Nourishing the Soul Cold Mango Sweet Rice Pudding! Spirituality Begins the “Sunday Feast” Atmosphere with the Tongue

greatest natural disaster relief efforts, including the 2004 Asian By Paul Rodney Turner Tsunami. Food for Life Global served hundreds of thousands of freshly s a young monk, I learned cooked vegan curries, rice, and dhal first-hand just how powerful at refugee camps set up by the Sri food is as a communicator. Lankan army. Men, women, and The faces of our guests children from both sides of the civil Food wouldA literally light up with joy as I conflict lived and ate together during and the other monks served them these early days of the relief. Once a delicious vegetarian lunch at the again, it was food that was uniting Krishna temple in North Sydney. them. For some, it was to be their first experience of a “meat-less” Sunday lunch, but nobody seemed to mind once they cast their hungry eyes over the food on their plates. As boldly advertised, the feast really was “out of this world”—two succulent curries, colourful and aromatic basmati rice, cauliflower fritters, tamarind-date chutney, puffed whole-wheat bread, salad, The Yoga rosewater-scented sweet dumplings, power of and the pièce de résistance—hot the tongue strawberry halava smothered in icy Nourishing the Soul cold mango sweet rice pudding! Spirituality begins The “Sunday Feast” atmosphere with the tongue. was always thick with anticipation As simple as that and yet a comforting calmness would statement sounds, sound of God’s name is paramount. Let’s look at the original Sanskrit: engulf us all once the serving began. it is absolutely true If we make But let’s first discuss what India’s patram – leaf; pushpam – flower; It seemed that our guests were fully and, if fully understood, the effort to yoga manifesto, the Bhagavad-Gita, phalam – fruit; toyam – water; yah satisfied just viewing the gourmet it will change your life says about pure food. – whoever; me – unto Me; bhaktya – vegetarian feast. The feasting had forever. The tongue has focus on this If one offers Me with love and with devotion; prayacchati – offers; tat started with their eyes! This was no two functions: tasting and very essential devotion a leaf, a flower, fruit or water, – that; aham – I; bhakti-upahritam – ordinary food; it was prasadam— vibrating. So, essentially, we I will accept it. (9.26) offered in devotion; asnami – accept; food that had been prepared with are talking about two things we part of our Lecturing on this verse, Vedic prayata-atmanah – from one in pure loving intention and then offered to do every day: eating and talking. lives—eating— scholar Srila Prabhupada explains: consciousness. God. It emanated a powerful, loving As mundane as they appear, The process of achieving a energy that drowned us all. The like everything else we do in incredible and permanent state of spiritual bliss is entire gathering had, for a moment, life, these two activities can transformative herein described. It can be attempted become one very happy family. be perfected and purified. even by the poorest of the poor, True, it was not exactly the Therefore, by systematic things can without any kind of qualification. The healthiest of lunches, but still a great regulation, the tongue only qualification required is a heart improvement on what most of our should always be engaged happen to us. filled with pure devotion for the Lord. guests would normally eat. It was a in only tasting the purest One’s material circumstances are not once-a-week thing and, boy, did they of foods and vibrating important. The process is so simple make short work of the monstrous the purest sounds, of that a leaf, water or fruit can be offered plates we’d serve them! which, according to to the Lord in genuine love and the During the last twenty years, I every spiritual Lord will be pleased to accept it. have visited over fifty countries, and tradition, the Another point of interest from participated in some of the world’s holy this verse is the allusion to a raw, plant-based diet. There are no other Every person who interacts with a food on its journey foods mentioned here but a leaf, from seedling to your plate intrinsically affects the flower, or fruit. Commentators on the Gita, however, assert that Krishna’s food’s energetic quality, and subsequently, your physical, declaration suggests all kinds of mental, and spiritual health. wholesome vegetarian foods.

