Nutrition in Goodness

With so many diets, theories and concepts about food and nutrition nowadays it's really hard to pick something that works not only for a short perioud of time but also in the long run. Today I want to introduce you to a man that changed my life. He is a well-known Russian Ayurvedic doctor, and noting that he is a very spiritual person would be an understatement. I've never met him in person but I consider him my cyber guru, for whatever question might arise in my mind, I can always find the answer in his lectures. How amazing is that! 

That being said, I'd like to translate an extract from his lecture about eating in goodness (as you probably know, there are three gunas of material nature: goodness, passion and ignorance, with ignorance being the closest to spiritual world). It also explains why certain eating habits persist and why we as humans, are so attached to eating other creatures.

So, let's begin... 

O.G. Torsunov

"Today we will talk about nutrition in goodness. 

Our nutrition depends on our mental state. But we don't understand the idea behind supporting our lives with the means of food during its consumption. If you feed a human quite nutritious food, that he doesn't like, then according to the concept, life will go on. However, we dislike eating what doesn't taste good. Why don't we consider delicious everything that supports our being? Yes, a desire for enjoyment. But it's not the most exact statement. It turns out that the idea of taste means subtle body saturation.

If the goal of our nutrition is in gross [aka physical - Spirichat] body nourishment, then it's enough for us to eat just protein, sugar (carbohydrates), fat and that's it. But for some reason, nobody wants to eat them separately - all of us have our likes and dislikes. This concept lies in our sensations after the food, i.e. mood improvement, a feeling of conciliation, peace, comfort - all these are mental sensations; physical sensation is a full stomach. When a person is really hungry, it's enough for him to eat something, doesn't matter what it is, and he will without doubt feel better.

But then why is it that a man that doesn't starve, nevertheless wants to eat every 4-5 hours? For the most part, people think that the reason is lacking nutritive elements. But take a look at yourself in the mirror - you have them more that enough. Then why even the most overblown person is often being dragged to eat? Energy nourishment - that's correct. But nourishment of what? Nourishment of the mind. We live in our minds and feelings. From a very strong emotional outgo (e.g. as a result of nervous tension) a person becomes very hungry, because brain power becomes depleted, brain energy goes to waste. An experienced woman knows, that a husband coming back from work has to be first fed and then talked to: his mind is under a huge stress.

Thus, it's the mind that wants to eat, not the body. Human mind consists of personality traits. The very traits that a person "wastes", is the kind of food he tends to gravitate to. That's how a connection between our senses and illnesses emerges: sweet food at the wrong time is liked by the lazy, spicy food by the temperamental, sour by the squeamish, bitter by the hopeless, fattening by the greedy. It's a Vedic knowledge, and it's very deep. The mind consists of different traits, which is why our nutrition should consist of quite high-calorie meals, with lots of different components. Vedic cuisine implies abundance of omnifarious spices, variety in combinations etc. The mind requires complex nutrition.

"Victims of the Hay diet, who have been following it for 15-20 years, tell me, 'Physically, I feel very good, but I'm exhausted emotionally.' They cannot think about anything but food, the mind is not satisfied by this type of nutrition. A few years of eating this way and they start feeling emotional disbalance. Contemporary theories about nutrition are based on proteins, triglycerides and carbohydrates - nutrition for the body. However a human more often than not eats specifically for the brain, and not for the body. According to Ayurveda, for a whole day a human body needs as much food and water as both palms fit when cupped together; but our mind is ready to eat everything, only if we could expand our stomachs :). 

The food that we take is strongly correlated with our traits. A man tends to justify his desire to eat this or that type of food, therefore there are so many different theories in accordance with various viewpoints on nutrition. There is nutrition in goodness, passion and ignorance:

• Goodness theory on nutrition studies which plants improve gracious traits of the mind.
• Passion theory on nutrition studies how to eat hearty, fast and nutritious. Hot-dogs, fast food as a whole.
• Ignorance theory on nutrition studies how to prepare meat in sophisticated ways. Brains for the brain, liver for the liver etc.

It's very difficult to change one's awareness, very hard to accept that, "I'm thinking the wrong way".

