Sept. 5, 2025
A Balanced Perspective About Food and the Physical Body
reference: Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, Looking from Within, Chapter 5, Attitudes on the Path, pg. 166This episode is also available as a blog post at https://sriaurobindostudies.wordpress.com/2025/09/03/a-balanced-perspective-about-food-and-the-physical-body/
Video presentations, interviews and podcast episodes are allavailable on the YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/@santoshkrinsky871
More information about Sri Aurobindo can be found at www.aurobindo.net
The US editions and links to e-book editions of SriAurobindo’s writings can be found at Lotus Press www.lotuspress.com
1
00:00:00,960 --> 00:00:05,520
When the great Yogi of Tibet,
Milarepa, was eventually given
2
00:00:05,520 --> 00:00:10,240
the teachings by his guru Marpa,
he was sent to practice intense
3
00:00:10,240 --> 00:00:13,320
meditation.
When Marpa sent him to his
4
00:00:13,320 --> 00:00:17,720
meditation retreat, he gave him
a scroll of information with the
5
00:00:17,720 --> 00:00:20,800
instruction that he should open
it at the time when it was an
6
00:00:20,800 --> 00:00:24,960
absolute emergency.
He was so engaged in the
7
00:00:24,960 --> 00:00:27,840
practice that he did not pay
much attention to eating.
8
00:00:28,680 --> 00:00:33,800
He wound up many days, months,
years subsisting on a tea of
9
00:00:33,800 --> 00:00:37,320
nettle leaves.
This is the reason that he is
10
00:00:37,320 --> 00:00:43,160
depicted as having green skin.
Milarepa reported as set forth
11
00:00:43,160 --> 00:00:47,120
in Tibet's Great Yogi Milarepa,
A biography from the Tibetan,
12
00:00:47,360 --> 00:00:52,440
edited by WY Evans.
Wentz quote Living on nettle
13
00:00:52,440 --> 00:00:56,080
broth alone, I continued my
meditations.
14
00:00:56,680 --> 00:01:01,120
I had no clothes on the outside
of my body, nor any wholesome
15
00:01:01,120 --> 00:01:04,640
food inside.
My body became shrunken to a
16
00:01:04,640 --> 00:01:09,080
mere skeleton, and it was
greenish in hue, just like the
17
00:01:09,080 --> 00:01:13,160
nettle, and over it grew a
covering of greenish hair.
18
00:01:13,720 --> 00:01:17,440
End Quote.
At a certain point he felt that
19
00:01:17,440 --> 00:01:20,360
he could no longer concentrate
in his meditation.
20
00:01:20,880 --> 00:01:25,640
He felt his energies disrupted
and reasoned to himself that
21
00:01:25,640 --> 00:01:29,120
this constituted an absolute
emergency.
22
00:01:29,960 --> 00:01:33,280
He opened the scroll to reveal
the instruction that he needed
23
00:01:33,280 --> 00:01:36,720
physical nourishment and he
should feed his body.
24
00:01:37,480 --> 00:01:40,960
He took up this suggestion and
reported that once he fed his
25
00:01:40,960 --> 00:01:45,480
body, he was able to achieve
deep and powerful meditation.
26
00:01:46,560 --> 00:01:49,640
Quote.
I rejoiced at the prospect of
27
00:01:49,640 --> 00:01:54,040
having food such as ordinary
human beings eat, and on
28
00:01:54,040 --> 00:01:57,840
partaking of the food, I enjoyed
a sense of bodily ease and
29
00:01:57,840 --> 00:02:02,080
comfort and a cheerfulness of
mine, which tended to increase
30
00:02:02,080 --> 00:02:05,400
the zeal of my devotional
exercises.
31
00:02:06,040 --> 00:02:10,680
And I experienced keen spiritual
happiness such as transcended
32
00:02:10,759 --> 00:02:14,400
anything I had known before.
End Quote.
33
00:02:16,600 --> 00:02:20,480
Indulgence of craving or desire
for food obviously distracts the
34
00:02:20,480 --> 00:02:22,720
being from its concentrated
focus.
35
00:02:23,480 --> 00:02:28,480
But suppression of that desire,
such as extreme fasting, is
36
00:02:28,480 --> 00:02:33,280
equally a focus on the desire
and can even make the desire
37
00:02:33,280 --> 00:02:37,720
stronger through compression of
the energy until it has acquired
38
00:02:37,720 --> 00:02:42,800
substantial latent power, like a
spring that has been compressed.
