“Dietary Concerns”

Folks, the title above is taken from a sub-chapter in the book “Conscious Immortality”, the contents of which quite neatly encapsulate Sri Bhagavan’s teachings on what constitutes the appropriate dietary intake for a spiritual aspirant. Specifically, the issue is - what should be our approach towards non-vegetarian food, alcohol, tobacco and drugs, the 4 items traditionally considered taboo in mainstream Hinduism.

 

The issue is important as in modern times, at least one, if not several, of these items may be sometimes consumed by even the serious sadhakas.  The use of the first two particularly, is found to be easier to rationalize away.  What can be the problem with just that occasional omelette for breakfast, or that lovely cake with eggs, after all I am not eating meat proper? Or, surely I can have that one glass of beer with my buddies, after all it is not hard liquor; and it is just once in a while? Also, some may feel that tobacco/ganja or even the harder stuff should be alright as, after all, ganja is said to be imbibed by Lord Siva Himself, and there is a history of its usage by some devotees of Bhagavan in the olden days. Sadly, in my humble opinion, they would all be grievously harming their aspirations as even lay sadhakas, forget as the more serious ones. And this post attempts to lay down the argument as to how critically important it is to completely stay away from these items. The topic came up as a dear friend of mine was looking for references as to what Bhagavan had said with respect to all this, and I thought that it may, perhaps, make for an interesting post on the blog as well.

 

 

First, the extract:  

 

[From: "Conscious Immortality", by Paul Brunton & Mungala Venkataramiah; “Dietary Concerns”, Pg 15]

 

Q:   What about diet?

 

M:   Food affects the mind. The right food makes it more sattvik. For the practice of any kind of yoga, vegetarianism is absolutely necessary.

 

Q:   What about those not accustomed to a vegetarian diet?

 

M:   Habit is only adjustment to the environment. It is the mind that matters. The fact is that the mind has been trained to think certain foods tasty. Nourishment may be obtained from vegetarian food no less than from flesh. But the realized person’s mind is not influenced by the food eaten. However, get accustomed to vegetarianism gradually.

 

Q:   But if it is a matter of non-killing, then even plants have life.

 

M:   And so do the tiles you are sitting on!

 

Q:   Could one receive spiritual illumination while eating meat?

 

M:   Yes. But abandon it gradually and accustom yourself to sattvik food. Once you have attained illumination, what you eat will make less difference, just as on a great fire it is immaterial what fuel is added.

 

…………

 

Q:   Do you recommend that meat and alcohol be given up?

 

M:   Yes. It is a useful aid in the beginning. The difficulty in surrendering them is not that they are really necessary, but that we have become habituated to them. Until the mind is firm in realization, it must have some picture or idea to dwell on, or else the meditation will quickly give way to sleep or (wandering) thoughts. There is a subtle essence in all food; it is this which affects the mind. So for those who are practicing meditation to find the Self, dietetic rules have been laid down, which it is advisable to follow. Sattvik foods promote meditation, whereas rajasik food like meat and tamasik food [basically drugs, alcohol and tobacco] hinder it.

 

Q:   Why do you take milk but not eggs?

 

M:   Domesticated cows yield more milk than their calves require and they find it a pleasure to be relieved. Eggs contain potential lives.

 

…………

 

Q:   Is it harmless to continue smoking?

 

M:   No, tobacco is a poison. It is better to do without it. Tobacco gives only a temporary stimulation to which there must be a reaction with craving for more. Also, it is not good for meditation practice.

 

Q:   Is there any drug to promote meditation?

 

M:   No, because afterwards the user would be unable to meditate without taking it habitually. Those who take opium or alcohol are unconsciously seeking the blissful thoughtless state of the real Self. They get an intimation of this state by drugs, but afterwards they must resume their normal state and the craving comes back even stronger until they become chronic addicts and slaves to the substance. With all such stimulants there must be a fall. If the mind is subdued, everything is conquered.

