Eat with love, for it cures all spiritual diseases

So, if we pay a little attention to how we talk, we can cut down the formation of impressions through this act. The second act which we all commonly do is having food – assimilation. Through talk we imbibe thoughts, we exchange thoughts; through food also we exchange a lot of things. We exchange nutrients and we absorb nutrients. 

The state of mind we have while consuming food is also very important. The state of mind before meditation, during meditation and after meditation is so critical to our sadhana. If you read ‘Efficacy of Raja Yoga’ at the end there is a chapter on how to cook and how to consume food. Babuji (Shri Ram Chandra, founder, Shri Ram Chandra Mission) has also written a special chapter or special maxim on food. I have spoken to you elsewhere on the specific conditioning of a dog on how Dr Pavlov trained a dog to take food. You ring a bell the dog runs and takes the food. You have trained the dog and hence each time you ring he comes running for food. The day you don’t give food, but you ring the bell, he will start barking non-stop. He will be salivating profusely.

The same scientist, Pavlov, conducted an experiment on cats. What he did was to put food in front of a cat and measure the digestive juice secreted while the cat was consuming its meal. He had this crazy idea that when the cat was about to consume food, he would bring in a dog. Seeing the dog, the cat would get scared and run away. It would be fleeing for its life. When you measure the gastric juice output, it is almost nil. And even if a little bit of food is taken under the stress due to the dog’s presence, that fear won’t allow the gastric juice to come at all. It won’t be secreted.

So, in a stressful situation, under fear, under the stress of arguments (I am just showing one extreme case), when we consume food it has its own impact. The vibrations which are negatively carried in that food also affect our body when we consume it. And when it goes to all the cells, it has a very negative effect. The effect on the cat is so obvious. What happens at home when there is a quarrel between spouses? Most of the quarrels I have witnessed are at the dinner table or in the bedroom. We can avoid these arguments. When we meet at the dining table we talk about family problems. There is nothing wrong with discussing family problems, but wait for a better moment, choose another time. That moment while eating should be almost like meditation. You are so grateful to God for having food on the plate. As Babuji says that if you consume food in such a state of mind, as if the Master himself is having it, and when food is prepared with this idea that the Master is going to consume this food, then can you imagine the charge of that food? Babuji says that when it is like this all kinds of spiritual diseases can be cured. People who prepare food should be conscious of it. When we have food, we should have it in a cheerful mood. We should be lost in His remembrance and have it; with gratefulness we should have it.