months in India volunteering with an organization that worked with kids and adults in the slums. I saw everyone there getting served their lunch in tiffins. One time one of the other volunteers gave me a flyers for a healthy organic tiffin service that was being offered. This planted a little seed in my mind.

Coming back from India I felt really inspired, like the world was limitless and I could do anything. I had gone to Karma Kitchen, volunteered and eaten there, so I was familiar with the gift economy idea. Then one day I thought what if this organic tiffin service was based on the gift economy and Karma Kitchen?

Vlad: What did you think it could be?

My intention for Karma Tiffin was to find a way to cheer people up. If somebody is going through a hard time, this would be my way of offering them something. I also had the idea of bring joy to organizations or people whose work I liked, who inspired me by what they are doing. I had a lot of excitement around the idea of offering healthy vegetarian cuisine. Many years ago I wanted to go to cooking school, I never went, and here is my chance to cook for people. So this was another way to manifest that desire.

Vlad: What response to you get from people?

Always positive. Once someone gave me flowers when they returned the tiffin. Always smiles, sometimes hugs. Somebody said he never knew vegetarian food could be so good – he is always used to eating meat.

Vlad: Do you see yourself doing more tiffins?

As I am inspired, but not as a mandate. Sometimes things can turn into mandates and I’ve felt some pressure around that. Like I should be doing more of them every week, but I realize I don’t enjoy it when there is that pressure. I see it doing it as I am inspired – and sometimes it’s really hard to control the inspiration. It comes in waves.

When I hear people doing things that I resonate with, I get inspired. By hearing stories and learning about people.

Vlad: And do you think you yourself inspire people?

Yeah, I think so, when I’m really doing what I love then I am.

Vlad: There is a vignette of you and Karma Tiffin, did you hear stories and responses from that video?

Yes, absolutely. I know of two people in California who decided that they wanted to start doing tiffins from their homes. There is that possibility of spreading into kitchens, and becoming many independent project. I think a lot of people have been inspired by that video.

Vlad: Inspiration can sometimes by contagious, the cycle of you being inspired, doing something and that inspires others.

Yes, sometime you don’t know how your work will effect others.

Vlad: Do you see this growing?

I lean towards keeping things small and personal. That feels better to me.  One way it could grow is through a vision I have of employing women who don’t have employment.  Renting out a commercial kitchen and cooking enough food for maybe 40-50 tiffins and delivering them to work places. That is how it works in India. It would not be gift economy, but still be based on the philosophy of generosity. The idea behind it is more than just a job, I want to create a community for women. Also possibly offering maybe yoga or dance classes so there is a whole life support system.

Vlad: Why the emphasis on gift economy and generosity?

I think it has a nicer feeling than just having somebody deliver pizza to your door. It has a different quality. There is this element of the human connection and bringing people together. Knocking down barriers – it’s what I love about India. I find that missing in the United States.

Vlad: Is there an elements of personal growth in the giving of tiffins?

Taking the emphasis off me, and off my personal security that I need from making a living, and shifting it to others. Sometimes I see the growth in my family, my Mom gets concerned when I want to do things on a gift basis. It’s almost an evolution of thinking, exploring a new way of thinking about goods and services. It’s also trusting that the world will take care of you. That’s a big thing to step into. Moving out of fear- based thinking and into trust- based thinking .

Vlad: If somebody wanted to follow in your steps, what advice would you give to them?

I would encouraging people to do what they love. Keep looking forward one step in front of the other. And most of all, following your heart!

To see the inspirational short vignette of Smita and Karma Tiffin click here for video.

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~Khalil Gibran – The Prophet

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“One of the results of seeing our lives as leaner and unidirectional is that it leads to a culture of segregating people by age. We send the very young to nursery schools and kindergartens as a group. We educate teenagers in batches. We move the elderly into retirement homes. There are some good reasons for all of this. After all, As Gail Sheehy noted decades ago, there are predictable passages in our lives, and it makes some sense to create environments where people can experience those passages in an optimal way.

However, there are also good reasons to challenge the routines of what really amounts to age discrimination. An inspiring example is a unique education program in the Jenks school district of Tulsa, Oklahoma. The state of Oklahoma has a nationally acclaimed early-years reading program, providing reading classes for three-to five-year olds throughout the state. The Jenks district offers a unique version of the program. This came about when the owner of another institution in Jenks – one across the street from one of the elementary schools – approached the superintendent of schools. He’d heard about the reading program and wondered if his institution could offer some help.

The other institution is the Grace Living Center, a retirement home.

Over the next few months, the district established a preschool and kindergarten classroom in the very heart of Grace Living Center. Surrounded by clear glass walls(with a gap at the top to allow the sounds of children to filter out), the classroom sits in the foyer of the main building. The children and their teachers go to school there every day as thought it were any other classroom. Because it’s in the foyer, the residents walk past it at least three times a day to get to their meals.

As soon as the class opened, many of the residents stopped to look through the glass walls at what was going on. The teachers told them that the children were learning to read. One by one, several residents asked if they could help. The teachers were glad to have the assistance, and they quickly set up a program called Book Buddies. The program pairs a member of the retirement home with one of the children. The adults listen to the children read, and they read to them.

The program has had some remarkable results. One is that the majority of the children at the Grace Living Center are outperforming other children in the district on the state’s standardized reading tests. More than 70 percent are leaving the program at age five reading at third-grade level or higher. But the children are learning much more than how to read. As they sit with their book buddies, the kids have rich conversations with the adults about a wide variety of subjects, and especially about the elders’ memories of their childhoods growing up in Oklahoma. The children ask things about how big iPods were when the adults were growing up, and the adults explain that their lives really weren’t like the lives that kids have now. This leads to stories about how they lived and played seventy, eighty, or even ninety years ago. The children are getting a wonderfully textured social history of their hometowns from people who have seen the town evolve over the decades. Parents are so pleased with this extracurricular benefit that a lottery is now required because the demand for sixty available desks is so strong.

Something else has been going on at the Grace Living Center though: medication levels are plummeting. Many of the residents on the program have stopped or cut back on their drugs.

Why is this happening? Because the adult participants in the program have come back to life. Instead of whiling away their days waiting for the inevitable, they have a reason to get up in the morning and a renewed excitement about what the day might bring. Because they are reconnecting with their creative energies, they are literally living longer.

There’s something else the children learn. Every now and then, the teachers have to tell them that one of their book buddies won’t be coming any more’ that this person has passed. So the children come to appreciate at a tender age that life has its rhythms and cycles, and that even the people they become close to are part of that cycle.

In a way, the Grace Living Center has restored an ancient, traditional relationship between the generations. The Book Buddies program shows in a simple yet profound way the enrichment possible when generations come together. It shows too that elderly can revive long-lost energies if the circumstances are right and the inspiration is there.”

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Awareness is the essence of of our being, our birthright. But sometimes we forget, get distracted with life and the many responsibilities that take up our time. Here are a few ways that we can change bad habits by brining awareness onto the present moment.

1. Memory triggers

A memory object is a place, person, or thing which we designate as a trigger for the immediate assessment of our internal state. For example, lets say there is a painting hanging over your desk, whenever you look at that painting that is the trigger to stop and bring awareness to thoughts, emotions, and the surrounding environment. Awareness is objective, it is without blame or judgment – a simple observation of the facts. Paradoxically, we are building a habit to become aware of our own habits.

Doorways are a good memory objects because we go through hundreds of them every day. Upon walking through the doorway, immediately come into the present moment and bring awareness to the five senses to soak in the new surroundings. Remember to notice!

2. Breath

We must breath to live, it is something real, concrete and ever present within ourselves. Breath awareness is one ofthe fundamental steps to raising awareness, learning meditation, or any other internal study. Take a moment right now to focus on the breath. Notice the subtle qualities of depth, speed, location in the body, and even the texture. As often as possible throughout the day, remember to bring attention to the breath. Become curious to discover what is the quality of the breath when there is anger, sadness, joy, excitement, or calm?

Explore, have fun, be playful in figuring out what works best for your life and circumstances. Keep in mind that for these techniques to be effective one must be vigilant to remember to practice consistently, frequently, and for a long time util awareness becomes a natural state of being. Many negativities can be compared to shadows, they are a the darkness outside that stem from within. Awareness and mindfulness is the sunlight that has the power to drive away this darkness. Simply remember and let the sun shine.

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The Tao Te Ching offers us many insights into how to live and go about our day. The simplicity and wisdom is encapsulated in short poetic stanzas. This is one of my favorites because it relates the the practice of non-attachment. A core principle in Yoga philosophy that has brought me much joy and has made great difficulties a little less difficult.

In the pursuit of knowledge, every day something is added

In the practice of the Tao, every day something is dropped

Less and less do you need to force things, until finally you arrive at non-action

When nothing is done, nothing is left undone

True mastery can be gained by letting things go their own way

It can’t be gained by interfering

(Stanza 48, translated by Stephen Mitchell)

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