 

 

[Note: for “tamasik food” above, “drugs, alcohol & tobacco” is my addition in square brackets]

 

The conversation given above is also repeated for a bit in “Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi”, probably as Mungala Venkataramiah is partly the common author of both books. But crucially, the references to alcohol and tobacco are missing there. In general, amongst all the books of reminiscences we have of Sri Bhagavan, we find that the injunction against non-vegetarian food crops up many times here and there. Anecdotes relating to drugs, ganja specifically, also appear, although infrequently. References to alcohol and tobacco but, are very rare. In that, the foregoing represents the most complete set of instructions given by Bhagavan on this matter, in one place.

 

Also, it may be noted how mildly worded are Bhagavan’s instructions. There is no vehemence or forcefulness imposed by Bhagavan in laying down the injunctions against the four items. But believe me folks, this should not be interpreted to mean that the sadhaka can be a bit easy-going when it comes to these things. The mild wording is typical of Bhagavan. And, in my humble opinion, this is “Bhagavan-speak” for as strong an injunction against these things as has been laid down by Bhagavan for anything at all.  

 

 

The Gunas

 

Bhagavan bases the injunctions on the 3 primary gunas (subtle qualities); i.e. all foods can be classified as having one or more of sattvik, rajasik or tamasik gunas. A quick recap here for those who may be unfamiliar with these terms: sattva is the quality of purity, of God and all things holy, of meditation, calmness and the attitude of contentment; rajas is the quality of passion, of desire, of action, of restlessness, of attachment; tamas is the quality of being jada, of a torpid inertness, of evil, of ignorance, and sleep. Foods, actions, nature of people, places etc. can all be classified as intrinsically having one or more of these three basic subtle qualities. So ultimately, God or Self-realization is achievable only when the sattvik nature predominates, nay, is the sole quality left in the aspirant. The sadhaka has to gravitate from the tamasik and rajasik elements into pure sattvikta. If he (or she) keeps on having tamasik or rajasik food items, which are intrinsically opposed to the sattvik nature of God, how is he (she) going to get anywhere? What we eat is what we become. And if we eat items whose subtle essence is tamasik or rajasik, as for the 4 items under consideration, we keep on creating headwinds for ourselves on our anyways difficult quest.

 

This, in fact, is the traditional stand in Hinduism which has always had the strongest of injunctions against these four items, and which is sometimes wrongly supposed to have arisen on moral, ethical or religious grounds. Not at all. In Scripture it is not that - if you are an alcoholic you are a great sinner, and will go to hell. The injunctions are based on the deleterious effect of these items on our subtle, core nature. In fact, they are derived from no less than the Bhagavad Gita Itself, wherein the concept of the gunas and their applicability in the sadhaka's life are laid out in elaborate detail in Chapter 14; and frequent references to the gunas carries on right till the end in Chapter 18.

 

 

Impact of the 4 non-sattvik items depends on our intrinsic sattva quality

 

If we are drinking alcohol, smoking away, eating meat etc. does that ab initio disbar us from God or Self-realization? Not at all. From Bhagavan's talk above we gather that the influence of these 4 items depends on the level of the intrinsic sattva within us. A ripe sadhaka, of a predominantly sattvik intrinsic nature, will effortlessly achieve Self-realization irrespective of what he might be eating. We have the example of Mastan Swami for this, who was given ganja to imbibe by misguided co-devotees (an anecdote follows later). For the average sadhaka but, the level of sattva in whom is still inadequate, the consumption of these 4 items will create enough headwinds so as to make his (her) spiritual goal very difficult to reach indeed. 

 

Bhagavan Himself, sattva personified, could take in anything and not be affected by it in the slightest. As He put it above, “Once you have attained illumination, what you eat will make less difference, just as on a great fire it is immaterial what fuel is added.”

 

 

On Ganja

 

Ganja, also called marijuana or cannabis, has been consumed in India from time immemorial by sadhus as, arguably, a drug dear to Lord Siva. It is considered by some to have sattvik qualities and may superficially help in Yoga practices. It merits special consideration here because in the olden days at Virupaksa and Skandasramam, there was a small group of bhaktas with Bhagavan who regularly made use of it. Under the pretext of Bhagavan’s rule of sharing everything with all equally, these devotees sometimes gave ganja to Bhagavan Himself, and also to other hapless devotees who happened to be around. There are only a few of these incidents recorded but they make for a fascinating read, because in them we have instances of one of the 4 prohibited items being consumed by devotees in Bhagavan’s holy presence Itself. Also, to the extent that ganja is probably the least objectionable of the 4 offending items, we can infer from His disapproval here, how much more strong His opposition to the other 3 items would be.     

