Baba
Sadhaka & tamasik food awareness
Note: This letter is only for health-conscious sadhakas.
Namaskar,
In one discourse Baba says that humans are not goats and should not eat like goats. Goats eat whatever they get, but human beings have to carefully consider and think what to eat. What is good for their body and mind - humans eat, otherwise not. We all know the main reason for our coming on this earth is to do sadhana - that is the essence of human life.
https://anandamargauniversal.blogspot.com/
Ananda Marga ideology states, "Human life is for higher pursuits, for something subtle, something higher, something more elevated...What is a person to do? A person is to do only spiritual practice, only sa'dhana'." (1)
That is why when I am unable to concentrate in sadhana then I become extremely concerned and I wonder why my mind was unable to manage my meditation today.
Misnomer: "I never eat any tamasik food"
To find the answer to this problem of poor sadhana, which at the time seemed to be getting more and more prevalent, I looked under every rock and in every nook and corner, but it was not at all apparent to me what was wrong until one sadhaka said, "Maybe unknowingly you are eating tamasik food - perhaps that is the reason why on some days you are unable to concentrate in sadhana."
Initially, when he said this, I thought he was crazy because, "I never eat any tamasik food." But then - upon closer examination of Baba's teachings and my own diet - the sad fact came to light that I was indeed eating tamasik food, unknowingly. I came to understand how company foods that I was regularly eating that claimed to be sentient were indeed tamasik. So I write this letter to alert everyone about how certain tamasik foods might unknowingly creep into your diet and, in result, disturb and ruin your sadhana.
https://anandamargauniversal.blogspot.com/
In one very special discourse, Baba warns us to be very careful about the food we eat.
Ananda Marga philosophy states, "The nature of food and drink has its effect upon the cells, and consequently also influences the human mind. Obviously each and every sa'dhaka, or spiritual aspirant, should be very cautious in selecting food. Suppose a person takes ta'masika, or static, food. The result will be that after a certain period, static cells will grow and exercise a static influence on the aspirant’s mind." (2)
Certainly, we all think we are being cautious; none of us think that we are eating tamasik food; we all know the rules etc; but in this modern era we must be extra, extra cautious. Because various capitalist food corporations do things which can fool even the most careful and concerned sadhaka. I did not think I was ingesting any tamasik food, only to find out that I was. Similarly, this may be happening to you as well, though I hope not. But one should be sure. Because Baba warns us that tamasik food cripples one's sadhana practice.
Rotten packaged vegetables & fruit
Another problem was that I was buying various frozen and canned fruits and vegetables. On these packages, the ingredients are only listed 'broccoli', or 'peas', or 'blueberries', or 'pears' etc. And I was opening and quickly devouring these items thinking that they were sentient.
https://anandamargauniversal.blogspot.com/
But one day when I began examining these foods more carefully, I found that some few or more pieces of the food in the package was rotten. When I let the frozen food defrost or when I separated canned items, it was clearly visible that some of the food was rotten. It was spoiled food that I would never knowingly have eaten if I was preparing a fresh meal. But due to lack of time, I was buying and quickly preparing these packaged fruits and vegetables - assuming they were fine. Then on closer examination I saw first-hand certain packages were littered with stale or rotten food. Some of the fruits and vegetables I was eating were actually tamasik.
One friend of mine works in a factory food packaging plant and he told me that due to the sheer mass scale of production, it is impossible to safeguard against some rotten or undesirable food getting mixed in. The machines simply grab and sort; invariably due to the large quantities of food, there remains unwanted items. Then I inquired why are people not getting sick from eating that rotten food. My friend replied that the food is sterilised at a high temp to kill bacteria, but thereafter it still contains those rotten pieces. People do not generally get sick from it but it is tamasik.
All the canned and frozen items are meant to be used "as they are". So we pour them into our cook pots and eat that food. But upon inspecting the bags, on occasion I found dirt, even bugs, etc in those products. Yet another unsavory tamasik food item that was slipping into my diet. Likewise, I used to purchase an organic eggplant (brinjal) sauce only to find out that it was made out of a mixture of both purple and white eggplants. And as we know, white brinjal is tamasik.
My potatoes tasted like onions
Even then, the problem was not limited to frozen and canned items only. On multiple occasions I bought bags of fresh potatoes only to cook them and find out that they tasted just like onions. Obviously those agribusinesses were intermixing their onion and potato crops. The problem was often times, before I realised that this was an issue, I was putting those potatoes directly into my curry dishes, in which case I was not aware of the onion after-taste or smell of the potatoes. So this tamasik item proved to be another drawback in my sadhana program.
https://anandamargauniversal.blogspot.com/
One other issue was bottled products. I was buying 'all natural' things like tomato sauce, hummus, and various organic salad dressings, only to discover months later that one of the ingredients was 'spices'. Upon calling the company I found out that 'spices' often means tamasik items like onions and garlic etc. Certainly there are sentient spices as well, like ginger, turmeric, cumin, and coriander. Those are healthy to ingest. But tamasik spices like onion and garlic must not be used.
Unfortunately, companies often use preservatives, artificial colour, taste enhancements, and shining agents that are carcinogenic. That means they are cancer producing. Yet often those things need not be mentioned on the list of ingredients. This is commonly the case in the US etc. Thus consumers do not even know that those things are in the food. So any sadhaka eating company food that contains such preservatives will not even be aware about it. Yet in that way they are eating tamasik food. Because certainly anything that is carcinogenic is also tamasik.
In many situations we find that we the consumer do not learn what companies and corporations are doing to the food until it gets revealed in a lawsuit. Then that sends shock waves all around and people are horrified by what they have been unknowingly ingesting the last so many years.
Non-veg and veg prepared in same pot
It also dawned on me that all of the restaurants (i.e. hotels in India) that I was frequenting were using the very same pots, fry-pans, and utensils for cooking meat as they were for preparing vegetarian dishes. So when I ate Chinese food, the Chow Mein Beef was often cooked in the very same pan as my vegetable fried rice. Not to mention that often the vegetable fried rice and the wonton soup often contain a broth based in chicken stock. Of course, at least I was aware about this one ahead of time as I had asked the waiter. But the point about mixing and using fry-pans for meat and vegetable dishes was my undoing every time. Any Italian restaurants lace garlic and onions in every dish, whether they admit it openly or not. Here the point is not Chinese or Italian, but rather all restaurants have cooking and food preparing practices that contravene our rules of sentient food.
https://anandamargauniversal.blogspot.com/
And here is another very real scenario that goes on.
The label on prepared foods might say “vegetarian” or “vegan”, but do not put your trust in that. Because, around the globe, the vegetarian population is comparatively very small and those companies run for profit. So they cannot designate expensive machinery and equipment solely for vegetarian use. Maybe they use it for vegetarian food 10 minutes per day or 1 hour per day. And then they use that same machinery and equipment for 23 hours using non-veg items. Suppose eggs are used in making bread and a machine is doing that job for several hours. And then suddenly that same machine is used to prepare bread without eggs. Then they simply stop the machine and insert the vegetarian dough and start it up again. So the machine still has remnants of the egg dough in it as they start pumping out “vegetarian” bread etc. And remember, these machines are not easy to clean and they do not clean it several times a day, just once in a while. Those working there are not vegetarian and they do not take it very seriously. For meat-eaters this is not a problem but for vegetarians and those on a sentient diet, this is not pure veg food.
Decomposed beef transformed into onion
Part of our sattvika diet is not taking onion or onion products. Here Baba guides us about the origin of the onion plant.
