The essence of the Bhagwat Geeta

The more I fast, the more I realize how feasting and fasting are the same thing when the knowledge dawns upon you. 

You will see me talking a lot about the Bhagwat Geeta in most recipes. The reason why I connect cooking with the teachings of the Geeta is because both are essentially united in their purpose. 

Cooking or eating with a feeling of compassion, food that is cooked and served with love is equivalent to Devotional service to the supreme. For those who can not love and respect the food they eat will not find love and respect in the world either. Those that respect all food despite the opinions of the mind, find respect in the world. If the meal you consume doesnot satisfy you completely, or makes you feel miserable, life too will have many moments of dissatisfaction and miseries. Taste is just one way to experience the life that is merging into yours, yet it is something most people can connect to. I already spoke of the verses in the Geeta that describe how one's preference of food is a reflection of one's state of mind and attitude towards life. Ones preferences for, attitude towards and knowledge of all thing that is someone's food is by far the best indication of his/her intellect.

It's not to say that one must be passionate or fanatic about food, there is no one right or wrong way of living your life. 

In another post I had mentioned how when we eat we don't just take in the nutrients of the foods, we also absorb the karmas of the plants or lives we consume, the environment in which we consume, etc. We become the food and the food becomes us.

Your world changes everyday at mealtime. So, if you don't like change, just stop eating. If you want to change the world, its only going to happen one meal at a time. You want to save the world, just stop corrupting the world's food supply, you want to save yourself, just stop corrupting your own food with unchecked opinions and attitude.

At the end of the day, one who is one with the supreme, only wants to feel satisfied that the food one is eating will nourish every cell in the body that one need for this life's journey, affecting it positively while the new cells that form wil also follow the orders of the Supreme.

So, we don't eat to fill our stomach we eat to nourish our whole being. How far this being expands depends on your soul's experience. For some this being is concentrated at the pit of the stomach, for some beings this being is limited to the boundaries of the physical body one occupies. For some this being may encompass the world, or universe & that is the first step towards developing an attitude of empathy or in other words realizing or attaining god.

I usually allow myself a few seconds of silence in front of my plate before I start eating. Its a nice thing to look at the food you are going to eat, allowing the smell to fill the air around you, letting your fingers get a feel of the textures your mouth will later deal with. Some people use this time to thank god or remember god, but its ok if you do not feel the devotion towards an imaginary god, the few thoughtless minutes or seconds of silence is still beneficial. Because seriously speaking God doesn't need your devotion, he or she depends on you just the way you depend on him/her and he/she needs your karma to sustain itself, in the same way that you need the food and the food needs you.

Looking at it from another angle, your sense of touch, your nose, ears and your eyes can convey a lot more information to your brain about the textures, sounds, nutrients, that you will easily miss once the food has entered the mouth. Its a lot like making love, you can't focus on the intricacies of reproduction while in practice of the act so stop pretending, ask your mind to shutup and enjoy the meal.

The only thing one shouldn't be thinking about, before the food enters ones mouth, is how it will taste or how it will affect me for if the rest of the body shows a willingness to connect to this food, the tastebuds will accept it too, salt or no salt. 

As a child, I was often tagged a fussy eater and my dear well-meaning mother would tell me not to be so dependent on taste buds and I wouldn't understand her. I was just reading other books (than what she read) which presented the truth in very small unrelated bits and there was no belief in a Supreme or God so I could not connect the dots. So I missed the essence of life and food for a long time. Let me tell you this, idol worship and rituals are not a bad thing if it helps you understand the world better. Don't ever judge anyone's belief system. The only important thing is that you do not get stuck to the idea of a personalized god so much that it makes you a feel like a know-it-all. Be a seeker at heart, a believer in your mind and dedicate your actions to the one you believe in.

Thats how the Bhagwat Geeta also trains one to go about life. To connect to the supreme or to be one with the eternal doesnot mean you stop using your senses, or supress your mind, it also doesn't mean you stop eating or overindulge in your senses; it just means you live in true knowledge, seeing always a bigger picture.