 

 

[From: “Fragrant Petals”, Sri Ramanasramam Publication; “Above Orthodoxy & Unorthodoxy” by Krishna Bikshu, Pg 151; note: bhang is the thick paste produced by grinding green ganja leaves, it may be consumed directly as marble sized balls, or mixed into a milk based drink]

 

There was a still more extraordinary case in the early years of the Ashram. Some of the sadhakas used to take bhang (a hallucinatory drug sometimes used by sadhus), and they also would offer it to Bhagavan first to justify themselves. Bhagavan would accept it when offered and it had no effect on the serenity of His mind, since He had no mind to be disturbed. Once they offered some to Sri Kavyakantha Muni also, thinking thereby to justify its use by sadhakas, since Bhagavan was not a sadhaka but a mukta. Sri Ganapati Muni saw through their trick, however, and was about to curse them for their audacity, but the motherly spirit awoke in his wife who was present on the occasion, and she induced him to leave the scene, so that the miscreants escaped punishment.

 

 

[From: “Arunachala’s Ramana – Boundless Ocean of Grace”, Vol I, Sri Ramanasramam Publication; Vilacheri Ranga Iyer’s Reminiscences, Pg 516]

 

While Bhagavan was at Skandasramam, one bhakta used to find green ganja leaves and give a ball of it frequently to Bhagavan. “Another bhakta one day gave the same stuff in such quantity as might prove fatal”, Bhagavan’s mother told me. It seems that day Bhagavan’s eyes grew very red and he sat like that the whole day. Telling me this, she asked me to request Bhagavan not to take the stuff whoever may offer it. I then asked that bhakta not to give ganja to Bhagavan. I also requested Bhagavan not to take it thereafter. For that Bhagavan replied, “What to do? I have to take whatever is offered.”

 

 

[From: Mountain Path, Vol IX No. 1, January 1972; “Effects of an Indian Drug”, Pg 92; written by “Ramamani” based on conversations with Kunju Swami]

 

Seeing that Sri Bhagavan suffered from severe asthma and would do nothing about it, a devotee brought Purnadi Lehiyam [an Ayurvedic medicine] which contains ganja. This gave relief. But since Sri Bhagavan would not partake of anything if it was not given to others this was distributed to all present. But all could not stand it unaffected like Sri Bhagavan. Those who were sincere aspirants felt not merely an elation and indifference to environment but felt aided in their meditation. The effects varied and lasted for an hour or more. Sri Bhagavan put an end to it all and explained the merits and defects of this drug.

 

 

[From: Power of the Presence, Vol III, edited by David Godman; “Mastan”, Pg 27; anecdote on Mastan Swami recorded by Akhilandamma, when about ten of them were on Giripradakshina with Bhagavan]

 

On one of these occasions Mastan began to sing at the top of his voice. I had never heard him singing so loudly. “Mastan, what happened to you today?” asked Bhagavan as soon as the pradakshina was over. “You never ever sing, so why did you sing like that?”

 

“It was nothing,” replied Mastan, casually. “Perumal instructed me that I had to sing in order to ward off your drowsiness. To raise my spirits and to equip me for the job, he made me take a drink containing ganja.”

 

“So that’s what happened. Ganja intoxication was behind your wild singing. How many times have I told you that I need no external help to keep me awake? Also, I have told you before not to do anything for my sake. Don’t listen to other people who tell you differently.” Though Bhagavan rebuked Mastan in this way, I don’t think he took the criticism very seriously. Mastan was a very innocent man, and events like this didn’t touch him.

