Then why are eggs considered non-vegetarian, Swamiji? After all, both are animal products…
If you place the egg in a warm place, sooner or later a chick is going to hatch out, hmmm? What I mean is, the egg has the capacity to turn into an animal. But will that happen with milk? (laughter)
Anyway, all these are only logical answers. I can tell you on my own authority, that milk has the same energy as vegetarian food. Of course, even among Eastern mystics there are some sects who don't touch milk. But I assure you that milk is good for health and for meditation. I can tell you out of my own experience in meditation. It is only a matter of time before these things are proved scientifically!
How do we develop a correct eating routine?
When you practise (this) meditation, your body intelligence is naturally awakened. Then you need not follow any system – your body itself will tell you when to eat, what to eat, how much to eat. Just follow your body's advice.
The needs can differ from person to person, from day to day in the same person. All you need to do is eat with full awareness, full consciousness. I want you all to go home and try this – this is today's homework!
Before you start, close your eyes and take the vow that you will not use your mealtime to worry about the past or plan for the future. You won't allow your past or future to invade your meal.
When the food comes before you, look at the food with love, with deep feeling. This is the stuff that is sustaining your life! And when you start eating, do it with care. Taste every mouthful completely. Take time to taste the food. Chew slowly, enjoy the juice of the food. You will find that you may take more time, but you eat less, and with far greater satisfaction!
And you will discover that all our food is actually amrita – life-sustaining elixir that we say is available only to the gods. All we eat is amrita – if we know how to eat it. Be very clear, when we change the quality of eating, the quality of the food also changes. Don't think that food is a dead thing! It is also a live energy, a live consciousness.
Annam brahma, say the Upanishads.
Food is God.
It has its own intelligence. When you eat with respect, it helps you to grow. If you eat without being totally present, you feel only 'filled' (or full), not fulfilled! So tonight, go home and try this practice. Write down how you felt, and bring it to class with you tomorrow.
Okay, will someone tell me, why do we eat?
(from audience) To energise the body.
Yes! To energise the body, we say. But after we eat, do we feel energetic? (A mass NO! from the audience.) We feel sleepy, Swamiji..!
Yes, you feel sleepy! But to say that you feel sleepy after eating, is like saying that it grows dark when the sun rises. It is a complete reversal of the natural process! Then why such a contradiction? What is happening?
Here is an experiment.
(Volunteers place three dishes on the table next to Swamiji – one containing fresh fruit, another containing cooked food and a third one containing sliced onions.)
These are the foods with positive energy, nil energy (neutral energy) and negative energy. See which food is dominant in your diet.
Have you noticed this mala that sannyasis always wear? (Swamiji takes off his rudraaksh mala and shows it to audience)
During my parivarajaka (wandering days), I had made a vow not to touch money. For almost two-and-a-half years I wandered, from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, mostly on foot. During that period, I used to live on alms. But sometimes, people would give stale food as alms, which was not suitable for health.
To check the quality of the food, I would test it with this mala!
Just dangle the mala above the food. If it starts rotating clockwise, the food contains positive energy. If it rotates anti-clockwise, it contains negative energy. If it moves like a pendulum, it is a nil energy food. Only if the mala said OK, would I eat that food!
So this mala is a meter that we use to measure the energy level in the food!
(Swamiji demonstrates with his mala over the 3 different kinds of food.)
Why doesn't someone volunteer? Anyone can do this! You can use your own mala also – rudraaksh or red sandalwood are preferable, but a gold chain is also okay.
(Participants test the food)
By blindfolding yourself and getting someone else to place the food before you, you can be sure that your opinion is not influencing the movement of the mala.
But Swamiji, onion is supposed to be good for health? As a medicinal food, yes - in very small quantities. Not as a regular food.
Can the food be energised and eaten?
Perfectly possible. Of course, poisoned food cannot be eaten, but neutral energy food can be energized through meditation and then eaten.