B. S. Dabral

Food Sadhana : What to eat ?

From food are the beings born ~ Bhagwad Gita 

Food is the verily the mind ~ Upanishad 

What is a Sadhana?

The goal of sadhana is to know your true self or Self-Realization or Enlightenment whatever you call it.  To a practitioner, or sadhaka, all of life is sadhana. Knowing that each action, each word, each thought will either lead closer the understanding of ourselves or further away, the sadhaka chooses to only do that which is helpful to the supreme goal of life. 

This choice and the actions that come from it are known as sadhana. For the intellectually minded, sadhana may take the form of study. For the emotionally oriented, sadhana may take the form of chanting or prayers. For the formally oriented, sadhana may take the form of sacred practices. For the physically oriented, sadhana may take the form of purification.

There are indeed many paths that will lead a sincere sadhaka to God, but there is one thing that all sadhakas have in common: food.

What is Food Sadhana?

On the quest to realize the Self, one must always start with the gross and move to the subtle. The most fundamental aspect of our gross existence is food; it impacts not only our physical being but also our energetic self and mind as well! Yet, as fundamental as food is to our practical and spiritual well being, it is most often overlooked or overshadowed by the needs of modern living.

“Whatever quality of food one eats, that same mind one creates for oneself” ~Indian Proverb

This is a common proverb in the all the modern languages of the subcontinent of India. It is for this reason the yogis and ayurvedic physicians both consider food to be primarily spiritual in nature.

Food Sadhana is a set of spiritual practices and way of living that recognizes the sacred nature of our food - what we eat, how it is prepared, how it is consumed, how it is processed and eliminated from the body - and seeks to transform the individual into a living temple of the Self; a temple which is clean and pure, where devotion and meditation flow continuously and effortlessly.

When coupled with the science of Ayurveda, food sadhana becomes a deeply personal journey, but an intelligent, informed journey.   The ancient texts of both ayurveda and yoga speak, with beautiful detail, about the absolute need for purity as well as the methods and means to attain such a state of body and mind by cultivating a correct relationship with our food.

"Innumerable measures bring us this food. We should know how it comes to us." ~Zen Meal Prayer

Food sadhana begins by choosing food that is from a pure source.  Studies have shown repeatedly that food grown and raised in an unhealthy environment, with improper care and even with violent or angry thoughts, is subject to disease, resulting in damaged cellular structures and compromised nutritional value.

But even more,  yogis have known for millennia that food raised or prepared in a harmful atmosphere will impart that harm to one who consumes it even if science can not yet validate such subtleties.  A food sadhaka chooses the purest food possible.

Next comes the choice of which foods to eat.  What foods are beneficial for each individual? what foods are not beneficial?  when should certain foods be eaten during the year?  when should food be eaten during the day?  in what combination should the foods be taken?

Here the science of Ayurveda is indispensable to the food sadhaka!  At first, the amount of choices may feel overwhelming, but as an individual comes to know and understand their own constitution or “doshic” self, these choices become simple and natural.  A food sadhaka chooses the correct food.

Just as food raised in an impure environment takes on all those impurities, so food prepared in an impure environment absorbs and transmits impurity.  Ideally, a food sadhaka prepares his or her own food in an atmosphere of tranquility and love, filled with the knowledge that each meal is a sacred offering.

Cooking methods, cooking vessels and, most importantly, the purity of the cook’s mind all have a direct impact on the food.  Countless stories are told in the yogic traditions of India where sadhus politely refuse food offered to them if it was prepared by one filled with anger.

Yet when the pure food, correctly selected and prepared with skill and love is ready, it is truly an sacred offering which should be served as such.  The food should be a delight to all of the senses.

Such an offering must then be received, properly.  Perhaps the most important aspect of prayer before a meal, is to create a suitable environment to receive the offering of food.  The biochemistry of stress and anger inhibits the absorption of nutrition both to the gross body and the subtle body.

A tranquil mind, on the other hand, results in the optimum conditions for receiving the true, multi-layered gifts of food.  A food sadhaka eats in silent contemplation of the Divine whenever she or he is able, both out of reverence for the food and for the pleasure of the food.

Pleasure of the food comes not through the satisfaction of desires, but through the conscious transmission of Rasa, the transcendental essence of the food.

“Truly, the Lord is Rasa.” ~Taittiriya Upanishad

And finally, pure food, correctly chosen, prepared with skill, offered with love, and received with mindful grace, must be processed and eliminated efficiently.

Incomplete digestion and elimination is the source of many toxins, none of which are helpful to human existence.  A correctly designed diet, coupled with simple cleansing practices, will result in a complete digestion process, which creates the inner purity that is beneficial for healthy living and essential for spiritual living.

Living a life in which food sadhana becomes a way of being is of benefit to all people, regardless of race, gender, or spiritual affiliation.  Unlike the multitude of “diets” that come into and out of fashion, food sadhana is deeply personal, seeking optimal physical health for the everyone based on his or her unique nature; the principles are universal, but the application is individual.

All beings deserve optimal physical health.  But the true benefit of food sadhana is far beyond the physical.  A food sadhaka will move deeper and deeper into the realm of Purity, washing away lifetimes of stains and tarnish; to truly experience Purity is indescribable.  Conversely, to aspire to the heights of spiritual living without such purification is unimaginable and impossible!  Therefore, it is to the spiritual seeker that food sadhana becomes an imperative!  A sadhaka must be pure!

If the principles of food sadhana are observed, food transforms into sacred offerings, meals becomes acts worship, and the body becomes a temple!  Within such a temple, the sadhaka can joyfully pursue his or her chosen path, confident in the fact that they will attain the supreme goal of life.

Picture : Pramhansa Yogananda and Mahatma Gandhi during mealtime. When the author of " Autobiography of a Yogi", Pramhansa Yogananda visited Mahatma Gandhi in his ashram, he ( Gandhi) was in silence.