Irene and Kechara Oasis
A few years back I approached one student to open a restaurant for KECHARA. But the student declined citing various reasons. There are people who find reasons to win and some do not. So I approached Irene and asked her to open and without hesitation she said yes. Irene has never operated a restaurant in her life. She has never worked in one also. But she said to me, if I think she can do it, she believes she can learn and she will do it. She found the premises, she did the ID, dealt with contractor, found the staff and opened our first restaurant for KECHARA. It was my way to promote vegetarianism and self sustainability. Now Irene will be opening another branch of Kechara Oasis in Viva mall soon. As you can see here, she has opened KECHARA VEGETARIAN EXPRESS offering inexpensive, quick and delicious lunch and dinners. Kechara Oasis is one of the depts of KECHARA and we are very proud of it.
To make a department successful, we have to have the attitude this is dharma work. The better I do it, the better I become. The better I do it, the better it will benefit someone else. To benefit others and oneself is the driving force…. We should not see work as work but as an act of our spirituality. However we view the work, the work is the same. But if we view the work with love and expression of our spirituality, then we will do a much better job. When we do our work well due to our attitude, then bigger and beneficial results will arise. Why not? If we do our job half heartedly or because we have to, the work will have the same results, then bigger and better things will find it hard to arise from you.
Dharma work is an expression of our spirituality. Work is work, but dharma work is dharma work DUE TO ATTITUDE. And the appropriate karma arises due to attitude mainly not so much what we do anymore. We should do our work without doubts and questioning again and again. Why? Because once we have decided, IT IS OUR DETERMINATION that will make something work although it looked bleak in the beginning or would not have worked with mediocre efforts. Our attitude and determination is strong because we have strong determination in our spirituality and hence wishing to benefit others.
The fundamental wish to benefit others can be fulfilled through hard work. Hard work in turn can fuel our fundamental wish to benefit others. Now to see if we are genuine about our fundamentals or just nice words written in the scriptures of Lam Rim or what not, then take up the challenge and win. Do Dharma work. Reach deep within and find your spirituality through working for others. Dharma work can become just mundane secular work when our attitude is not honed to supreme thoughts. Mundane work likewise can become dharma work even if we are not physically working let say for Kechara if our attitude is honed correctly. Work is work. Work is supreme when our attitude is for the benefit of others and we are determined to leave our comfort zones because the needs of the many surpass the needs of oneself.
Tsem Rinpoche
P.S. Remember, attitude plays a BIG PART in whether your work is fulfilling or not. Work does not need to be fun to be fulfilling. It just needs to benefit others. If benefitting others become boring, then you will find everything in life boring eventually. Make a mental shift…
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Irene has done a really spectacular job in Kechara Oasis (both of them!), especially in a country where there is still a much larger tendency towards eating meat. By her efforts, Kechara Oasis has not only made its name as one of the country’s top vegetarian restaurants but has also become a very popular venue for people to hold large-scale celebrations, dinners and even weddings. So she’s changing a whole culture! Most people want to eat all these “exotic” foods and meats during celebrations – a sign of status or whatever, but with the advent of having vegetarian wedding dinners for up to 500 people, KO are showing that you can have a wonderful meal, celebrate and be healthy without having to inflict any pain on animals.
Bravo indeed Irene and thank you for all that you are doing to promote vegetarianism and a healthier lifestyle.
Hip Hip Hurray Rinpoche dearest for supporting vegetarianism and inspiring the opening of vegetarian restaurant Kechara Oasis!!
I know of many vegetarian restaurants cannot sustain for long and closes after a while because it is not mainstream food and lack of support. It is an uphill task to keep vegetarian restaurant running. Bravo to Rinpoche and bravo to Irene! I wish you success.