Blood flows in the body, breathing continues, the heart beats — the activity of the entire body depends on food. If food is disconnected, the body dies. A person may give up food with effort, but cannot give up hunger. A person may stop drinking water, but cannot remove thirst from the body.
The body’s physical energy comes from food. However, no great spiritual or constructive work can be accomplished with food-energy alone. And if food-energy becomes excessive, it gives birth to immoral tendencies. The taste of food depends on hunger — the last morsel never tastes like the first. As we keep eating, the taste gradually decreases because hunger decreases. Hunger and taste are directly connected.
Gurbani says:
ਰੂਪੈ ਕਾਮੈ ਦੋਸਤੀ ਭੁਖੈ ਸਾਦੈ ਗੰਢੁ ॥ (ਅੰਗ ੧੨੮੮)
Beauty and lust are companions; hunger and taste are tied together.
Meditation is spiritual nourishment. Actions performed with spiritual energy bring peace to the world. The taste of meditation reduces the taste for food. Therefore, those who meditate deeply eat less.
Gurbani says:
ਓਨੀ ਦੁਨੀਆ ਤੋੜੇ ਬੰਧਨਾ ਅੰਨੁ ਪਾਣੀ ਥੋੜਾ ਖਾਇਆ ॥ (ਅੰਗ ੪੬੬)
They break the bonds of the world and live on little food and water.
A person who eats excessively is called a glutton, and one who meditates excessively is called a yogi. Overeating brings illness, but meditation keeps the body healthy. When a larger line is drawn, the smaller line automatically becomes small — likewise, the energy and taste of meditation reduce the importance of food.
From excess food arises sexual desire. But from meditation arises the experience of God. If someone feels joy from overeating, it proves they have not yet tasted meditation. Excess food leads toward immoral deeds; meditation leads toward God.
Satguru Ji teaches that life sustained merely by food is not real life. True life is found only through meditation:
ਸੋ ਜੀਵਿਆ ਜਿਸੁ ਮਨਿ ਵਸਿਆ ਸੋਇ ॥
They alone are truly alive, in whose minds the Lord dwells.
ਨਾਨਕ ਅਵਰੁ ਨ ਜੀਵੈ ਕੋਇ ॥
O Nanak, no one else is truly alive.
ਜੇ ਜੀਵੈ ਪਤਿ ਲਥੀ ਜਾਇ ॥
Those who merely live depart in dishonour;
ਸਭੁ ਹਰਾਮੁ ਜੇਤਾ ਕਿਛੁ ਖਾਇ ॥ (ਅੰਗ ੧੪੨)
Whatever they eat is impure.
A Sufi saint said:
“Eating and drinking are required to keep the body alive, and the body is required so that one may remember God.”
Maulana Rumi said:
“Food makes the body fat; meditation makes the soul fat.”
With energy produced from food, a person may try to snatch another’s morsel. With energy produced from meditation, a person is willing to sacrifice even his life for others. Food-energy leads toward grasping; meditation-energy leads toward giving.
When one experiences the taste of meditation, life reaches its summit and the purpose of life is fulfilled.
by Giani Sant Singh Ji Maskeen
