Enter Ayurveda
I had never heard of the word, but the teachings started coming to me.
I had always loved to cook, and even in college was one of the only people really excited about using the kitchen in the dorm. This was not just to save money on the meal plan, but because I wanted to avoid a lot of processed foods and preservatives or chemicals in industrial ingredients.
Little explorations in hunger and eating around my yoga practice made me think more and more about nourishment. My body felt so good when I was doing yoga, and I wanted to learn how I could bring even more awareness to what I was taking in.
Someone was getting rid of a bunch of old Yoga Journal magazines from the 90’s, and in one I found the story of an ancient sage – this story is about the way that what we really are what we eat, on many levels:
This sage had been a council for a great king for many years, and never taken any payment or reward. The king felt the least he could do was to feed this man who lived alone in the forest, off what he could gather for himself, so invited him to the palace for a special dinner party he was throwing.
The sage joined the king in the palace. He wore his simple clothes, and would not take anything more elaborate that the king offered. The king showed him around his palace, and offered his own chamber to the sage to sleep in for the night. The sage tried to refuse, saying he would just make his way back to the forest after the celebration, but the kind insisted he stay.
The meal was wonderfully rich, like nothing the sage has ever tasted. The ingredients were exotic, sent mostly from a neighboring estate, and prepared elaborately. The sage was very grateful for being invited to the dinner, and went to bed full. On his way through the king’s chamber, he finally noticed all of the riches and jewels. He has never really realized how wealthy this king probably was. The sage picked up a small piece of jewelry, and decided to take it with him. As he placed it in his pocket, he realized the king had so much wealth, he would never have noticed if one small piece was missing. The sage had lived in poverty his entire life, and this small jewel could sell for enough money to feed and house him for the rest of his days.
In the morning, the sage left early to make his way back home, and thanked the king for his invitation. He made his was back to the forest, and before entering his little home, he felt the need to move his bowels, and did so. Immediately after eliminating, he felt light and clear again. He gasped and placed his hands over his mouth – he had remembered the piece of jewelry he had taken from the palace. He reached into his pocket with shaking hands, and then ran back to the palace, weeping.
When he had told the king what he had done, the king was not upset at all. He had been trying to give him money for years. The sage returned the jewel, and asked, “Dear king, the meal you prepared was very beautiful and delicious. Where did you find all those ingredients?”
The king explained that he had sent for a special order from a famous neighboring estate, and though they charged more for their produce, they were said to be the best in the lands. And the sage though, “that explains it…”
The sage was so pure, that his state of mind was affected by the greediness of the estate where the produce came from. That essence of greed permeated through the product, which came into his body, and affected his mind. And when the food passed through his body, he experienced enough clarity to realize he had been under the influence.
What we eat not only becomes the physical cells of the body, but it affects our state of mind. >>tweet this if you get me!
THIS blew MY mind. I knew I needed more. Does this hit home for you? Have you experienced this in your own body, or seen it in your friends or children? I want to hear your story! Share one in the comments below.
Stay tuned for Part 3 – how I began to put it all together, and how you can, too.
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