________________
but fueled with faith in inner experience, he was ready to move forward into the unknown horizon.
The fifth lesson in upāyoga concerned awareness of eating. "When you eat, have the vibrations of upayoga. Eat with grace and ask yourself, 'Why do I eat? Is it only to fill up the body or is it to nourish the body?' Munishree thought this over. We are nothing but vibrations. What we take into our body transforms into vibrations and affects our feelings, our speech, our health, and our communications. We absorb not only the food, but the vibrations of the one who cooked it as well. That is why I accept only unpolluted food and bless it as a means to turn my body into a living temple of light to serve all life.
Munishree witnessed an example of this law of vibrations in his own group of monks. Once one quiet studious monk went to collect alms, ate his food, and immediately went to bed. At noon, he was still sleeping, so his teacher came and asked him, "Why are you sleeping now? It is noon."
His student who was normally very pleasant and reverent in his manner answered gruffly, “I am tired. I want to rest for two or three more hours."
His teacher thought,"He does not usually talk this way. Usually he gets sound sleep at night, not in the daytime.” So he addressed his student again. “In the daytime, you are sleeping four hours?"
The young monk became defensive, “You always find fault with me, Sir."
Then his teacher knew what had happened. His student was under the influence of a different vibration.
So he asked, "Please tell me, from where did you collect your food this morning?”
"From this house down that street," he answered.
So his teacher went to that house and asked the owner, “Please will you tell me from where you bought your grain?”
The owner admitted, “To tell you the truth, the priest at the local temple was selling the rice and fruit which people placed in front of the statues last week. He was selling it to the poor people at a cheaper rate and I thought, 'Why should I not also
131
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
