Bhojan (Eating) as a Sadhana

Food is required for the nourishment of our physical body, or the ‘Annamayakosha’. If we consider our mealtimes as a sadhana, satvik energy will enrich our body.

Mealtimes for meditation

I make my mealtimes meditation times. For this to happen, first of all, one should eat when one is hungry. How many of us experience hunger on a day to day basis? Many are in the habit of eating before the previous meal has fully digested. If one is hungry, his/her body and mind are waiting in all eagerness to receive the food, which becomes like ‘Amrit’ (nectar).

On the other hand, when food is reaching the body which is not hungry, it acts as a poison to the body.

Mealtimes as ‘Seva’

The fact that somebody is dying every second from lack of food and hunger makes my inner self cringe, even from my childhood. I used the same argument to develop the habit of not wasting food in my children.

            Does this picture come to our mind while overeating or throwing away food?

About a decade back, the thought came to me that if mentally I offer a portion of my food to somebody anywhere in the world who is hungry at that time, that should work as energetically we are all one. Then it became my habit, though I did not have any proof that it works.

Proof for the theory

My mother was having some health issues and for two months she was having only two glasses of tender coconut water daily, no other food or drinks. During every meal that I had during that period, I was mentally offering nutrients to her.

Later when I met my chachi (father’s younger brother’s wife) who stayed in the adjacent house of my parents' place and who used to visit them every day, told me that even though my mother was having just the coconut water, there was no dearth of energy noticed. When I told what I was doing for my mother, she was awestruck that such a thing is possible!

So it is a good idea on humanitarian grounds to rever the food we are getting and menally offer a part of it to somebody who is hungry at that time anywhere in the world.