Ananda Marga ideology guides us, “By gradual transformation their mind-stuff reaches a stage where they cannot be called human beings. Who can say that the fire-burnt cane has been transformed into the plantain tree, and the decomposed beef has been transformed into onion through natural changes, and that the rice-water has produced tańd́uleraka leaves? Likewise, no one will be able to recognize you as a human being in your degenerated condition.” (4)
So strict sadhakas are vigilant to never consume any onion - onion is not just an innocuous vegetable. It is cent-per-cent tamasik.
https://anandamargauniversal.blogspot.com/
Social gatherings & travel food
One other issue that used to catch me off guard was attending 'pot luck' dinners or lunches. This would happen at work or even at community vegetarian events. With the best of intentions, people would prepare "sentient" food for me, only to later mention things like, 'how did you like the scallions in the soup', or 'the cake I made contained only organic eggs', or 'I know you don't eat red-meat so I used a fish-based sauce on the steamed vegetables'.
Generally all our jagrtis and master units are very strict to maintain a sentient kitchen. But sometimes problems do occur. A case in point is that of our college in Mallur (nr Bangalore) where some food items have occasionally been prepared with tamasik spices like onion and garlic. This has happened on and off. Thus it is shocking because there we absolutely expect sattvika food, yet other things slip through the cracks.
Then when traveling by bus or airplane, I was eating salty snacks & sweets that sometimes contained milk solids, whey, 'spices' (like onion or garlic), and gelatin, or other things that we now know are tamasik.
https://anandamargauniversal.blogspot.com/
Or, even trickier, the snack item or company food may be all-vegetarian on the ingredient list, but then in fine print it may say, 'Made on machines or in factories used for processing eggs, dairy, or fish ingredients etc'.
By all the above ways that I was unknowingly ingesting tamasik foods on a regular basis. I thought I was taking a 100% sattvik diet, but little did I know what was really going on. I hope the same is not happening with you. Because I found out how detrimental it has been for my sadhana, as well as for my physical health.
It was ruining my sadhana
Here Baba issues His grave warning how eating foods "indiscriminately" will lead to the degeneration of mind.
Ananda Marga philosophy guides us, "If cells are affected by food and water, and if the nature of the cells affects the nature of the human mind, obviously human beings should eat the correct diet, because food and mind are closely related to each other. Any food item, whether good or bad, must not be taken indiscriminately because it may lead to mental degeneration." (5)
Surely, we all try and be careful, and we believe we are careful, and when preparing our own foods from scratch with no pre-made ingredients, then everything is usually fine. But often when traveling, or when attending staff meetings, or when we are in a rush and depending on company-made foods, then that is when all the problems start to occur. Tamasik items which we could never imagine eating get mixed into our food, unknowingly so. So we have to be extremely alert in this fast-paced modern era.
https://anandamargauniversal.blogspot.com/
We must think twice before purchasing or ingesting any company food - and best is not to purchase it at all. After all, the food we eat affects all our cells - hence the body-mind link. We should not let tamasik items cloud and poison our mental sphere. Yet that is what happens most of the time when we eat company-made foods or agro-industry foods.
Conclusion
This is a vast topic and there are many other points to be aware of such as (a) how certain regions use animal by products to grow fruits and vegetables as occurs with the use of (GMOs) genetically modified organisms, (b) not eating out of pots, pans, containers that were used to prepare or store non-veg items, (c) not eating food prepared by mean-minded people, (d) knowing that vegan and vegetarian often contains onion, garlic, scallion, or mushroom etc, (e) not drinking milk of a newly-calved cow etc. Some of these points and more are addressed in the links to postings appended below.
Baba has given us the recipe for a sentient way of living so that we can grow in sadhana and reach our cherished goal. We should all be vigilant to prep and cook our own foods and only take food and meals with other Ananda Margiis. Though we are free to share food that we prepare with one and all.
https://anandamargauniversal.blogspot.com/
Ananda Marga philosophy states, "Human beings must select sa'ttvika, or sentient, or ra'jasika, or mutative, food according to time, place and person. This will lead to the birth of sentient cells, which in turn will produce a love for spiritual practice and help in attaining psychic equilibrium and equipoise, leading to immense spiritual elevation." (6)
Namaskar,
In Him,
Iishvara
Follow dharma - not the physician
Ananda Marga ideology states, "Suppose a physician says, “As a human, you require animal protein for your health;” but suppose dharma says, “No, a human should not take carnal food;” then in that case you will have to follow dharma and not the physician, because the order of dharma is above all other orders. Dharma is the highest Lord, the highest authority." (7)
How I was eating tamasik food - without knowing it
And actually here Baba points out how people have the tendency to eat foods without being entirely sure of the nature of that food, i.e. whether it is sattvika, rajasik, or tamasik.
