My own teacher liked to use the analogy of making bread when talking about living traditions versus traditions that have become dead or static  •  watching a great master making bread could be so inspiring that you decide to take one of those loaves of bread, cast it in bronze, and put it in a place of honor in your house; but that would not have any real transformative value  •  you only enter a living tradition when you yourself are making the bread; that is when the spark or transmission from one generation to the next really happens  •  but you can’t just do it once; in order to have fresh bread, you need to bake it over and over again  •  bread is made from just a few simple ingredients; in terms of our meditation practice, we also require just a few simple ingredients: our body, emotions, heart, and mind  •  our dharmic bread may be a little strange at first; it may not rise properly, it may be burnt on the bottom, it may just look kind of odd  •  but by practicing over and over, we create something that is fresh and delicious and nourishing for ourselves and others.