I have been doing sadhana during mealtimes for more than a
decade now. Since the last year, while I am offering the essence of a part of my
meal, I get to see the hazy picture of the person receiving it. I get a rough
idea of the Nationality of the person from that hazy picture. They showed signs
of lack of nutrition, protruding bones and gratitude emanated from their faces.
On March 8, 2019, I was having breakfast of Kerala
upma and plantains. As usual, I closed my eyes for my sadhana. I was totally
surprised to see a stately Malayali lady accepting my offer. She was well
dressed, had a gold chain on her neck.
I was totally confused. She seemed to
be from a family that was well fed. What was the need for her to partake from
my meal?
There comes the answer.
During my meditation the answer
dropped into my mind. . Eating is a sacred act of filling our body with life
and good energy. The love, joy and happiness one feels while cooking it will infuse
energy into the body. Cooking is my passion and I chant mantras while preparing
food. Devi Annapurna presides my kitchen, which is my 'Yagyashala".
The food we eat not only nourishes
the Body but also affects our ‘Mind’ and ‘Emotions’. According to “The Sivananda Companion to Meditation”, food choice is extremely important for those pursuing a spiritual
path in life.
Effort needs to be applied
to increase sattva in all aspects of your personality and your life, because
only in a sattvic state will you have the motivation and energy necessary to
expand your consciousness and resist the negativities of the mind.
Intelligent food is that which is
full of “Prana”(life), energy and strength. It has the power to influence your
consciousness and thoughts. At the same time, food brings anger, happiness and
contentment depending on the way it is cooked and on the vibrations of the
person who cooks it.
So when I am offering the essence of
part of my meal, it goes not only to hungry people who are starving, but also
to those in pursuit of spirituality, who have abundance of food, but crave for
the type of food that will help their growth. May be that lady was getting food
cooked by a maid with harmful thoughts in the mind, heated up stale food or
frozen and canned food. In this respect, I think it makes sense to have some knowledge
of the three ‘Gunas’ of food.
Sattvic, Rajasic and Tamasic foods
A sattvic diet is a regimen that
places emphasis on seasonal foods, fruits, dairy products, nuts, seeds, oils,
ripe vegetables, legumes, whole grains, and non-meat based proteins. It is
sometimes referred to as yogic diet or yoga diet in modern literature and it includes
foods and eating habits that are "pure, essential, natural, vital,
energy-containing, clean, conscious, true, honest, wise". Fruits are the
major part of the sattvic diet.
Sattvic foods are abundant in Prana -
the universal ‘life-force’ that gives life to all sentient beings in both plant
and animal kingdoms. Organic fresh fruits and vegetables are Sattvic foods, and
it requires avoiding canned and
processed food, and foods prepared with chemical fertilizers or sprays. Dishes prepared with lots of love will add to their
Sattvic quality.
Sattvic foods encourage the
development of the higher chakras. Many of today’s imported foods would not qualify
as Sattvic if the workers were mistreated.
The stimulant Rajasic foods, also
called mutative foods or mutable foods , are foods that often provoke mental
restlessness. They excite the intellect and passions, thus interfering with
meditation but making them good choices for certain active or creative
pursuits.
The Sedative Tamasic foods, also
called static foods, are foods whose
consumption, according to Yoga, are harmful to either mind or body. Tamasic
foods strengthen the lower two chakras and inhibit the development of the
higher chakras.
The quality of food literally affects
your mind, body and your thoughts. Every living food is full of Prana when it’s
fresh. Food that has been frozen or preserved is devoid of prana. How much
prana is present in a particular food is dependent on the length of time it has
been frozen.
Reference:
