Food For Thought

[Guest guest]

Dear Bhaktas,

 

Before I begin, I just HAVE to say this to Sri. Madhavakannan: You have

always been extra generous with your praise (employing "Athishayokthi")

publicly and privately, and yet one has hesitated to praise each of your

postings, for where in this flow of amrutham does one stop and say "Romba

azhagaa artham ezhudhiyirukkeL, saar!"? But such a moment has come, and tho

in my private study of the "Prabandham" I stop and get lost in the beauty

from time to time, now not a day goes by without remembering the following:

 

anbhu aavaay! Aaraa amudhu aavaay! * adiyEnuk/

inbhaavaay ellaamum neeyaavaay*- pon paavai/

kELvaa! KiLaroLi yen kEsavanE! * kEdinRi/

aaLvaaykku adiyEnan aaL

 

So I'd like to do namaskaram and thank you for your many gifts. Romba Azhagu

Saar Namba PerumaaL!! Azhagai "kaikaattiya" ungaLukku mikka nanri!!

 

Margazhi promises to be absolutely fantastic with Sri. Anbil's explanation

of "Tiruppavai" (Older gems are still with us, in which he quoted "Uthishta

Chintaya Harim/Vrajan Chintaya Kesavam/Bhujan Chintaya Govindam/Swapan

Chintaya Madhavam" and connected Tiruppavai to the Dharma Shastras), Sri.

Sadagopan's writings on "Thiru Adyayana Uthsavam" and Smt. Kalyani

Krishnamachari's "Nachiyar Thirumozhi" posts. Happy Pongal indeed.

--------------------------

I also read with much interest Sri. Anbil's postings on "Ahara Niyamam" and

Sri. Anand's forwarding of Michael Traub's essay on coffee. I liked Sri.

Anbil's note much better because it said there were no restrictions on Appam

and Cheedai:-). Now if one only had coffee to go with it...no I'm just

kidding, but it seemed to me that the author Dr. Traub sounded like he had

had about 6 cups of coffee that got him all jittery and sound totally

alarmist. Sometime back a study was done on folks who live healthy lives

past age 100, and what makes them tick. 5 factors influenced:

1. Engagement: These people had a major interest or focus (unspoken being

"other than themselves"), for example a 103 year old man took daily care of

the church, and was much involved in its activities.

2. Activity. No explanation needed.

3. Independence. These folks never listened to any newfangled scientific

nonsense. Described as "stubborn", their food habits etc did not change with

the latest info. They acted as per their beliefs.

4. Optimism.

5. Ability to take the loss of loved ones. Most folks this age have lost

parents, siblings, spouses, friends etc. A 102-year-old woman said the day

after losing her daughter: "The Lord gave her to me so peacefully and

pleasantly. I want to give her back just as peacefully."

 

If one looks at the above, most of them have to do with the mind and the

power of the mind over matter. The Belief-System is a Powerful Gaurd (or

God), which is where we are so very lucky to be born into one in which such

distilled truths are given to us freely. Engagement in the Lord, activity in

His service, independence in following our beliefs in a changing world,

optimism that we will reach Him one day, and the ability to see other

relationships as transient...why wouldn't a bhakta be healthy? Does that

mean the daily Niyamams have no meaning, as long as one has "faith"? Of

course not, but while some things appear to be completely non-negotiable,

absolute taboos, some of the rules seem to be more indicative of the times.

These days we have to not only peruse carefully the many ingredients in each

food product, (and learn about the food-production-process to avoid certain

additives) but also be honest and say, for example, that if I'm stuck in an

all-day seminar in a hot, crowded room and the most harmless liquid around

is a few bottles of "Evian" water, I'm probably not going to care that "it's

water that has been stored for more than a day". One has to understand the

times in which the treatise was written, and understand that given a choice,

obviously it's best to take fresh water. Most of the rules were

self-evident, and if some seemed obscure, Sri. Anbil had kindly interpreted

them for us in his many-part posting. It occurs to me, tho, that by jumping

up and down telling others what to do with coffee (accompanied by cute

little digs such as "I know you will not give it up for spiritual reasons,

at least do so for your own physical well-being.."), one evinces guNas that

are probably more harmful than coffee. You may be what you eat, but what I

find much more interesting is:

 

You Become What You Think About

--------------------

Sometime back, there was a discussion about how to get children inculcated

in our philosophy. I have a suggestion. It's not by lecturing them at a

young age on the "foodstuffs that increase Rajo or Tamoh Gunaas etc". I had

an uncle who'd rant and rave about this, and at age eight I never understood

what the bad guNas were and what they'd make of me if i acquired them (of

course since i only ate at a srivaishnava home like most children that age,

i never quite understood the need for such seemingly unnecessary and dire

warnings). Also, while supposedly following "ahara" rules, my uncle didn't

seem too sAtvik to me. I strongly suspected that the means to increase the

bad guNas were not hidden in onions but in people.