Ananda Marga philosophy guides us, "Very often people eat food without knowing its intrinsic qualities. For example, the milk of a cow which has just given birth. Or white eggplant, khesa'rii pulse [horse gram], red puni [Basella rubra Linn.], or mustard leaves, [rapini greens (broccoli raab)], all of which often grew out of rotten matter." (3)
So all these things come into play when taking food and that is how I got caught up eating tamasik food, which was adversely affecting my sadhana. Consider this: I was using all kinds of milk and dairy products only to find out that capitalist corporations, and even many small to mid-size farms use milk from cows which have recently given birth. And according to Baba that makes the milk tamasik. Because it contains colostrum. Even some organic farms fall into this negative category. Baba's warning is that milk should not be taken from a cow within 10 days after she has given birth. But the US government regulation is only 4 days. Thus tremendous amounts of milk that is sold is actually tamasik.
https://anandamargauniversal.blogspot.com/
Indeed much or all of the organic yogurt, milk, and cheese I was purchasing turned out to be tamasik, i.e. static. In this modern era of agribusiness, one can never be sure that any particular glass of milk is not tamasik. Because they mix the milk of hundreds of animals into huge vats. So chances are tamasik milk is laced throughout their entire stock. To maximise their profit, they use the milk of all their cows, even those which recently gave birth. So that is one way that I was unknowingly eating tamasik food.
References
1. Ananda Vacanamrtam - 30, Ascribe Brahma-hood to All
2. Yoga Psychology, Food, Cells, Physical and Mental Development
3. Yoga Psychology, Food, Cells, Physical and Mental Development
4. Subhasita Samgraha - 1, Spiritual Practice and the Cosmic Science
5. Yoga Psychology, Food, Cells, Physical and Mental Development
6. Yoga Psychology, Food, Cells, Physical and Mental Development
7. Subhasita Samgraha - 21, Jaeva Dharma and Bhágavata Dharma
== Section 2: Prabhat Samgiita ==
Holding You within
Note: Only those bhaktas who feel a deep spiritual vibration in their heart can understand this song in the depths of their core.
"Kenoi vá ele, dolá diye gele, ná bole gele cale, phele ámáya..." (Prabhat Samgiita #1995)
Purport:
O’ Parama Purusa, You have been gone so long. Why did You come and stir my heart only to then go away without saying a word - leaving me all alone. Neither do You have any love for me, nor do You understand the aching pain of my inner core. After coming and creating one fairy tale, where did You go. Baba, I want You to remain here with me, forever.
O’ Parama Purusa Dearest, amongst all the dear ones, You are my Dearmost. Why then do You not reside eternally in my core. Baba, You are my Innermost, then how can You justify drifting so far away from me. Is it proper to leave me isolated and all alone. Please tell me.
O’ Parama Purusa Baba, my Closest, You are so dear to me; no matter what I will never forget You; I will never leave You. Not at any cost will I ever wipe You away from my mental plate - from the memories of my mind. Baba, even if You do not look at me, even if You hide, I shall always keep and hold You in the golden casket of my inner self.
O’ Parama Purusa Baba, You are eternally mine; my everything is surrendered at Your lotus feet…
Note for Prabhat Samgiita #1995:
Ananda Marga ideology states, “Paramátmá only considers the inner thoughts and devotional sentiments of people. The intense desire to know Him, the deep urge to attain Him, the intense longing for Him – these are the qualities which Parama Puruśa values.” (1)
Prabhat Samgiita Addendum: Just like a small child who lovingly and sweetly complains to its mother, in the same manner in this song the bhakta is lovingly placing his complaint before Parama Purusa - the nearest and dearest One. This type of very close and intimate relation is characterized by tremendous sweetness and love. This develops when one’s sadhana is of a very high standard - by His grace. Those with lower sadhana will not understand this song- rather they will think the feelings expressed in this song are odd or peculiar.
