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The Diets Requested by the  Masters.

Let's bring some famous spiritual guides to the dinner table and examine what they have to say about diet.  We will go into much more scientifc detail later, but for now I just want to bring these types of diets to your attention.


Krishna -  Often depicted as a handsome prince, He was an avavtar or divine being who came to teach us of love and truth.  As Jesus is the main character who spreads love, knowledge and truth in christianity Krishna played this same role in hinduism.


Krishna was the speaker of the Bhagavad Gita, "The song of God"

Bhagavad-Gita 3.13(Is a book to the Hindus as the Bible is to Christianity) There are certain foods that He considers acceptable, such as fruits, vegetables, grains, and milk products.
"One  who loves Krishna  will  give Him  whatever  He wants, and he avoids offering  anything  which  is undesirable or  unasked for. Thus, meat, fish and eggs  should not be offered  to  Krishna... Vegetables, grains, fruits, milk and water are the proper foods for human beings and are prescribed by Lord Krishna Himself. Whatever else you eat, can not be offered to Him, since He will not accept it."   Swami Prabhupada
Buddha - Original name Siddhārtha Gautama, was a spiritual teacher from ancient India and the founder of Buddhism.   Some will argue the exact date but he lived around 400 BC.

 The Brahmin Sonadanda described him as "handsome, good-looking, and pleasing to the eye, with a most beautiful complexion. He has a godlike form and countenance, he is by no means unattractive."(D,I:115).

 "To avoid causing terror to living beings, let the disciple refrain from eating meat...the food of the wise is that which is consumed by the sadhus (holy men), it does not consist of meat.. There may be a few foolish people in the future who will say I permitted meat-eating and that I partook of meat myself, but meat-eating I have not permitted to anyone, I do not permit, I will not permit meat-eating in any form in future, in any manner and in any place. It is unconditionally prohibited for all.    -- Lord Buddha

 

Jesus - The Essene Gospel of Peace “so eat always from the table of God: the fruits of the trees, the grain and grasses of the field, the milk of beasts, and the honey of bees. For everything beyond this is of Satan, and leads by the way of sins and of diseases unto death.”







The Hatha Yoga Pradeepika by Swami Swatmarama, a 16th Century Classic, lays down in no uncertain terms what the Yogi is supposed to eat and what he is not.

Sattvic Diet, Chapter 1
 
Verse 57:
A moderate diet is recommended for a person desirous of having success in Yoga. [In fact, there is an Indian proverb, "A person who eats once a day is a yogi, twice a day a bhogi (one who enjoys life) and thrice a day a rogi (a diseased person)"

Verse 58:
"A moderate diet is defined as taking pleasant and sweet food, leaving one-fourth of the stomach free, and offering up the act to Siva"
Commentary: Two parts of the stomach are to be filled with food, one part with water and one part empty (with air). Offering the act upto Siva (one of the Hindu Trinity) is that he should think that the eater is Siva and not himself"

Verse 59:
"The following things are considered  unsalutary to the yogi  things that are sharp, sour, pungent, hot, certain nuts, leaves, oils, liquor, fish, flesh, curd, asafoetida, garlic"

Verse 60:
"Diet of the following  nature should be avoided as being unhealthy  food that having once cooked has grown cold and is heated again, that has an excess of salt and sourness, that is indigestible or has certain kind of leaves mixed in it"
(Apparently the Yogis knew about the fermentation cooked food undergoes and the dangers of reheating such food after it has gone cold)

Verse 61:
"The following things can be safely taken by the yogi  wheat, rice, barley, milk, ghee, butter, honey, dry ginger, cucumber, the five green herbs, kidney beans and good water"

It would not be wise to disregard these admonitions and claim to be a true Hatha Yoga practioner.

A more detailed yet simple explanation of a diet for yogis.  Click Here.
Supreme Master Ching Hai,  Notice Diet Reference at Minute 3:32



Supreme Master Ching Hai,  Notice Diet Reference at Minute 2:14




Notice in these next few spiritual texts the foods mentioned for diet.
  • Genesis 1:29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed (grains), which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.

  • Gospel of the Holy Twelve, Lections 38:8 God giveth the grains and the fruits of the earth for food: and for the righteous man truly there is no other lawful sustenance for the body.

  • Lections 32:9 Verily I say unto you, in the beginning, all creatures of God did find their sustenance in the herbs and the fruits of the earth alone, till the ignorance and the selfishness of man turned many of them from the use which God had given them to that which was contrary to their original use, but even these shall yet return to their natural food, as it is written in the prophets, and their words shall not fail.

  • Ezekiel 4:9 Take wheat and barley, beans and lentils, millet and spelt; put them in a storage jar and use them to make bread for yourself. (Also in this chapter, God told Ezekiel to bear the sins of Israel, during this time he told him to weigh out 20 shekels of food each day and eat at a set time. Here again, we see God commanding to eat once a day. Twenty shekels in weight is about half a pound. This is half the amount of what Christ said to eat but if you read Ezekiel you see that he did not move around very much for several days.)

  • Prayer given by Jesus in the Essene Gospel of Peace. “Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

Below is a quick look at some of the oldest people who ever lived
and some of their secrets.

  1. Tomoji Tanabe

  2. Hryhory Nestor

  3. Okinawans

  4. Other Groups of peoples that produce centurians (people who live over a hundred years old) will be discussed more in detail later in the course.


Conclusion:

As you can see from the spiritual guides and scriptures above, the main message of diet recommendation was Grains, Fruits, Legumes, Vegetables, and some milk products.  If you eat meat, please don't be offended, we will discuss meat more in detail later in the course.  But I just wanted you to be aware of some of the spiritual texts and what they had to say about diet.

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