Jain Spirit 2001 12 No 09

Author(s): Jain Spirit UK
Publisher: UK Young Jains

Page 54

INTERFAITH
HEALTH IS WEALTH
Professor P. L. Jain writes about the practical usefulness and scientific
wisdom of Ayur-veda, the Vedanta philosophy of nutrition
HUGUES SERVE
Dining room of Sankheshwar Dharamshala, Gujarat, India
transcendentalist attain mastery over his senses. "Of all the senses, the tongue is the most difficult to control," says the prasada-sevaya, a song composed by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, one of the spiritual predecessors of Srila Prabhupada, “but Krishna has kindly given us this nice food (prasada) to help us control the tongue."
Here are a few guidelines for good eating taken from the Ayur-veda and other scriptures.
Spiritualise your eating
INDIA IS THE HOME NOT ONLY OF VEGETARIAN COOKING, BUT
also of the science of healthful living. The scripture Lknown as the Ayur-veda, is the oldest known work on biology, hygiene, medicine and nutrition. This branch of the Vedas was revealed thousands of years ago by Sri Bhagavan Dhanvantari, an incarnation of Krishna. Old, however, is not the same as primitive and some of the instructions of the Ayur-veda will remind today's readers of modern nutritional teachings or just plain common sense. Other instructions may seem less familiar, but they will bear themselves out if given the chance.
We shouldn't be surprised to see bodily health discussed in spiritual writings. The Vedas consider the human body a divine gift, a chance for the imprisoned soul to escape from the cycle of birth and death. The importance of healthful living in spiritual life is also mentioned by Lord Krishna in the Bhagavad-gita: “There is no possibility of becoming a yogi, O Arjuna, if one eats too much or eats too little, sleeps too much or does not sleep enough. One who is temperate in his habits of eating, sleeping, working and recreation can mitigate all material pains by practising the yoga system." Proper eating has double importance. Besides its role in bodily health-over-eating, eating in a disturbed or anxious state of mind or eating unclean foods causes indigestion, the parent of all diseases". Proper eating can help the aspiring
The Bhagavad-gita divides foods into three classes: those of the quality of goodness, those of the quality of passion and those of the quality of ignorance. The most healthful are the foods of goodness. "Foods of the quality of goodness (milk products, grains, fruits and vegetables) increase the duration of life, purify one's existence and give strength, health, happiness and satisfaction. Such foods are sweet, juicy, fatty and palatable.” Foods that are too bitter, sour, salty, pungent, dry or hot, are of the quality of passion and cause distress. But foods of the quality of ignorance, such as meat, fish and fowl, described as "putrid, decomposed and unclean" produce only pain, disease and bad karma. In other words, what you eat affects the quality of your life. There is a lot of unnecessary suffering in the world today, because most people have no criterion for choosing food
50
Jain Spirit . December 2001 - February 2002