Food

FOOD

The word 'food' itself is a very common word and many people think that a definition of 'food' is not only unnecessary but even ridiculous. So, what are we going to discuss about food in this essay? We know that the word may be a pleasant one, but to write an essay about it may not be much fun for many. It may even be boring. 

'Do you eat food?'

This must sound the silliest question of all to ask and most people will laugh at first and then may return reluctantly,

' Yes, I do.' 

But if the questioner is serious and knows what he means by that awkward question, he will surprise you beyond your imagination. 

Actually, most people do not eat food at all! They live their whole lives without ever eating once and depart from the world hungry. Now, how's that? To understand that, it is necessary to know a thing or two in advance. 

This gross body of yours needs gross food and it takes it regularly or else it will shrink and die over a long period of starvation, at most of about 90 days. You have several other bodies that need to take their kinds of foods as well; but we will not talk about that here. We are not writing a book. Your mind needs its food too which is not too gross. You are there at the center waiting to be served but since you have never met yourself, you have no idea what food you need; and so, you rarely get any.

This essay is going to be about gross food because that is what we mean by food, universally. When your body needs food, the mind knows it and uses the body itself to get food. But the hungry mind takes advantage of the body and gets food that is delicious and pleasant. The body just needs some fresh and eatable gross food that is ok for it. It has nothing to do with taste, flavor, smell, appearance etc. The mind does not need gross food but it chooses the gross food for its flavor and taste. So often the mind gives wrong food to the body and makes it unbalanced. Do you see the problem? 

There are 3 types of foods for the gross body. The satvic is the best and the other 2 types are rajasic and tamasic foods. Satvic food includes non-veg items like fruits, vegetables and grains. These foods produce saumyata or peace and balance. Rajasic foods are non-veg foods like meat etc that make you vikshipta or disturbed. You easily lose temper and become violent. Tamasic foods  include stale and intoxicating foods that make you tamasi or mentally dull and stupid. 

Cooked food becomes stale after 3 hours and must be avoided as tamasic. Junk foods belong to this category as well. Do not eat food that has been cooked by an angry or very sad person. 

Fruit fully ripe and picked from trees to eat is fresh. That is why fruit from far off places and from cold stores is tamasic. Eat only which grows around you, as a rule; and if the yield is bigger eat more and if less eat less that year. 

Milk is only for babies and has to be from one's own mother. Don't depend much on stealing from cows and buffaloes for your babies because theirs is for their children. Milk products are also better avoided. Water is the best drink. Running water from streams should be had unboiled for the minerals nature has in store for the living beings of that particular area. 

Food offered by a corrupt person is also tamasic; and the children of corrupt persons destined to eat such food are unfortunate. That is all about food for your gross body. We will talk about food for your mind and for yourself as a soul in other essays.  

If you see some well-dressed person eating an expensive meal beyond your reach, do not be fooled because the best meal is always the cheapest. If you are intelligent you will remember this and laugh at the idiotic snobs all around you. 

Just say a little prayer to nature to bless the food and eat gratefully. If you think it funny, just google Dr Emoto.

One absurd question in the wrong place at last is, ' What is food?'

What our mind-brain sees, touches, feels, smells and tastes is not food but is a vehicle carrying food in it. The energy that arrives from the sun, gets trapped in the green leaves by plants and is loaded into the fruits and seeds is food. A fruit is only a food-truck.

Why can't we take it directly from the sun then? The answer is : if we learn the technique, that's not impossible altogether either. And food science and technology  is available for that.

The Teej Festival

The Teej Festival and Its Spiritual Aspect

Every year, women celebrate the Teej festival in Nepal in the month of September or October. This spiritual festival is also known as Haritalika. In recent times, it has become more of a social affair than spiritual one. In the ancient times, it was a totally spiritual practice and it served the purpose of the festival. Although it is exclusively for Hindu women, men are also now said to be taking interest as well as part in it. For women, it is a major festival.

 How is it Celebrated?

 

The Teej is for three days. Weeks before the Teej arrives, women begin thinking fondly about it and their mother's home. New Teej songs are composed by singers every year and are made popular through the radio and the TV. The women in cities start organizing social gatherings at party places to enjoy dancing, singing and eating long before the Teej festival arrives. All married women get an opportunity to return to their mother's home to celebrate this festival. Usually, their brothers come to take them home. 

The first day of the Teej is Dar. Women eat as much heavy food as they can and stuff their stomachs and gratify their minds. The next day is for dancing and singing. Women wear their best dress and jewelry and come out into the streets to sing and dance at public places. They sing about their life, its joys and sorrows. By the evening they become totally exhausted; but instead of eating, they go silent without food. This is called brata or upabasa. They keep this for the longevity of their husbands' or would-be husbands' life. Thus ends the Teej; and married women return to their husbands.

The Science behind the Festival

This is a very beautiful spiritual festival. Everything is logical and scientific. The first day is for accumulation of energy to be spent on the following day by necessity. It is also for the gratification of the body and the mind by over-eating. Then, the dancing and the singing exhausts their physical energy and releases their pent up emotions. This prepares women for upabasa.  

Upabasa does not mean fasting. upa means 'near' or 'next to' and basa means 'staying'. So upabasa means 'staying nearby'. The mind in the tired body is no longer able to run far away from one's center now. Instead, as the woman sits comfortably and her body relaxes, her mind comes nearer and nearer and at last, stays near her center or soul. She is able to become thoughtless in this way. When there is no thought left, it is the right moment to make a wish. A single thought or wish made at this circumstance has the support of her total energy or prana. This method is so powerful that the wish becomes material with prana-energy and comes true. 

On the contrary, if the wish is made from the fragmented mind, it brings the opposite of welfare 

Why the women wish for the longevity of their husbands' lives and not for their own liberation is very disturbing.

The Bottom Line

Year after year, women make wishes for their husbands as a sacrifice but few succeed because they do not follow the exact steps seriously and consciously. The science and technique of making wishes is a powerful tool which can be learnt and used for many other purposes too. Women should use this tool for their personal spiritual progress as well. Since it is a powerful tool, it should be always used for the good of all mankind.