Sai On Diet
Swami tells us, in loving detail, how to conduct every aspect of our lives in order to further our spiritual progress. He is very specific and firm about maintaining proper health. “Health is necessary,” he says “to realize the very purpose for which the Self has embodied itself in human form, namely, to become aware of its source, the Absolute.” People on the spiritual path sometimes think that the body is unimportant, but Baba insists tl1at it is our duty to maintain this “temple of God “.
Baba has made very specific recommendations about our diet. He strongly opposes the eating of meat, calling it one of “the sins of the body.” “When you kill an animal, you cause him suffering, pain, harm. God is in every creature, so how can you give him such pain?… Animals did not come for the purpose of supplying food to human beings. They came to work out their own life in this world… for spiritual aspirants to eat the flesh of animals is not right.” Alcoholic beverages are not to be taken either, nor are overly spiced and sour foods, or overly salted foods. Such foods inflame anger, jealousy, hatred, lust, etc.
He also mentions that although fish live in water, they have “a bad smell” and are a source of “bad thoughts”! Stale foods, bitter foods, fish and chicken, even reheated foods cause laziness, dullness, delusion, ignorance.
What then does Baba say we should eat? He tells us to eat food that is “tasty, sustaining and pleasant … not too spicy or salty … dairy products in moderation, fresh fruit, coconuts and other raw nuts, legumes, raw or lightly cooked vegetables, food that is juicy or oily, not dry.” He especially recommends sprouted grains or beans and says that we should eat a meal of raw foods at least once a day “for a long life.”
Repeatedly, Baba insists that we must not overeat. “We tend to eat too much,” he says, “which leads to mental disturbance. A limit should be placed on the food we take. If that limit is exceeded, we are bound to suffer.” He makes the point that if you eat too much of even beneficial foods your health will be impaired, and your spiritual progress impeded.
Baba lays great emphasis on the handling and preparing of what we eat. Subtle energies are imparted to the food by those who grow it, transport it, prepare it and serve it. Few of us can control all these factors. However, by offering your food to God before you eat it, you purify it of these influences and make it fit for a spiritual aspirant. Every religion teaches us to bless our food, and any prayer you are familiar with will accomplish this result. To his students, he recommends the “Brahmarpanam” prayer from the Bhagawad Gita. He has also said that chanting the Gayatri Mantrathree times before eating will purify the food. A new English prayer before food that was introduced by a devotee at the recent Mid-Atlantic! Northeast Silent Retreat will be found at the end of this article.
However, even the purest food offered to God does not insure a wholesome diet. We are affected by what we take in with all our senses. As much as we can, we must be careful to see, hear, touch, taste and smell tl1ose things which are beneficial.
Sai Baba tells us that if we acquire these good habits they will not only promote our good health but will bring us closer to God. “If you want to develop a relationship with God, your thoughts should be of a Divine nature. God is pure in nature, so if you want to strike up a friendship with Him, you have to take pure food, develop a pure nature and have pure thoughts.” The more we sanctify what we imbibe through all our senses, the more we become like God who is the very embodiment of purity.
~Mimi Goldberg
Sources:
Sathya Sai Newsletter, Vol. 8, #1, “Divine Discourse on Food.”
Sathya Sai Newsletter, Vol. 8, #4, Two discourses: “Vehicle Care”
and “Health, Food and Spiritual Disciplines”
Sanathana Sarathi, November 1981, “Good Health und Good Qualities”
Sadhana, the Inward Path, Chapter 8, “Diet Disciplines”
