Aspirants Guide

Author(s): Atmanandji Maharaj
Publisher: Shrimad Rajchandra Sadhna Kendra Koba

Page 59

ASPIRANT'S GUIDE insects, are all under its spell.
In modern times the voluptuousness of this organ of taste has crossed all limits. Numerous and varied items are served in the dishes in the non-vegetarian meals which are prepared from fishes, frogs, rats, cockroaches and countless carnivorous animals and insects. No big animal has been spared. Innocent animals, such as sheep, goats, ducks, hens, hares, pigs, deer, cows and bulls, buffaloes and horses, are slaughtered by the thousands. The root cause of all this cruel killing is only to cherish man's voluptuousness regarding the taste of his tongue.
Vegetarians also do not lag behind in the voluptuousness of the tongue. Thousands of new items are being processed and invented. These are such as those with pepper and spices, varied fried items, pickles, sauces, and sweets.
For an aspirant, simple and health-nourishing food serves the purpose. In its preparation, long time is not required and there is no elaborate processing. It is possible to observe the vow of limited eating (Unodari) and such a diet is conducive to peace of mind. An aspirant will not be tempted to eat like a pig, and it will be possible for him to resort to various spiritual practices with ease and peace.
EXPERIMENT IN CONTROL OF TASTE In the initial stages, an aspirant (Sadhak) should restrict the number of items of food. This will save him from the hankering love of unnecessary items like sauces, papad, pickles, fried grams and so on. In the next stage, let him resolve to give up for six or twelve months or some other timelimit, salty, sour or sweet items. This will slowly lead to the success of penance (Tapa) named abandonment of taste (Rasaparityaga). The tongue should not become licentious and physical health should not get spoiled for these purposes; discriminative abandonment of tastes becomes very useful to the aspirant.
Very tasty and spicy foods are usually consumed excessively. This will often produce several diseases of the stomach, intestines; liver and the tongue. In addition, sleep and laziness get enhanced, wrathful activities increase and the means of God-realization like self-study, chanting prayers, meditation, devotional singing and the like, cannot be practiced with due earnestness or concentration.
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