Obviously, a raw plant-based diet is astral dimensions, and energy2—all food is in one way If we make the effort to focus Foods characterized by goodness not conducive to all climates and all therefore our words and or another impacted by how it on this very essential part of our increase the duration of life, purify body types; however, the mounting thoughts affect the food we is grown, handled, packaged, lives—eating—incredible and one’s existence, and give strength, scientific evidence supporting the prepare. With this in mind, prepared, cooked, and served. transformative things can happen to health, happiness, and satisfaction. benefits of a balanced plant-based it is actually not the physical Every person who interacts with a us. Biodynamic Guru Peter Proctor Such nourishing foods are sweet, diet consisting of whole fruits, substance of food that has food on its journey from seedling believes quality food helps people juicy, fattening, and palatable.5 vegetables, grains, seeds, and nuts the power to unite, but rather to your plate intrinsically affects make moral decisions and have Passionate people like foods that is overwhelming. the intention that it carries. the food’s energetic quality, and moral thoughts: “It’s not just stuff to are too bitter, too sour, salty, pungent, The other function of the tongue Even food that is considered subsequently, your fill your stomach. It actually gives you a dry and hot. Such foods cause pain, is to vibrate. All humans understand ignorant, like the rotting physical, mental, real quality of thought and you realize distress, and disease.6 the power of the spoken word. Its flesh of an animal or and spiritual that this is what the world needs.”3 Food cooked more than three hours sonic energy can food that has been health. Each When you are living consciously, before being eaten, which is tasteless, be harnessed to contaminated by a beginning with conscious eating, you stale, putrid, decomposed, and Food yoga, inspire, to manifest, plethora of artificial will do so in all your thoughts and unclean, is food liked by unenlightened therefore, is the to heal, and to actions. Your life will be consistent people.7 manipulate the and in harmony with your Foods liked by unenlightened people art and science of subtle and environment. Food is the are essentially those foods that are bringing our body, physical worlds. most basic necessity of decomposing and impure. As may mind, and soul into Both the life. Its only purpose is be guessed, meat and fish are foods original Hebrew to nourish the body, belonging to this lower mode and oneness, honoring and Sanskrit mind and soul. therefore should be avoided if one truly the spiritual equality alphabets, Food, therefore, desires enlightenment and the most considered to be should give us sacred connection to the natural world. of all beings and given by the gods, life, cleanse our reconnecting with state that acts of body, and uplift Body, mind and soul health creation begin in our spirit. Eating our divine source. sound. Thus, the food should Eating can also be a form of yoga, Bible states, “In never be just about and this is supported by the very the beginning was Logos [Word],” fueling the physical tradition in which yoga was born. The whereas the Vedas claim that the ingredients, body. term yoga comes from the Sanskrit great Architect, Lord Brahma, was can still have According to all yoga root, Yuj, which literally means “to inspired by the Gayatri mantra to some power to create person’s traditions, food that is old, join.” In the spiritual sense, it is the create this material universe. Sound unity if only temporarily—if it is thoughts (psychic energy) add to the decomposed, and consisting of process by which the relationship of corresponds to ether or sky, the infused with loving intention. This palette of conscious thoughts that dead flesh will pollute the body the individual soul with the Supreme subtlest of the five material elements is clearly evident during holidays eventually makes their way into your and consciousness, while food Soul is realized by the Yogi. which develop progressively from like Christmas and Easter. However, body. that is fresh, nutritious, and free of Unfortunately, too many yogis in subtle to gross (ether, air, fire, water, the unifying effects are short-lived, any suffering will enrich the body, the West miss this point and thus earth). Sound is, therefore, the basis as any good intention is quickly Eating your way to higher cleanse the mind, and satisfy the they do not enjoy the full benefits of all creation. overwhelmed by the feelings of fear, consciousness soul. of what yoga offers. What most An important part of the training pain, and sadness of the animal that The Bhagavad-Gita4 states that all people understand as yoga practice within the ancient mystery schools are also present in the meat. Since eating is one of the two main foods can be classified according to is really just the beginning stages of was to control speech, including For the most lasting and functions of the tongue, and hence is their inherent quality and the way yoga. Yoga is a life-long journey of regulating words and their meanings. transformative effect, therefore, food central to our survival, it is logically they affect our body and mind. reconnecting with God. Paul Von Ward, in his book Gods, needs to be completely free of any one of the most efficient and effective Genes, and Consciousness, explains negative feelings, including those of mediums for initiating change in that many ancient cultures had the slaughtered animal. The purest consciousness. Each of us has had similar views about the power of food is that food that has been not the experience of sitting down to language. “Priests and shamans only prepared with loving intention, a meal cooked with