When a child is young it has a tremendous degree of love for its mother and will cry when she is not present. As the child ages though that degree of love steadily declines. And they will one day think it is strange how a young child is crying for its mother. Because that older child does not have that high degree of love for mother. Similarly, to understand this song, above average devotion for the Parama Purusa is needed.
In Ananda Marga there are many sadhakas who have this feeling in their practical life. They are fortunate; their life has become successful. Because this type of ardent love towards Parama Purusa is devotion. And when one has bhakti one has everything. With bhakti surely one is going to attain Parama Purusa, by His grace.
What to speak of a sadhaka, if an ordinary, or even a degraded person, does sadhana sincerely, and from the deep core of their heart they request, “O’ Parama Purusa, I want nothing else, please grace me with the highest bhakti”, then the afore-described deep spiritual yearning will quickly develop, by His grace. The above Prabhat Samgiita composition carries this idea.
Reference
1. Ananda Marga Philosophy in a Nutshell, Part - 4, Bhakti and Krpá
Note: Only those bhaktas who feel a deep spiritual vibration in their heart can understand this song in the depths of their core.
"Kenoi vá ele, dolá diye gele, ná bole gele cale, phele ámáya..." (Prabhat Samgiita #1995)
Purport:
O’ Parama Purusa, You have been gone so long. Why did You come and stir my heart only to then go away without saying a word - leaving me all alone. Neither do You have any love for me, nor do You understand the aching pain of my inner core. After coming and creating one fairy tale, where did You go. Baba, I want You to remain here with me, forever.
O’ Parama Purusa Dearest, amongst all the dear ones, You are my Dearmost. Why then do You not reside eternally in my core. Baba, You are my Innermost, then how can You justify drifting so far away from me. Is it proper to leave me isolated and all alone. Please tell me.
O’ Parama Purusa Baba, my Closest, You are so dear to me; no matter what I will never forget You; I will never leave You. Not at any cost will I ever wipe You away from my mental plate - from the memories of my mind. Baba, even if You do not look at me, even if You hide, I shall always keep and hold You in the golden casket of my inner self.
O’ Parama Purusa Baba, You are eternally mine; my everything is surrendered at Your lotus feet…
Note for Prabhat Samgiita #1995:
Ananda Marga ideology states, “Paramátmá only considers the inner thoughts and devotional sentiments of people. The intense desire to know Him, the deep urge to attain Him, the intense longing for Him – these are the qualities which Parama Puruśa values.” (1)
Prabhat Samgiita Addendum: Just like a small child who lovingly and sweetly complains to its mother, in the same manner in this song the bhakta is lovingly placing his complaint before Parama Purusa - the nearest and dearest One. This type of very close and intimate relation is characterized by tremendous sweetness and love. This develops when one’s sadhana is of a very high standard - by His grace. Those with lower sadhana will not understand this song- rather they will think the feelings expressed in this song are odd or peculiar.
When a child is young it has a tremendous degree of love for its mother and will cry when she is not present. As the child ages though that degree of love steadily declines. And they will one day think it is strange how a young child is crying for its mother. Because that older child does not have that high degree of love for mother. Similarly, to understand this song, above average devotion for the Parama Purusa is needed.
In Ananda Marga there are many sadhakas who have this feeling in their practical life. They are fortunate; their life has become successful. Because this type of ardent love towards Parama Purusa is devotion. And when one has bhakti one has everything. With bhakti surely one is going to attain Parama Purusa, by His grace.
What to speak of a sadhaka, if an ordinary, or even a degraded person, does sadhana sincerely, and from the deep core of their heart they request, “O’ Parama Purusa, I want nothing else, please grace me with the highest bhakti”, then the afore-described deep spiritual yearning will quickly develop, by His grace. The above Prabhat Samgiita composition carries this idea.
