A Decent Start (Part 2)

Almost all who have attempted any kind of meditation complain that they “cannot concentrate”. It’s nothing to worry about. This is a valid point.

The fact is the human mind is endowed with immense strength. But this strength has come with the deadly price of instability. The unaccustomed mind cannot remain stable even for a short time. It keeps jumping, like a monkey, from one thought to another.

This instability is born of an inherent qualitative aspect within us, known as the Raja-aspect. Persons with domination of this aspect attempt to fulfill all their passions and desires by being continually and egoistically active. It is an aspect that un-stills the mind.

There are two more qualitative aspects in nature and hence in us also. They are the Tama-aspect and the Sattwa-aspect.

Tama-aspect represents inertia, ignorance and laziness. With the domination of this aspect, a person would then be tempted to simply snatch away objects of desire from others, without than engaging in any self effort.

Sattwa-aspect endows a person with the nature of discriminative intellect, a yearning for knowledge and experience of truth.

In the Order of Creation, it is these three aspects that manifested before anything. From these the chain of creation burst forth as opposing forces at each level. Needless to say, these three aspects are innately present in food too. Thus in addition to muscular strength, just as a magnet imparts its magnetism to a piece of iron if brushed against it for some time; so also, a person acquires the innate nature of the food that is consumed.

Food thus, is not just a sustainer of the physical body. There is more to it than just fats, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals and proteins. Yoga recognizes many more subtle aspects of food and accordingly considers various food items as virtuous or otherwise.

Hence for a spiritual aspirant, who in fact is a seeker of increasing levels of truth, the importance of Sattwic food cannot be over-emphasized.

First and foremost, avoid meat because, in addition to moral issues, it is to be understood that most animals are composed from the Tama-aspect. Moreover, at the time it is killed, due to fear, many toxins are generated in that creature, which go against our system.

Even in vegetarian food, classical Yoga texts have very explicitly listed a variety of foods that a beginner in Yoga must avoid. Moreover, moderation in eating is most important. Never stuff yourself with food.

The least one should observe is to avoid Alcohol, Onion, Garlic, Hinga (asafetida), mustard, excessive salt and chilies. Even those aspirants on the path of Kundalini Yoga in any of its variations including Siddha Kundalini Mahayoga must strictly adhere to food discipline, as eating the disallowed foods would be akin to swimming with a boulder tied to the chest.

It is now easy to understand why many religions around the world have ancient laws forbidding certain foods or combinations of foods as unholy or unclean, contaminating to spirit.

At more subtle levels, consideration is given to even the nature of the person cooking the food and hence restrictions as arise in this regard too. These are just the first logical steps that will affect the way we think and support our spiritual growth.