Sai message for the day

[Guest guest]

Sai Baba! Should we follow any discipline or regulation in our food

habits? Is that necessary for our spiritual pursuit? Sai devotees all

over the world are vegetarians because of your teachings. This is

amazing. We have none today to tell us matters relating to our food

habits. Kindly direct us.

 

Sai Baba:

 

As is the food, so is the Mind.

As is the mind, so are our Thoughts.

As is the thought, so is the Action.

As is the action, so is the Result.

 

Therefore, the result depends on 'the food you eat. Meticulously and

unerringly, you should follow discipline in your food habits. Food,

Head, and God are to be viewed in this sequence. As is your food so

is your head, as is the condition of your head, so is the

manifestation of God in you.

 

You should not eat too much. You eat to live and never live to eat.

Eating in excess is a tamasika quality. If you eat once a day, you

are a yogi, if you eat twice a day you are a rogi, sick. If you take

sattvika, soft, and balanced food, in moderate quantity, you develop

sattvika or pious mind. If you eat rajasika , spicy, hot, food, you

will have rajasika or emotional, agitated mind, and if you have

tamasika food, meat, alcohol, etc., you will have tamasika or

bestial, dull, passive mind. So, it is food that shapes the mind and

on this your actions depend, leading to their corresponding

consequences.

 

You should also think of patras'uddhi, cleanness of the vessels and

utensils used, padarthas'uddhi, purity of the materials, pakas'uddhi

clean method of preparation or cooking and bhavas'uddhi, purity of

the thought of the person who cooks the food. You shouldn't eat food

offered to you everywhere.

 

A few years ago; there lived a sanyasi, who, on invitation, dined at

the residence of a businessman. That night this sanyasi, a celibate

and spiritual seeker, could not sleep. Somehow, he fell asleep very

late, and had a dream in which he saw a sixteen-year-old girl

shedding tears. Then, this sanyasi went to his guru and told him

about the dream. The guru meditated for some time and told him the

reason behind the dream. The day on which the businessman invited him

for dinner happened to be the eleventh day after the death of his

sixteen-year-old wife and he was performing special rites

traditionally. Since the sanyasi ate the food cooked for the

occasion, the girl who had died appeared in the dream with tears in

her eyes. The young girl's father was very poor and could hardly

maintain his family. So, much against her wish, he gave her in

marriage to this aged businessman. Out of frustration, she committed

suicide by jumping into a well. The businessman had to perform her

customary funeral rites and while doing so on the eleventh day, he

requested the sanyasi to come over to his house for meals. This is

the whole story behind the sanyasi's dream. So, without

discrimination, you shouldn't eat any food offered to you.

 

A similar thing happened once to a disciple of Swami Nityananda. One

day he went out of the ashram and ate food outside. While returning,

he stole from a house a silver tumbler and brought it to the ashram.

But soon, he felt very sad over his miserable plight, as he had

resorted to a crime like stealing a silver tumbler. He cried and

repented. The next morning, he went to his guru and confessed the

whole thing. Because of his spiritual power, Nityananda could find

out the reason. He said to his disciple, " Well, the food you had

outside the asram was prepared by a cook who at one time happened to

be a thief and as a result you developed the instinct to steal. "

Therefore, cooks must have purity of thought.

 

Further, you should feel your body as light after eating as before

eating. The best thing is to keep half of your stomach empty. The

remaining half should be filled in with water and other foodstuffs.

Tubers are not good for the body. You should not drink whole milk.

You should mix some water in your milk and then drink it. You should

have a minimum interval of four hours between two meals. You should

take food, which gives you enough calories needed for the body. You

shouldn't have too much of oily and fried curries. Sleep a while

after lunch, and walk a mile after dinner. You should work hard and

eat well.