Prelude to the Yoga of Nutrition
When Lord Jesus said, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” during the last supper, very few people understood the esoteric meaning within these words. Perhaps, only his disciples who were initiates of the mysteries understood the meaning and partook in this esoteric ceremony and reaped it’s full benefits. But, people who generally read the Bible rarely do understand the depth of these words of Lord Jesus. In every religious tradition, in every corner of this world, food is offered to the Gods at the altar. Gods are immortal and do not need food, yet we offer food to the Gods and even eat that food ourselves after it has been blessed and consecrated. All this has an inner meaning and we fail to understand it’s inner significance due to our negligence most of the times. We fail to understand that food is sacred.
Yes, food is sacred and it is a gift from God. A living being can not eat everything. A human for instance can not eat a stone. God has placed different kinds of vegetables, fruits and herbs for our consumption. Food is thus a product of nature that nourishes us. Without it we will not survive. If we are living a spiritual life even then we can not meditate on an empty stomach. We need pure food for maintaining the health and vitality of our body.
This truth being simple, it is one of the most ignored facts of our life. We never show the due respect to the very thing that gives us life and vitality everyday. We chew and eat our food in the most mindless way, talking, debating, while talking over phone, gossiping etc. We never eat our food in peace and in silence. Some of use don’t even chew the food and swallow it as a whole. Some of us devour our food like wild animals. So while eating our consciousness isn’t really attuned to something peaceful, something beautiful or something harmonious. We have not evolved much when it comes down to food and eating. We still eat like animals do. While that is unfortunately true for most people, advanced initiates have however known the right way of eating since the times of antiquity. Since these initiates know what and how to eat, they have healthy bodies and seldom do they suffer from disease.
‘Self-education must begin with a conscious, sensible way of eating. Those who respect the laws of nutrition will feel calm and unruffled; they will achieve control, self-mastery and peace… If you want to have inexhaustible reserves of nervous energy and be in command of our physical body and our emotions and feelings, chew the food for a long time, slowly, consciously and with love.’
-OMRAAM MIKHAEL AIVANHOV
It is an esoteric fact that the ability to assimilate food and nourish our bodies doesn’t depend only on what we eat. It also depends on how we eat our food everyday. And that is what we have always neglected. The Yoga of Nutrition by Master Omraam therefore elucidates this very simple Truth and shows us the way to eat correctly so that such a way of eating can lead us to rapid spiritual development.
Nourishment isn’t only limited to our physical body alone. It also is related to our subtle bodies namely the etheric, astral, mental and causal bodies. An ordinary person knows only how to nourish their physical body while eating. That too they do very poorly. On the contrary, an initiate knows how to nourish their physical body along with their etheric, astral, mental and other higher bodies while eating. This is why eating as initiates do, leads to the expansion of consciousness and such a way of eating can very well be defined as a Yoga. While the ordinary person is only limited to their physical life and the limited affairs of everyday living, initiates use the same opportunity of their meals to make spiritual contact with their Souls.
By eating the right amount of food the right way, it is possible to nourish the subtle bodies and expand one’s consciousness. Yes, eating can become our daily spiritual practice if we truly learn how to eat correctly.
“Since the food we eat every day is given to us by the Creator, it is imbued with his life. So how is it that this food, which is divine, does not make the wicked better people? It is because we each transform the food into something of our own nature. A saint, an initiate, will eat the same food but transform it into light, love and goodness. So it all depends on the state of the person who eats it. Wicked people will remain wicked and even become worse, and good people will continue to improve. This is a law: all creatures absorb food into their own substance and transform it, and this law applies to the spiritual as well as the physical plane. This is why the one desire of mystics and initiates is to offer themselves in sacrifice to the Lord to be absorbed by him. They know that in absorbing them the Lord will flood them with his light and transform them.”
-Omraam Mikhael Aivanhov
By practicing the Yoga of nutrition it is possible to harmonize one’s life and create peace and silence within. There are two books written by Master Omraam Mikhael Aivanhov for this very practice. Most of the times we eat in a very mindless manner, and if we change that bad habit and truly learn the art of eating, it will become possible for us to live a life of total harmony. Because to eat in silence with love in our hearts is a great art and one who masters this art can become a true yogi. Many times we neglect these small matters yet these are the things that really can help us progress on the spiritual path. Many will think that the yoga of nutrition is an exaggeration even without practicing it wholeheartedly first. But, with little effort and understanding this yoga can give marvelous results.
People expect they will receive eternal life just by being a so called good person. While Lord Jesus says, “I AM the bread of Life, he who comes to me shall not hunger; He who believes in me shall not thirst.” One should ask this question to themselves, “Am I worthy to partake this bread of life if I have no respect for the food I am eating everyday?” Because if we have no respect for our food, then the “Bread of life” which Lord Jesus speaks of is far away from us. And, it is not a literal bread but something very esoteric that bestows eternal life on an Initiate when they are drinking directly from the source.
Mahatma Choa Kok Sui also affirmed the importance of divine nutrition in the form of Eucharistic Healing and even recommended student to partake the Eucharistic bread and wine frequently for miraculous healing.
“Eucharistic healing can be used to heal physical ailments, psychological ailments and emotional hurts or pain.” – Master Choa Kok Sui (Advanced Pranic Healing)
Therefore, it is very urgent to start eating one’s food consciously, silently and with attention everyday. As mentioned before, the Two books “Hrani Yoga” and “The Yoga of Nutrition” by Master Omraam can guide us to understand the science of nourishment. These two books are like complete guide to the science and art of nutrition. Every student will benefit a lot by reading these books conscientiously a few times.
In this article we will not explain how to practice this Hrani Yoga for it will take a whole book to explain. Therefore students are requested to study the above mentioned books. Master Omraam in that books not only says one can become more healthy by practicing this yoga, but also one can develop stillness, intelligence, inner harmony, beauty, will power, vitality and great energy through the daily practice of Hrani Yoga. This Yoga is simple but sublime and leads one to the gates of inner transformation. The power of conscious eating has not only been taught by Master Omraam but also by many spiritual teachers. So it’s an established fact that eating rightly is an important aspect of spiritual development.
“The taking of food ought to be a sacred act to you, similar to the communion of Christianity. For the magic constitution it is not advisable to eat in a hurry. All kinds of food and beverages are suitable for the magic impregnation with desires. Yet all the impregnated foods and drinks have to be consumed entirely, and nothing should be left over. Do not read during a meal. Unfortunately a great many people are in this bad habit. Any kind of conversation is also undesirable.”
– Initiation Into Hermetics, Franz Bardon
For what is food? It is a love letter – yes, a love letter written by the Creator – and much depends on how we read this letter. Those who do so carelessly will draw no benefit from it. When you receive a letter from someone who is very dear to you, you read it and re-read it with great attention so that you can detect and appreciate every nuance: each word seems to contain a whole world of meanings waiting to be discovered. Try to give the same consideration to the love letter from the Creator. It is the most powerful and the most eloquent letter, for the message it contains is: ‘Look, I bring you life!’"