śrī-bhagavān uvācha
anāśritaḥ karma-phalaṁ, 

kāryaṁ karma karoti yaḥ
sa sannyāsī cha yogī cha, 

na niragnir na chākriyaḥ

The Supreme said:

without taking shelter in the fruits of actions,

acting with a sense of duty (obligation) to perform actions; that one

is certainly the one who has put down everything  (san-ya-asi), he is certainly one connected with supreme (a yogi)

not the one who lights no fire or performs no duty

Note here, as an example, when you sit to eat, responding to the needs of the body is the obligation or duty (karyam); while feasting (or fasting) is performing of the action (karma karoti). Not the other way around. 

I was wondering how I can summarize this main essence of the Bhagwat Geeta in one post. Then I came across this wonderful story that is shared across in corporate circles like so:

When the body was first made, all the parts wanted to be the Boss. 

The brain said, "I should be Boss because I control the whole body's responses and functions." 

The feet said, " We should be Boss as we carry the brain about and get him to where he wants to go. 

The hands said, "We should be the Boss because we do all the work and earn all the money." 

And so it went on and on with the heart, the lungs and the eyes until finally the asshole spoke up. All the parts laughed at the idea of the asshole being the Boss. 

So the asshole went on strike, blocked itself up and refused to work. Within a short time the eyes became crossed, the hands clenched, the feet twitched, the heart and lungs began to panic and the brain fevered. Eventually they all decided that the asshole should be the Boss, so the motion was passed. Management Lesson: You don't need brains to be a Boss - any asshole will do.

In Spiritual circles, this is how the story goes:

One day, the creator being very pleased with his creation, decided to make for himself a body with which he could sense and enjoy his creation. When his body was first made, all the parts wanted to be the Boss in this beautiful creation.

The brain said, "I should be Boss because I control the whole body's responses and functions." 

The feet said, " We should be Boss as we carry the brain about and get him to where he wants to go. 

The hands said, "We should be the Boss because we do all the work." 

And so it went on and on with the heart, the lungs and the eyes until finally the asshole spoke up. All the parts laughed at the idea of the asshole being the Boss. No conclusion was reached and the body parts continued to argue so the creator thought to himself:

Why not I create an illusory city (we will call it Maya Nagri) where everyone part can think and act as though he is the boss and in control. And so here we are living in this Maya Nagri where the concept of good and bad clouds the truth and leads us into thinking we are the doers or karmis; the bosses of our own lives.

There is a belief in some that this life is a punishment and we are all here only because we are sinners, wishing to be transported to some imaginary heavens through our deeds. I remember my mom telling me this as being the message of certain Vedas but I believe she just read the wrong translation before coming to this conclusion. I am not surprised she embraced aethism. I'd say stay away from belief systems and be a seeker at heart if you want to be happy.

So, if this has left you confused and you wondering why we are here; We are here to experience the whole and to discover our place in the universe, we are here to expand our consciousness. We are here to dispel ignorance and appreciate that which we recognize as separate from our own being. We are all parts and parcels of the same supreme being or the single force or energy that created the universe. There are no sinners and saints there are only concious beings and those that live their lives unconsciously oblivious to the truth. So all you need to live your life well is enlightenment.

The same is confirmed in the fourth chapter of the Bhagwat Geeta where Krishna says:

yaj jñātvā na punar moham
evaṁ yāsyasi pāṇḍava
yena bhūtāny aśeṣāṇi
drakṣyasy ātmany atho mayi

You will no longer be subject to your present illusion

when you are enlightened by this knowledge of the reality, O Pāṇḍava

You will see the one spiritual nature in all species of life, from highest to lowest

and that all are situated within Me.

Then again at the end of the 5th Chapter, Krishna says:

bhoktāraṁ yajña-tapasāṁ
sarva-loka-maheśvaram
suhṛdaṁ sarva-bhūtānāṁ
jñātvā māṁ śāntim ṛcchati

The ultimate beneficiary of all sacrifices and austerities

the Supreme Lord of all the worlds 

and the benefactor and well-wisher of all living entities

is Me. He who understands this knowledge, attains peace from the pangs of material miseries

This is the essence or logic behind Karma Yog too. To act in Krishna consciousness becomes the duty of every living entity because all are constitutionally parts and parcels of the Supreme. And the parts of the body must work for the satisfaction of the whole body. The limbs of the body do not act for self-satisfaction but for the satisfaction of the complete whole. Similarly, the living entity who acts for satisfaction of the supreme whole and not for personal satisfaction is the perfect sannyäsi or the perfect yogi.