love and felt This was no ordinary food; it was used primal sounds, producing but also prayed over. an immediate transformation of prasadam—food that had been There is no mention of cooked food, an appropriate word to cause Author and filmmaker David consciousness, followed by a feeling and certainly nothing resembling the manifestation or action in the Wilcock believes that by investing of reciprocal love for the person who prepared with loving intention and then remains of dead animals. Rather, physical realm.” He suggests positive energy into food, we can prepared the meal. The fact is, when offered to God. It emanated a powerful, what is suggested by Krishna is a that “incantations and chants make it more healthful for ourselves food is prepared with loving intention, loving energy that drowned us all. The pure diet of fresh fruits and leafy are examples of this belief, as and others: “You can change the it can communicate in any language. entire gathering had, for a moment, vegetables in their most pristine are mantras1 in Hinduism and structure of your own food by intent . . Such food has the ability to break form—au naturel, naked—just the Buddhism.” . That’s why it is so important to bless down barriers and turn anger into become one very happy family. way nature intended. your food, because you can take the love, fear into trust, and ignorance In other words, the Gita is Food carries thoughts existing stuff you are already using and into enlightenment. This is no more unequivocally stating that a raw make it much more potent, by making evident than in the loving exchange (uncooked) plant-based diet is the Every word we speak makes a it yours, by putting your energy into it.” between a mother and child. most conducive diet for a yogi. thought-form in the etheric and Because food is mostly water—the 3 Documentary film (2010): One Man, One Cow, One Planet. 2 Homeopathy is an example of how water continues to carry 4 Bhagavad-Gita is a Vedantic scripture comprising the 5 Bhagavad-Gita As It Is (17.8) edited for clarity. 1 Sanskrit: Consisting of two words, man (mind); tra (to most powerful conduit of thought the energetic signature of a foreign substance long after the instructions given by Sri Krishna to Arjuna during the 6 Bhagavad-Gita As It Is (17.9) edited for clarity. deliver). substance has been removed. Kurukshetra War. It appears as part of the Mahabharata. 7 Bhagavad-Gita As It Is (17.10) edited for clarity.

kindness a human can do, The path of food yoga is and eating food is one of the about reconnecting with few things all humans have your food in such a way that it in common. All the world’s great nourishes your body, mind, spiritual traditions have and soul. The lack of this is, I elaborate food-offering believe, a major flaw in most rituals carefully designed lifestyle or nutrition programs to expand consciousness. being espoused today. From the Holy Eucharist to Passover, to Diwali, Christmas, Thanksgiving, Food yoga is an art form—as and even the mushroom the individual expresses love ceremonies of the Shamanic and devotion using food as the traditions—all use food as medium—and also a science, as a means to represent we learn to appreciate the beauty or please the Divine and interconnectedness of all and to expand the things, coupled with an unceasing consciousness of awareness of the Energetic Source their followers. from which all things emanate. The path of food yoga is about Priya Vrata (a.k.a. Paul Rodney Turner) is the reconnecting with your International Director of Food for Life and the founder of Food for Life Global, the world food in such a way that it headquarters for the charity. Food for Life is nourishes your body, mind, the largest plant-based food relief organisation and soul. The lack of this in the world, with projects in over 50 countries is, I believe, a major flaw in that serve up to two million meals daily. Paul was born in Sydney, Australia, in 1963 and most lifestyle or nutrition grew up in Whalan, a part of Sydney’s western programs being espoused suburbs. Because food is so fundamental today. to our existence, the offering of My volunteer work for Food for Visit www.foodyogi.org for more food has been an integral part Life Global has taught me just how information of every spiritual tradition since powerful food is as a uniter and the beginning of recorded history. healer of our body, mind, and soul. In Call to Food Yoga Food yoga, therefore, is the art and fact, the mission for the charity is not Evolution Nourishing the Soul science of bringing our body, mind, to feed hungry people, but rather, to and soul into oneness, honoring the unite the world through pure food. A spiritual equality of all beings and food yogi is one who lives a balanced 1. Drink 1 litre of pure water daily for every 30kg of body weight to reconnecting with our divine source. and conscientious life fueled by the maintain a good hydration. It is about focusing on the more uniting power of pure foods that have 2. Start a small herb garden and increase divine aspects of eating, beginning been prepared with loving intention. this over time. with an acknowledgement of a Food yoga is, in essence, a 3. Shop locally and support your local benevolent presence in our lives and discipline that embraces all spiritual organic farmers. evolving to an appreciation of that paths by accepting one core truth— 4. Your body and mind are a product of presence through the offering of pure that food in its most pure form is what you’ve eaten. food, much the same as when you divine and therefore an excellent 5. Engage the tongue in tasting only honor a friend in your home. Giving medium for spiritual purification. pure foods and vibrating pure sounds. food is the most fundamental act of

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