The theory that meat is the best type of food strengthened itself in medicine. Doctors study meat from the chemical point of view, but they haven't tried to study the subject from the position of the mind. They think that the mind depends on autosuggestion. People don't understand, that in the end, their psychological state has much greater impact on their health than the chemical composition of their food.

Let's make an atrocious experiment in our minds. Let's imagine that every day your food is being prepared by a man that you simply can't stand, you start shaking when you see him, you cannot even look in that person's direction. He gives you the food, sits next to you and watches you as you eat. Are there any crazies among you that think that eating this way will bring you health? You will choke by the food and you'll have a hard time swallowing it. Then you'll feel nauseous and contaminated. 

You shouldn't eat next to those you dislike. Try to avoid unpleasant company, and also under no circumstances   should you accept food made with their hands. Hatred is a connection with their negative traits, therefore through the food you'll only get contamination of consciousness. One should first wish this person happiness, forgive him, and only then it's fine to eat the food coming from the person - and as a result you will get his good traits. You should only eat next to those who you feel happy to be around with.

In accordance with the Vedic knowledge, while the meat is fresh (not spoilt) - the being's soul in it's subtle body is strongly connected to this meat (a piece of his gross body). A human being after death doesn't leave right away, he resides in his subtle body of the mind next to his gross body, he is deeply attached to his [physical - Spirichat] body, the same way as he is attached to his family, house and children. Decomposition of his own body gradually pushes him away, evoking unpleasant sensations.

Even by separating the gross body into pieces, we cannot disable the connection between the subtle body of a being and his gross body: while the body is still fresh, the animal is present next to all of the parts simultaneously - life in subtle body differs from the life in gross body. So the animal is located next to the slice of meat, that you are preparing; you eat that which belongs to the animal - it can be compared to a situation where it's sitting next to you and cursing you out. That's the very reason, and no other, why meat brings unhappiness. It destroys our minds.

Our scientists don't study these issues, they don't even suspect the existence of subtle body. But a human being wants to interact, particularly, with the subtle body of another human being, even not believing in it. Love is also a function of the subtle body, it's not a conditioned reflex. If love to you is a complex chemical (neural) reaction, then why wouldn't you get together with a robot? You can have sex with it as much s you want and however you want! However, not a single scientist of this kind would want to marry a robot, he wants to deal with a personality, subtle body of a being! He wants communication, smiles, emotions - all these are functions of the subtle body. Most people can easily determine a general flow of thoughts [of another human being - Spirichat]. A girl by looking into the eyes of a guy, can tell with confidence about the way he thinks of her.

Subtle body exists, there's no doubt about it. And that means, that there are problems with consuming meat. But it also means that one can improve his personality traits by eating certain types of food. Some plants act in a very aggressive way, others behave. If the fruit is edible, then it's edible for almost everyone. There are fruits in goodness, that are better for some, and not too good for others. But fruits in goodness, that have sweetish or neutral taste (spinach, bananas, watermelon etc.) are good for and liked by everyone. Plants in goodness have good character. For example, apple tree - you can plant other plants next to it. But oak tree, for instance, has a passionate personality, therefore nothing grows next to it. Ambrosia is a very aggressive plant, most people are allergic to even a little bit of its pollen. The way a plant acts while growing, also reveals itself in nutrition, because plants also have subtle bodies. Animals' mind can express various emotions, but they cannot think. But a human being can both think and choose emotions. But plants' subtle body is not developed as much - a plant has the same emotion throughout its life, i.e. stability of the character of a plant is guaranteed. 

The main postulate of Ayurveda is ahimsa (nonviolence). Nutrition in goodness:

• increases active lifespan;
• purifies mind and intellect;
• provides positive psychical powers;
• provides balance and health;
• increases the right sense of happiness;
• brings peace.

Nutrition in goodness is juicy, oily, cooked in good spirits.

A person who wants to study the knowledge about happiness must give up nutrition in passion combined with ignorance. There is nutrition in passion combined with goodness - it's fine to eat this type of food. If you like food in pure ignorance, or passion combined with ignorance, your consciousness will resist the knowledge. In order to study spiritual knowledge, one should give up meat, fish and eggs. A person seriously studying the Vedas can easily see meat eaters by simply looking into their eyes. [...]"