Ōryōki also refers to a meditative form of eating using these utensils that originated in Japan and emphasizes mindfulness awareness practice by abiding by a strict order of precise movements.
In describing the form of ōryōki used at John Daido Loori's Zen Mountain Monastery, author Jack Maguire wrote: The cantaloupe-sized bundle consists of three black plastic nesting bowls, two chopsticks, a wooden spoon, a small rubber spatula, a gray napkin, and a wiping cloth, all of which are wrapped tidily in a gray cloth with a topknot resembling a lotus blossom.
[3] Ōryōki have evolved in vihāra in East Asia over many years and are part of the Buddhist tradition that has now been transmitted to the West.
Both monks and laypeople use ōryōki to eat formal meals in Zen monasteries and places of practice.
A lineage was also transmitted from Kōbun Chino Otogawa to the Tibetan Buddhist sangha of Chögyam Trungpa and is now practiced at all Shambhala International retreat centers.