The Foods of the Mind and Body.

By Yogi Baba Prem Tom Beal, Vedavisharada

There is a popular mantra from the Taittriya Upanishad that starts:

Aham annam, aham annam, aham annam

aham annadah, Aham annadah, aham annadah

I am food, I am food, I am food.

I am the eater of food, I am the eater of food, I am the eater of food.

Taittriya Upanishad.

This mantra is longer, but the basic message is that everything is food and everything is being consumed. It carries a very insightful and important message for all of humanity. From a yogic and ayurvedic aspect this is an important message also.

While most people view food from the standpoint of vegetables and fruits, there are many other types of food that is consumed on a daily basis. Food also manifests in the form of sensory impressions, mental and emotional impressions. As an example: The breath is literally food for the body. The prana (life-force) and oxygen are absorbed with each breath and quickly distributed to the various organs and cells of the body. Poor breathing habits results in poor absorption of the vital force and oxygen. Breathing polluted air, chemicals or other environmental toxins results in consuming junk food via the breath.

Over exposure through the senses is literally fast food or junk food for the mind. If asked, most people can agree that what we see can stimulate an emotional or physiological response. As an example, who has not had a song stimulate an emotional feeling or a state of mind? Music is food for the emotional and mental body. Some consume lower vibration music, angry music while others consume higher spiritual music. “Our "personal vitality" drinks the vitality of the sensory impressions. This in turn feeds and vitalizes the pranas (life-force) of the mind and body. This makes sensory impressions a form of soma or food for Vayu (the vital air). It determines the quality of prana within the mind and body.”(1) The senses literally become like a breath for the mind and the body!

Using the visual sense, many consume food of lust for men or women, as an example. Pornography is an example, if one were to look at pornography several times a day eventually this would begin to shape the way they view themselves and others. It would influence the activities of the mind. Likewise, if one were to study spiritual books the same would occur. It is merely a matter of what food you wish to eat.

Within the field of touch, if the right person touches our arm we consume that feeling and various emotions are released and opened. If the wrong person touches our arm we are offended. It is still the consumption of food, just a different response.

Everything is food! The body and mind are consuming everything. What kind of food do you eat?

Most likely if you eat junk food, you may consume other sense junk foods. This is not about morality; it is more about energy and vibration. If you surround yourself with negative people you will most likely become negative or miserable. The effect is the same; the negative people leave you with negativity or miserable.

If you frequently attend places filled with negativity, you will most likely become negative or miserable. I once had a gentleman try and tell me what a great place prison was. I find it difficult to believe that prison is a popular or positive place, while one can try and make the best of the situation; it is rarely a place people purposely seek out. He was miserable and suffered much. He did not understand the food he was consuming.

I knew of another student that was a vegetarian, and condemned those that ate meat. Eventually the student was with people of a different vibration for long periods of time. The student began to eat meat, thinking it was their decision, but in reality was by-product of the time they were spending with the other people. Instead of yogic spiritual food, the student was consuming worldly activities and this led to their eating meat. This does not mean the people that consumed meat were of a “bad” vibration, merely a different spiritual vibration, and this influenced the student over time.

Whether we realize it or not, each of us is constantly consuming food through the senses. It is important for us to consume quality food, fresh fruits and cooked vegetables. It is even more important for each of us to access the food we are consuming through our senses and activities. This is such a more important teaching, as it appears in the Vedic teachings, Yoga teachings, Ayurvedic teachings, and Vedanta. So I ask, “What food are you consuming?”

Sanskrit Translation and Transliteration by Yogi Baba Prem Tom Beal

References and Sources:

Sanskrit:

Taittiriya Upanishad