Reference
1. Ananda Marga Philosophy in a Nutshell, Part - 4, Bhakti and Krpá
== Section: Important Teaching ==
Speciality of our Marga
Caryacarya states, "Ananda Marga is the path of human beings. The greatest excellence of this Marga is that, after knowing the needs of human beings and understanding their feeling, this "marg" (path) has been propounded. About this, this is the most significant thing. That's all." (1)
Note 1: The above was directly translated from Baba's own handwritten Bengali guideline.
Note 2: Baba’s above teaching is present in many old editions of the Bengali, Hindi, and English versions of Caryacarya-II.
Note 3: In contrast the various religions are made with the selfish view whereby they infuse dogma and exploit followers and the common people.
Note 4: If someone is not aware of some of the rules of our Ananda Marga such as why a particular rule has been formulated then the answer is embedded in seed form in Sadguru Baba’s above guideline. For example, suppose someone does not know why we always wear our pratik on the body 24 hrs per day, or why we repeat Guru puja and samgacchadhvam 3 times and not 2 or 4, the answers of these types of questions are also hidden in the above guideline.
Note 5: In our Ananda Marga nothing is dogmatic but nowadays a few people are trying hard to establish or implement various dogmas such as: so-called mahaprayan, Fake Ananda Vaniis, fake holy lands, tiirthas etc, and other types of things which do not have any logic to stand upon.
Reference
1. Caryacarya - 2, just after copyright page
== Section: Prabhat Samgiita ==
वे प्रभु, रात में अपने हाथ में आशा का प्रकाश दीप लिए मेरे पास आए
प्रभात सङ्गीत 1285 कुआसार कालो मुछे दिए हताशा र रेश दूरे सरिये…
भावार्थ
वे प्रभु, दया करके रात में अपने हाथ में आशा का प्रकाश दीप लिए मेरे पास आए। उन्होंने मेरे मन पर छायी कुहरे की कालिमा को पोंछ दिया । मेरे मन में जो भी थोड़ी सी निराशा की तलछट रह गयी थी, वह भी उन्होंने हटा दी। यह उनकी कृपा है।
उस रात में उनका चेहरा सुन्दर प्रभा से चमक रहा था और उनकी आॅखें मेरे लिए प्रेम और स्नेह से भरी हुई थीं। वे बहुत सुन्दर लग रहे थे । लम्बे टेड़े मेड़े, थकावटी रास्ते से आकर वे प्रभु मेरे द्वार पर खड़े हो गए गए ।
जब वे प्रभु उस रात को आए तब विशाल आकाश बादलों से ढका था। उस समय मेरा मानसिक आकाश भी उनके प्यार से भरा था। उस रात में केवल उनके बारे में सोच-सोच कर मेरी आॅंखें भक्ति और प्रेम के आॅंसू बहाने लगीं थीं। यह उनकी ही कृपा है।
उस वर्षाऋतु की रात में रातरानी के फूल चारों ओर अपनी मधुर सुगन्ध वायु में महका रहे थे। चाॅंद और बादलों की लुका छिपी का खेल देखकर मोर नाच रहा था। वे प्रभु उस सुन्दर वर्षा ऋतु की रात में मेरे पास आए और मुझे आशीष दिया।
उनके पैरों की धूल अमृत से भरी हुयी थी। उस धूल के मधुर स्पर्श से मेरा छोटा सा मन उनके दिव्य प्रेम से रोमाञ्चित हो गया ।
वे प्रभु स्वयं उस वर्षा की विशेष रात को मेरे द्वार पर आए । वे कितने दयालु हैं। (1) (2)
References
1. Sadguru Baba says (in GD, Delhi, 26 Feb 1984) that when writing a Prabhat Samgiita purport then very simple words should be used so that the common mass may understand. The above Hindu purport has been written according to that guideline.
== Section 3: Links ==
