Food

Food is anything which a creature consumes to survive, to grow, and to maintain its structure. One can ask, is it anything, even if the creature is human? Yes, as a Chinese saying goes: Anything that walks, swims, crawls, or flies with its back to heaven is edible. It may sound unsettlingbut ask someone who has faced extreme conditions. Various army personnel are trained to survive on anything.
If we truly explore, truly investigate, leaving our biases, we find that many traditions, cultures, and tribes have survived through this principle. Hence, eating habits are varied with choice, culture, requirement, need, and above all, survival. Even one creature becomes food for anotherforming the continuous food chain, where life sustains itself through life.
From this simple truth in nature arises a deeper inquiry within human life: Why do we eat?

We eat to grow, preserve, and maintain the structure/body. We start eating more as we grow, but if growth is the driving force behind food intake, then the quantity should decrease as one grows past the growing age. The food intake curve versus age would ideally be a bell curve. But does it happen? We keep eating more as if we are still growing; the result is overeating.If this is clear, it is obvious that a human does not require too much food to maintain and preserve the body. Yet we eat not only to survivewe also eat for pleasure, comfort, social norms, festivals, and celebrations. Food is one of the strongest tools of bonding. Best of all, often, we consume food because we have nothing else to do.

When should we eat? When we are hungrywe would like to say that. But is it really the truth? We eat out of habit, social obligation, and family patterns. We eat because everyone is eating. In hostels, we eat even if we are not hungry or feel low, because food will not be available later. Most people eat ***because it is time.***

We rarely ask whether we are truly hungry. Have you noticed that you go to the kitchen for a glass of water but return with a pack of snacks and just because it is in your hand, what to do? You eat. Are you also in the grip of snacking?If you think only bad habits harm the body, then come to good habitsyou drink water every now and then without thinking, just because you heard that water is beneficial for the body.

Before you eat, ask yourself: Am I really hungry? If hunger becomes the guide, then questions of how much and how many times to eat become redundant. You are freed from the clutches of habit and timing. One needs to assess needs, age, season, occupation, physical activity, digestive capacity, and mental and spiritual statethen portion and timing adjust naturally.

Portion

Let us explore portion in detail. In various texts and traditions, it is mentioned to eat sixty to seventy percent of stomach capacity. We nod and agree, but rarely ask: how does one know that the stomach is 6070% full?One can find out easily. Try this:

Sit calmly in Sukhasana. Eat slowly, chewing as many times as possible. Eat silentlysomething we were told in childhood (at least I did not listen).When the stomach is approximately 6070% full, there is a very subtle burp.

one may think: what intellectual nonsense and how ironically rubbish, absurdatleast i thought so when I heard. But when I experienced it directly for the first time, this small observation opened a much larger inquiry. I had to admit something fundamental: I dont know how to eat.Further simple contemplation led to more I dont knows. I dont know how to breathe. I dont know how to listen, etc. It was scary, as the periphery of I dont know widened so fast that I had to admit I dont know anything. Yet strangely, it was liberating.
 
*"The act of eating is perhaps the most intimate form of observation of life." Anonymous*

If a seeker begins to observe bodily responses while eating, which he should, then very slowly a shift happens toward freshly cooked Food. Fresh, healthy and simple does not bland .learn to make it tasty and Intresting.*You eat not only for your body but for your mind too.*
Fresh fruits and vegetables
Herbal drinks and teas made from beneficial herbs and spices
Quantity naturally reduces over time. 
A seeker should eat less than his wants, desires, and requirements. Just enough so that the body is nourished, yet the act of eating leaves no heaviness.

If one becomes aware of what and how one eats, the next natural step is taking responsibility for foodthrough cooking. The seeker begins self-cooking, Which mayrequire minimal effortraw cooking or steaming. Unfortunately, for many, cooking is a boring and tiring process. It is because we have not been able to see cooking as a creative process, a process to express our love. We have not been taught that.

Cooking is easy if we follow some simple golden rules. What does it require? Cooking just requires a little bit of heart and a little bit of mind, which every one of us has. In fact, we have got more than that. If you have been observant enough around the kitchen, then you already know the recipe; otherwise, read or watch to get a quick idea of how to cook.Then kitchen is all yours nowit is going to be fun.

Beginners may start with:

Cook on a slow flame
Use homemade spices from whole raw spices
Add oil and salt in steps
Taste while cooking and adjust gradually
Give honest feedback to yourself
Keep it simple and balanced
Stay attentive; distraction reflects in food
Keep the kitchen clean and orderly

Later, when the process becomes familiar:

Cook the same dish in different ways
Cut vegetables differently and observe taste changes
Soak vegetables for 2030 minutes before cooking
Use different utensils and observe differences (avoid pressure cookers and aluminum).1
Experiment with ingredients and sequence

It becomes a deep learning experience.

Anyone willing to be fit, reduce food intake, or manage weight must start cooking for themselves. Cooking brings awareness to what and how much one eats.

Food begins as survival, becomes habit, and can transform into awareness. The question isnot what we eatbut whether we are awake while eating.Mindful eating is the doorway to mindful living. Anonymous

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P.S for article Sing A Song .https://gyanmarg.guru/ww/view.php?id=52995902&con=18579235

few , not many , asked - did seeker sing the song ?

YES. He Sang.

Then, They both laughed. *

now please do not asked who laughed FIRST.

*Based on true incident.

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1. follow Rajiv Dixit or Good ayurvedacharya to know more .

For any errors, feedback and suggestions on this article or past articles and for suggestions of topics for the next articles
Please mail chaitanya.seeker@gmail.com

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Wise Words

Food

Chaitanya