The landfill filled with food waste which has increased annually. According to the Dongguk University Press, Donggukians throw away 1.5 tons of garbage per day. It is higher than other universities which have more students than us. Our garbage which costs makes many environmental problems, which cost lots of money to clean up. This is a serious social problem, too. We need to protect our environment and decrease the amount we waste. Have you ever heard of Balwoo? It's used the traditional bowl used by Buddhist monks. They use is bowl to experience the four spirits based on eating a meal. These are equality, cleanness, frugality, and community spirit. When monks have a meal using the Balwoo, they divide the meal among themselves and learn equality. They can't waste any food and, therefore, learn frugality. After having the meal, they clean the bowl with a little water and a piece of Kimchi or Danmuji. Then, they drink the water of the Balwoo. Through it they learn cleanliness. Finally, they wash all the dishes. Now the chief monk checks the water. If it is dirty, they drink it. By doing so they learn community spirit. Before having a meal, the monks recite the So-shim sutra. It praises the mind and thanks all sentient beings. It can be a way of reducing food waste, because monks eat all the in food, ascetic exercises. Buddha started with only one Balwoo. By the time Buddhism reached Korea, there were four bowls. This is because the Four Devas who guard Buddha offered a meal to Buddha. Do you understand why this style of having a meal is important to us? If we think about food and Buddhism, we will connect the bad things we have done to our environment. All we have to do is remember as experienced through using the Balwoo. The Buddhist doctrine of cleanness and frugality.
A Hungry Ghost Tale Through using the Balwoo, monks are taught that they should eat all the food in their bowls. This is because wasted food is eaten by the hungry ghost-devil. He's different from another ghost. He has a full belly but a small throat. He always eats to fill his stomach. If he eats much meat, he cries and his throat burns because it's small. If a monk leaves a grain of boiled rice or powdered red pepper in a Balwoo, the ghost-devil's throat will burn when he eats it. It gives them more pain and makes them hungrier.
New way to use Balwoo It is hard to use the Balwoo for daily meals. Jung To Society, a Buddhist organization, is conducting a campaign to 'Reduce food waste 0%.' It was called Jeopsi Gongyang. After finishing their meals, they clean the in bowls with a piece of Kimchi and Danmuji. and use three kinds of dishwater. They begin by using recycled water from washing rice or boiling vegetables. After that, they wash dishes with bowls of clean water and use no dishwashing liquid. The food waste produced during Jeopsi gongyang is buried in a flower bed. These processes purify the filthy water and teach the importance of cleanness and frugality.