 

I'm writing this not because my individual experience is one bit important,

but because I'm sure this confusion has existed in any number of

srivaishnava children growing up watching such disconnects. The 'patti' who

followed the rules silently influenced one positively (especially since one

wanted to emulate her peacefulness) while those "laying down the law" to

gentle spirits invested taboos with much attraction. That food influences

moods/behavior is not in doubt. But if by being denied coffee a bhakta is

going to be focused on it and longing for it during prayer, or by being

vigilant that others do not break this golden rule an elder is focussed on

it beyond reason, I think that foolish brew gains an importance beyond

proportion and can do much more harm than by being drunk and forgotten so

that the focus is on the Lord.

 

It's just like being told about the evil called 'money', and then figuring

out one day that it's not the $ but the attitude towards it that matters.

Srivaishnavas are not walking peacefully to a river for a ritual bath in the

morning. They're getting on a freeway in which regardless of hours of sleep

they have to remain vigilant to avoid serious injury. Their choice should

not be to take coffee and feel guilty or avoid and feel that they are bereft

of something. This is also no personal defense of coffee. If there is only

One Power that holds sway over us, it helps to know that all other habits

can be broken by us at will. Women are very lucky, and have the opportunity

for an exalting experience called motherhood. The same coffee that seemed to

get one thru exams held no charm vs my interest in a healthy baby. But the

point is, here's what I would gaurd more against:

 

1. "Ahankaram" that I follow rules and "don't do these bad things that these

others do".

2. Anger at someone for breaking one of the lesser rules.

3. Forgetting that the converse is not true: By avoiding certain foods, one

does not necessarily lessen influence of "Rajo, Tamoh GuNaas" or suddenly

acquire Satvik ones. Mental exercise and control have greater and more

direct influence.

 

It's really the thought that counts. Having coffee without thinking about it

(and not getting anxious in its absense) is probably less harmful than

thinking a lot about "sakkarai pongal" and exploding when it doesn't turn

out the way one dreamt of it... Besides, modern life gives many

opportunities for "prayaschitham" such as plane travel and compulsary "wine

and cheese" meetings in which one starves and smiles.

 

I realize that these days there is greater need for vigilance and active

schooling when our children are exposed to opposing influences. But many

more srivaishnavas have been put off by being berated when too young than

are negatively affected by garlic. It's all quite unnecessary when our

system has been designed most intelligently. We are not asked to kneel or

confess, we get to experience beautiful vigrahams, chandanam, karpooram,

flowers, incense, hear chants and the bell that invites the Lord who eats

behind the "thirai" and get prasadam and tulasi water. Is there a child who

can resist? And the stories......Having developed the love, when one is told

what pleases and what displeases the Lord, it certainly draws attention. But

it is when one shows both a determination to follow one's own ways to the

utmost and is an example of the gentling influence of those ways that one

can hope to be followed.

 

My grandmother had a book called "Bhakta Vijayam" in which in one story,

some wonderfully strict Brahmanas stay for a day at a woman's house on their

way between theertha sthalams. The woman doesn't seem to follow our many

rules, and the bhaktas are most offended. Extremely disturbed, they are yet

unable to leave that night itself as the nearest place is too far and they

plan to get away early in the morning. The next morning, they hear the puja

bell, and knowing that the woman has not even gone for a bath, they are now

enraged. They peep thru the window of the puja room, and are awestruck. For

what do they see... there is the woman, lovingly feeding someone, and

bending more, they see that it is the "thavazhum Krishnar" in the altar who

gets out of his "thottil" to eat from her hand. Bathing would take 10

minutes and one can get fit for prayer, it is cleansing the mind and heart

(and thought and speech) that take a lifetime and more...

 

Aao Bhog Lagaao Mere Mohan

Jo koi tera parsaad khave, Jo koi teri SharaN lagaave,

Teraa hi ho jaaye mere Bhagwan

Aao Bhog Lagaao Mere Mohan

Aap hi ki vastu, aap hi ke aage

Ruch ruch Bhog lagaao mere Mohan

Aao Bhog Lagaao Mere Mohan..

 

Sarvam KrishNaarpaNam Astu...

Viji Raghunathan