 

[Now, we know that Mastan Swami would go into spontaneous Samadhi in the presence of Bhagavan. There are the famous incidents from the Virupaksa Cave days when he would “freeze” the moment he touched the gate of the small compound there, and remain standing perfectly still for 6 to 7 hours. He was an extraordinarily ripe soul, and by the time of his passing away in 1931, was thought to be Self-realized by most devotees. Such a ripe sadhaka could casually imbibe ganja, and indeed any of the other non-sattvik items as well, without any impact on his spiritual quest. Note that he never himself had any desire for the ganja, neither for sadhana nor for pleasure. He took it in all innocence as it was given to him by a co-devotee, who told him it is for Bhagavan’s benefit].

 

 

[From: “Sri Ramana Reminiscences”, Sri Ramanasramam Publication; by G. V. Subbaramayya, Pg 36; from the text preceding, this conversation was probably in “the summer of 1939”.]

 

Incidently, Sri Bhagavan spoke about the use of drugs for practicing Yoga. He said, “I do admit that drugs have some beneficial effect. A certain drug can make the whole body melt and flow like the Milky Ocean. One Pattabhi told me that when he was given Chloroform before an operation he experienced a nectarous bliss and longed for that state again. The Chinese look like skeletons, but when they take opium, they feel like giants and do any difficult work. These drugs must however be taken limitedly and secretly. Otherwise all will demand them. Moreover, after some time the drug-habit will become a great force and obstacle from jnana (knowledge). Its addicts will not flinch from any crime to satisfy their craving. So it is best to remain desireless. Having seen the effects of all these drugs, I have decided that to BE as we are is best. To strive for knowing one’s Swarupa (Real Self) through Self-enquiry, though it may be a little difficult, is only the safe path.

 

 

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

 

As an aside, let me add here an anecdote which suggests that the beneficial qualities as may be in ganja, come about only after some involved processing in a special way. In the original article this is not a direct quote from Bhagavan, but is clearly paraphrasing what He said on some occasion.  

 

[From: Mountain Path, 1972, op. cit.]

 

Also much depended on the way the drug was prepared. The leaves had to be fried in an earthen pot in a mild fire, washed in running water like a stream or waterfall for two days, soaked in lemon juice and boiling milk, and with other ingredients formed the drug proper. (It was observed that even qualified Ayurvedic practitioners did not make the drug along such rigorous lines of procedure or did not know about it at all).

 

 

 

A Final Word

 

I had mentioned how we sometimes rationalize our intake of tamasik items by saying, “It is just one glass of wine after all”, or, “There is just a small bit of egg in the cake, how can it matter? After all I don’t touch non-veg food or eggs otherwise”, and so on. Well folks, that was me - though many years ago now!  When first I came to Bhagavan, I was still going out the odd occasion with my friends from Engineering and Management schools, where I found it oh so difficult to refuse that glass of liquefied tamas! Peer pressure can be huge, to be a “cool” guy, to belong and be part of the shared camaraderie of the group. I knew clearly then also, that even small amounts of alcohol immediately affected my spiritual composure, as I would struggle so much more the next few days with meditation. But I was unwilling to clamp down on it with the determination needed. And so it was nothing but Bhagavan’s Grace then, that not so long after coming to Bhagavan, I encountered these lines of His:

 

[From: Mountain Path, 1972, op. cit.]

 

On one occasion He said: “If you cannot give up this habit you need not come here.”

 

The lines were a hammer blow for me. Even though Bhagavan was speaking in the context of ganja consumption, I felt that, nay, immediately knew with complete conviction, that He was directly telling me to give up every drop of alcohol, and even my favourite Black Forest pastries which had eggs in them. The tamasik and rajasik items had to go, wholly and completely. Or else He would not accept me as His sishya and I need not come to Him.

 

A cynical view may perhaps say that this is how the mind finds for itself a powerful artificial trigger from religion, to carry out actions that anyway it had wanted subconsciously to be done, but was not strong enough to do on its own. Perhaps so, don’t really care. Also, ultimately it did not even matter whether the odd glass of alcohol or the tiny bit of egg in a pastry could be harmful in sadhana or not. It was just that Bhagavan's instructions were categorical that these items had to go, and thus binding on all who considered themselves to be His followers. For me then, that was that. I never touched the stuff again.

 

And guess what folks, nowadays in Delhi we get the most brilliant Black Forest pastries that are completely eggless!