Healthy Bodies
What are the main causes of ill health? Millions of living beings grouped as species dwell on the earth; they sustain themselves by means of food secured from nature, as provided by nature. It is only man that is an exception. In order to cater to his palate and other senses, he changes the composition and characteristics of the things provided by nature and prepares, through the process of boiling, frying, and mixing, concoctions which have no vitality in them. Birds and beasts do not adopt such destructive methods. They eat things raw and consume the strength-giving vital essence. So they do not fall victim to the many ills that man brings on himself. Plant a boiled pulse in the soil; it won’t sprout. How, then, can it contribute life to the living? The vitamins and proteins that are valuable ingredients are destroyed while it is cooked to please the palate! The billions of cells in the body are so interdependent that when one is weakened or damaged, all of them suffer. There is a limit and a balance which every limb and organ have to maintain. Insufficient or improper food will endanger this balance.
Sathya Sai Speaks, Vol.XI, p. 148
Man has two varieties of troubles; the physical due to the imbalance between the three humors, vatha, (wind) pittha, (bile) and kapha (phlegm) and the spiritual due to the imbalance of the three gunas, sathwa, rajas, and thamas. One peculiar fact about these two types of illness is that the cultivation of virtue cures both. Physical health is a prerequisite for mental health, and mental health ensures physical health. An attitude of generosity, of fortitude in the presence of sorrow and loss, a spirit of enthusiasm to do good, to be of service to the best of one’s capacity; those build up the mind as well as the body. The very joy derived from service reacts on the body and makes you free from diseases. The body and the mind are so closely interrelated.
Digest, p. 133
Moderation in food, moderation in talk, and in desires and pursuits, contentment with what little can be got by honest labor, eagerness to serve and to impart joy to all: these are the most powerful of all the tonics of health.
Sadhana the Inward Path, p. 170
