Seclusion and Sattvic Diet

Divine Life Society Publication: Path to Blessedness by Sri Swami Chidananda

Om Sri Sadguru Paramatmane Namah

One thing that you must try, as much as possible, is to avoid all outside contacts when you are trying to be a Yogi. You must try to avoid all those contacts in your daily life, which go against Yoga—contacts with such of those places, persons, environments and things which make the mind outgoing and which stimulate desires. All things which are of this nature, which drag us outward towards the sense-world and which shake up our Vairagya should be avoided. Therefore it is that when a Yogi reaches the stage of concentration, the wise say: “Do not read newspapers or novels, and do not keep contacts with worldly people. Do not have attachment to anybody. Be in places where the scenery is spiritual. Have ideal surroundings, lead an ideal life and have contacts with holy people. Move always with saintly people and true aspirants.”

If you move always with worldly-minded people, what will happen? Their company will completely vitiate your inner life. Therefore, if you are earnest in concentration and meditation, you will have to see that your external life is also made conducive, as much as possible, to your inner Sadhana. There is the factor of food. Suppose you indulge in food which is extremely Rajasic or Tamasic. It will completely pull the mind out of balance and the process of concentration will be affected. The most harmful habit is that of drinking. The effect of liquor is demoralising, whereas the purpose of Yoga is to get complete control over your whole personality.  Supposing you persistently go on taking such items of food which are not Sattvic and not conducive to concentration—what happens? The mind gets disturbed. So the diet should be Sattvic. This is the general rule.

Diet which is Sattvic in quality is always the most conducive to Yoga. From the point of view of immediate daily practice also, you must see that the daily diet is not such as that will upset your concentration. One common universal cause of diet upsetting concentration is overeating and immoderation. If you fill your stomach with too much food the entire blood is drawn to the stomach. When you do concentration all your blood has to go to the brain. Concentration requires a lot of blood. By sitting on an Asana, maximum supply of blood is made available to the brain. But if you have eaten heavily, the blood will go to the stomach and if you then try to take the blood to the head, your system revolts, and instead of concentrating you become drowsy. Drowsiness is the result of too much food.

Even if you have not erred through immoderation, there are such food-stuffs which cause wind (Vayu). Wind is a thing which upsets the Prana. Prana is thrown out of balance if there is wind in the system. Therefore, Sadhakas should take great care. If they desire to have successful sitting in concentration, they should avoid things like potato, pumpkin, etc. If unavoidable, you may take them in moderation. There are some foods which may not be generally wind-producing by themselves but in certain persons they may produce wind. The diet may be good generally speaking, but to your peculiar constitution it may not be suitable. You must avoid those things. The immediate effect of your daily food should also be taken into consideration if your daily sitting should be successfully attempted and done. This is on the physical level.

Be careful about taking food and also about the external environment. Make the mind introvert. When you move in the midst of company you should develop such a technique that minimum impression alone is taken during daily Vyavahara. In the early morning the mind is all right after a sound sleep. But throughout the day you are moving with too many people. Perhaps you may lose your temper with some persons, and such impressions may fill your mind with nervous agitation. So mind may be in a condition of nervousness at the end of the day’s work. All those things that happened from morning till night begin to worry you, and what is the technique to avoid this? You must try to keep up a balance even when you are in Vyavahara. Only by an earnest practice you can develop serenity and equanimity. Whatever experience you undergo, always try to keep up the mind in a state of balance.

Have a sort of Pratyahara, so that even when you come into contact with objects, you do not allow the impressions of the objects to interest themselves too deeply in the mind. There must be a spontaneous indrawn state. This does not mean that we should neglect our works. A part of our mind should be given in all alertness to work and the major part of the mind should always be indrawn. This process of attention outside and a state of indrawnness is a great help to have constant remembrance of the Lord. Or repeat Om or any other Mantra and also have a background thought in the mind. At no moment of your life the mind should be blank.

Many people do not have a background. All sorts of thoughts come to people who do not have a background. Immediately a work is over, the aspirant should have a background in the form of a mental picture of his Ishta. It must be a background into which, through force of habit, the mind will go back. So what happens? Even when you move about, the mind will be resting on this background and only a portion of the mind will be working outside. In this state, even when you are engaged in a thing, you are not totally possessed by it. Once you have developed this technique, all the while you are engaged in your daily activities, the background will always be there in the consciousness. This indrawnness is a great help to keep the mind free from the impressions obtained in daily life.

Om Tat Sat Brahmaparnamastu

 Excerpts from:  Seclusion and Sattvic Diet - Path to Blessedness by Sri Swami Chidananda