39
00:02:44,000 --> 00:02:47,440
Under our existing embedded
habitual form of acquiring
40
00:02:47,440 --> 00:02:51,520
physical energy and substance,
food is needed to sustain the
41
00:02:51,520 --> 00:02:56,080
body, although there are also
cases of those who can minimize
42
00:02:56,080 --> 00:02:59,720
this need and obtain energy
directly from the universal
43
00:02:59,720 --> 00:03:03,600
prana.
Thus, we can look on the body as
44
00:03:03,600 --> 00:03:07,560
a vehicle that needs proper fuel
and maintenance but should not
45
00:03:07,560 --> 00:03:13,280
be overindulged or underfed.
In this case, a balanced
46
00:03:13,280 --> 00:03:18,000
attitude, as Milarepa discovered
through long periods of trial
47
00:03:18,000 --> 00:03:22,520
and suffering, is a great aid to
putting aside the fixation on
48
00:03:22,520 --> 00:03:26,560
the body and thereby allows the
seeker to shift his
49
00:03:26,560 --> 00:03:31,240
concentration to the spiritual
pursuits which are the aim of
50
00:03:31,240 --> 00:03:34,960
his endeavor.
Srioro Bindo writes quote.
51
00:03:36,400 --> 00:03:39,920
What is necessary is to take
enough food and think no more
52
00:03:39,920 --> 00:03:43,320
about it, taking it as a means
for the maintenance of the
53
00:03:43,320 --> 00:03:47,280
physical instrument only.
But just as one should not
54
00:03:47,280 --> 00:03:51,000
overeat, so one should not
diminish unduly.
55
00:03:51,520 --> 00:03:55,640
It produces a reaction which
defeats the object, for the
56
00:03:55,640 --> 00:04:01,360
object is not to allow either
the greed for food or the heavy
57
00:04:01,360 --> 00:04:04,800
Thomas of the physical, which is
the result of excessive eating,
58
00:04:05,480 --> 00:04:08,480
to interfere with the
concentration on the spiritual
59
00:04:08,480 --> 00:04:12,600
experience and progress.
If the body is left
60
00:04:12,600 --> 00:04:16,440
insufficiently nourished, it
will think of food more than
61
00:04:16,440 --> 00:04:18,640
otherwise.
End Quote.
62
00:04:19,720 --> 00:04:22,480
Reference.
She or Obinda and the Mother.
63
00:04:22,840 --> 00:04:28,640
Looking from Within, Chapter 5.
Attitudes on the Path, page 166.
00:00:00,960 --> 00:00:05,520
When the great Yogi of Tibet,
Milarepa, was eventually given
2
00:00:05,520 --> 00:00:10,240
the teachings by his guru Marpa,
he was sent to practice intense
3
00:00:10,240 --> 00:00:13,320
meditation.
When Marpa sent him to his
4
00:00:13,320 --> 00:00:17,720
meditation retreat, he gave him
a scroll of information with the
5
00:00:17,720 --> 00:00:20,800
instruction that he should open
it at the time when it was an
6
00:00:20,800 --> 00:00:24,960
absolute emergency.
He was so engaged in the
7
00:00:24,960 --> 00:00:27,840
practice that he did not pay
much attention to eating.
8
00:00:28,680 --> 00:00:33,800
He wound up many days, months,
years subsisting on a tea of
9
00:00:33,800 --> 00:00:37,320
nettle leaves.
This is the reason that he is
10
00:00:37,320 --> 00:00:43,160
depicted as having green skin.
Milarepa reported as set forth
11
00:00:43,160 --> 00:00:47,120
in Tibet's Great Yogi Milarepa,
A biography from the Tibetan,
12
00:00:47,360 --> 00:00:52,440
edited by WY Evans.
Wentz quote Living on nettle
13
00:00:52,440 --> 00:00:56,080
broth alone, I continued my
meditations.
14
00:00:56,680 --> 00:01:01,120
I had no clothes on the outside
of my body, nor any wholesome
15
00:01:01,120 --> 00:01:04,640
food inside.
My body became shrunken to a
16
00:01:04,640 --> 00:01:09,080
mere skeleton, and it was
greenish in hue, just like the
17
00:01:09,080 --> 00:01:13,160
nettle, and over it grew a
covering of greenish hair.
18
00:01:13,720 --> 00:01:17,440
End Quote.
At a certain point he felt that
19
00:01:17,440 --> 00:01:20,360
he could no longer concentrate
in his meditation.
