Would you be pleased if each new day brought you plenty of energy for all of life’s duties and responsibilities? Would you be relieved if you never again experienced pangs of guilt for not having sufficient will power to do what your conscience suggests? Would you be happy personally and successful professionally if you could become the creative person you always wanted to be? Yoga science professes that you can experience the changes you seek. When your food choices become part of your daily yoga practice, you can transform everyday desires into ready supplies of energy, will power and creativity.
Our bodies are made up of food and water, a delicate balance of the five elements. The body itself is transitory–subject to change, death and decomposition–yet it houses the Eternal. When you begin to understand and incorporate this knowledge into your daily practice of yoga science, the act of eating becomes a sacrament. Making conscious food choices can become a powerful and practical mechanism to increase your inner reserves of energy, boost your will power and expand your capacity for creativity.
Desire, in and of itself, is not bad. It’s like gasoline in a combustion engine: it’s the fuel for action. Without desire, nothing is ever accomplished. But not all desires, including desires for certain foods, will lead you for your highest and greatest good. Only when every thought, word and action is in harmony with the innate wisdom reflected by your conscience can the transformational power of yoga science manifest the energy, will power and creativity you need.
When a thought about what to eat comes into your awareness, remember that the food you consume builds, repairs and maintains the instrument of action that the Divine Reality uses to unfold the continuing story of creation. When the desire for a certain food begins to grow, ask immediately, “Who is the thinker of this thought? Who am I? Who is aware of a desire for this particular food?” This process of self-inquiry breaks your identification with the body and helps you to step out of old habit patterns. Then, with the instruction of your discriminative faculty, you are free to choose food that will treat the body kindly without causing illness or discomfort?
When armed with information from your conscience, you know intuitively if the prospective food choice is merely a sense or ego gratification or one that will lead you for your highest and greatest good. If your conscience defines a particular food choice as passing pleasure, exercise the muscles of your will power by lovingly and willingly surrendering the desire back to the Origin from which it has come. In simple terms, consciously decide that for the attainment of your deepest driving desire for unbounded Life, Liberty and Happiness–you are willing to give up the passing pleasure.
The result of this kind of yoga practice is remarkable. When you willingly and consciously surrender the desire for a specific food as recommended by your conscience, the inherent power residing in that desire is transformed into strategic reserves of energy, will power and creativity. Because we eat so frequently, many opportunities come our way every day. These resources are not produced magically. They result from our own choices–the conscious use of our own inherent energy.
High, impenetrable walls once protected medieval city-states. To gain access, a visitor was required to announce himself at the main gate, credibly identify himself, state his intended purpose and justify the duration of his stay. Only after such thorough examination was right of entry granted.
When a thought or desire for a specific food seeks entrance into our city of life, most of us wave it in with hardly a second glance. Our habitual food choices are based on our likes and dislikes, and these have generally been formed by the boisterous clamor of the senses, ego and unconscious mind. By remaining under the sway of this committee, we are actually choosing to satisfy our likes and dislikes in preference to attaining our supreme happiness. When food choices become part of a yoga practice, however, food choices are determined by our perfect intuitive wisdom.
A spiritual seeker once asked his master to teach him the truth that would bring him happiness and end his sorrow. The master agreed. “You will know the truth,” he said, “when you go to the nearby well, draw three buckets full of water, and fill a large tub for bathing.” With great eagerness the student lowered the bucket, filled it with water and raised it, only to find that the bucket was empty. He lowered the bucket to the bottom of the well a second time, filled it with water, raised it up and again found it to be empty. Then, before he lowered the bucket for the third time, he carefully examined the bottom of the bucket and discovered that it was riddled with tiny holes.
The mind is our most powerful instrument for realizing our ultimate happiness, but we unconsciously allow more energy to pour out of the mind in service to our habits than we can harness to attain our highest and greatest good.
Eating food as a yoga practice is not intended to deprive us of the small, sensory pleasures that life offers. Though we are not the body, yoga science acknowledges that we certainly do have a body. We have senses, and life is to be enjoyed. Therefore, if you have a persistent desire for chocolate, order chocolate mousse or a slice of chocolate cake every couple of months at your favorite restaurant and thoroughly enjoy the pleasure without any guilt. However, do not constantly deplete your reserves of energy, will power and creativity by bringing these items into the home every week. This only further enslaves you to your likes and dislikes and the suggestions of others while increasing your physical, mental and emotional dis-ease.
Remember, every desire is made up of three basic components: energy, will power and creativity. If you feel tired, stressed and anxious because of the demands life is making, if you wish you had more will power to successfully fulfill your responsibilities, and if you could use more creative ideas in dealing with all that comes to you, then expand your practice of yoga science by consciously examining your relationship with food. As you begin to choose those foods endorsed by your own conscience, you will gain access to a limitless store of strength, will and creativity. Immediately, your body will become less taxed and healthier, and new-found wisdom from your own intuitive wisdom will lead you to fulfill your life’s purpose.
When Leonard is not teaching, he enjoys tending his vegetable and flower gardens, writing articles for his bimonthly newsletter “Transformation”. Today he teaches workshops on practical yoga science throughout the United States. His new book, The Heart & Science of Yoga: Living Free from Worry will be released in early 2005.