20
00:01:20,880 --> 00:01:25,640
He felt his energies disrupted
and reasoned to himself that
21
00:01:25,640 --> 00:01:29,120
this constituted an absolute
emergency.
22
00:01:29,960 --> 00:01:33,280
He opened the scroll to reveal
the instruction that he needed
23
00:01:33,280 --> 00:01:36,720
physical nourishment and he
should feed his body.
24
00:01:37,480 --> 00:01:40,960
He took up this suggestion and
reported that once he fed his
25
00:01:40,960 --> 00:01:45,480
body, he was able to achieve
deep and powerful meditation.
26
00:01:46,560 --> 00:01:49,640
Quote.
I rejoiced at the prospect of
27
00:01:49,640 --> 00:01:54,040
having food such as ordinary
human beings eat, and on
28
00:01:54,040 --> 00:01:57,840
partaking of the food, I enjoyed
a sense of bodily ease and
29
00:01:57,840 --> 00:02:02,080
comfort and a cheerfulness of
mine, which tended to increase
30
00:02:02,080 --> 00:02:05,400
the zeal of my devotional
exercises.
31
00:02:06,040 --> 00:02:10,680
And I experienced keen spiritual
happiness such as transcended
32
00:02:10,759 --> 00:02:14,400
anything I had known before.
End Quote.
33
00:02:16,600 --> 00:02:20,480
Indulgence of craving or desire
for food obviously distracts the
34
00:02:20,480 --> 00:02:22,720
being from its concentrated
focus.
35
00:02:23,480 --> 00:02:28,480
But suppression of that desire,
such as extreme fasting, is
36
00:02:28,480 --> 00:02:33,280
equally a focus on the desire
and can even make the desire
37
00:02:33,280 --> 00:02:37,720
stronger through compression of
the energy until it has acquired
38
00:02:37,720 --> 00:02:42,800
substantial latent power, like a
spring that has been compressed.
39
00:02:44,000 --> 00:02:47,440
Under our existing embedded
habitual form of acquiring
40
00:02:47,440 --> 00:02:51,520
physical energy and substance,
food is needed to sustain the
41
00:02:51,520 --> 00:02:56,080
body, although there are also
cases of those who can minimize
42
00:02:56,080 --> 00:02:59,720
this need and obtain energy
directly from the universal
43
00:02:59,720 --> 00:03:03,600
prana.
Thus, we can look on the body as
44
00:03:03,600 --> 00:03:07,560
a vehicle that needs proper fuel
and maintenance but should not
45
00:03:07,560 --> 00:03:13,280
be overindulged or underfed.
In this case, a balanced
46
00:03:13,280 --> 00:03:18,000
attitude, as Milarepa discovered
through long periods of trial
47
00:03:18,000 --> 00:03:22,520
and suffering, is a great aid to
putting aside the fixation on
48
00:03:22,520 --> 00:03:26,560
the body and thereby allows the
seeker to shift his
49
00:03:26,560 --> 00:03:31,240
concentration to the spiritual
pursuits which are the aim of
50
00:03:31,240 --> 00:03:34,960
his endeavor.
Srioro Bindo writes quote.
51
00:03:36,400 --> 00:03:39,920
What is necessary is to take
enough food and think no more
52
00:03:39,920 --> 00:03:43,320
about it, taking it as a means
for the maintenance of the
53
00:03:43,320 --> 00:03:47,280
physical instrument only.
But just as one should not
54
00:03:47,280 --> 00:03:51,000
overeat, so one should not
diminish unduly.
55
00:03:51,520 --> 00:03:55,640
It produces a reaction which
defeats the object, for the
56
00:03:55,640 --> 00:04:01,360
object is not to allow either
the greed for food or the heavy
57
00:04:01,360 --> 00:04:04,800
Thomas of the physical, which is
the result of excessive eating,
58
00:04:05,480 --> 00:04:08,480
to interfere with the
concentration on the spiritual
59
00:04:08,480 --> 00:04:12,600
experience and progress.
If the body is left
60
00:04:12,600 --> 00:04:16,440
insufficiently nourished, it
will think of food more than
61
00:04:16,440 --> 00:04:18,640
otherwise.
End Quote.
62
00:04:19,720 --> 00:04:22,480
Reference.
She or Obinda and the Mother.
63
00:04:22,840 --> 00:04:28,640
Looking from Within, Chapter 5.
Attitudes on the Path, page 166.
