𝗣𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗲𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗿 𝗜𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗮 – 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗖𝗵𝗼𝗶𝗰𝗲𝗜𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗦𝗽𝗼𝘁.
Last week, some people were commenting on my suggestion not to have food during the lunar eclipse, calling it superstitious and unscientific. They said they had food and they did not die. I was wondering, were they disappointed? First of all, let us understand what superstition is. Superstition is to make conclusions without any perception about a certain subject. This is the nature of life: Your perception and experience of life depends on how sensitive you are.
Perception will not come through intellectual accumulation. If those who read a high school textbook think they are scientists, what can I say. A genuine scientist, who has probed into any aspect of life with a certain profoundness, will not speak like this.
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞.
As a yogi, as far as possible, I will not consume anything more than an hour and a half after it has been cooked. Why we are serving the food the way we do in the ashram is because we are hoping that people will graduate from being yoga practitioners to yogis. Not just bending and twisting but beginning to feel the union in existence.
For this to happen, the body has to be sensitive, and it has to have the least possible level of inertia. If you eat food which has deteriorated in some way – it may not be rotten, nor will it kill you – it is just that it will lower your perception. In my experience of life, lowered perception is death. At least the death of the yogi. The man may live – the yogi will be dead if he loses his perception and his sensitivity. If the death of sensitivity does not matter to you, you can eat what you want; you can eat garbage and still survive.
People are eating food that was cooked days, weeks, or even months ago. If they don’t feel the difference between freshly cooked food and food that has been refrigerated for ages, what can you say. But for sure they do not have the sensitivity that I am talking about. This is what causes inertia. They may be sleeping eight to ten hours a day – that is death to me. Ten hours of sleep, that is over forty percent of death in twenty-four hours. So, if you wish to live like that, you can eat whatever you want.
I am not a scientist, nor do I wish to be one. Neither am I reading books, nor am I researching anything, nor do I have a lab in my backyard. I just pay attention to this human mechanism that is me. I keep it in a certain way, which takes a lot of work. And for anything that happens in nature, I observe what is happening with me, and that is what I am speaking about. I am also observing life around me, for confirmation. Every insect, worm, bird, animal, tree is saying the same thing. If you are only going to discover this after many years and a few billion dollars of research, it is up to you.
𝐈𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐟𝐮𝐞𝐥 𝐠𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮.
Some so-called scientists do not have anything to do with real science. A scientist who has looked at something with profoundness will not speak this way. It is just that there are “internet scientists” who think they know every science, because they are on the internet. Something as simple as realizing that alcohol, tobacco, and red meat are bad for your health took so many years and billions of dollars of research. What is a recent discovery for them has been an eternal wisdom for us.
For example, I was in conversation with an Indian-origin doctor in the United States, who is credited with discovering how the atrium functions in sucking back blood to the heart. When I saw his videos and scientific papers, I could not believe that until a few years ago, the medical science did not know that. The yogic system has always focused on that. In yoga, we are interested in our blood being as pure as possible.
Last week, some people were commenting on my suggestion not to have food during the lunar eclipse, calling it superstitious and unscientific. They said they had food and they did not die. I was wondering, were they disappointed? First of all, let us understand what superstition is. Superstition is to make conclusions without any perception about a certain subject. This is the nature of life: Your perception and experience of life depends on how sensitive you are.
Perception will not come through intellectual accumulation. If those who read a high school textbook think they are scientists, what can I say. A genuine scientist, who has probed into any aspect of life with a certain profoundness, will not speak like this.
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞.
As a yogi, as far as possible, I will not consume anything more than an hour and a half after it has been cooked. Why we are serving the food the way we do in the ashram is because we are hoping that people will graduate from being yoga practitioners to yogis. Not just bending and twisting but beginning to feel the union in existence.
For this to happen, the body has to be sensitive, and it has to have the least possible level of inertia. If you eat food which has deteriorated in some way – it may not be rotten, nor will it kill you – it is just that it will lower your perception. In my experience of life, lowered perception is death. At least the death of the yogi. The man may live – the yogi will be dead if he loses his perception and his sensitivity. If the death of sensitivity does not matter to you, you can eat what you want; you can eat garbage and still survive.
People are eating food that was cooked days, weeks, or even months ago. If they don’t feel the difference between freshly cooked food and food that has been refrigerated for ages, what can you say. But for sure they do not have the sensitivity that I am talking about. This is what causes inertia. They may be sleeping eight to ten hours a day – that is death to me. Ten hours of sleep, that is over forty percent of death in twenty-four hours. So, if you wish to live like that, you can eat whatever you want.
I am not a scientist, nor do I wish to be one. Neither am I reading books, nor am I researching anything, nor do I have a lab in my backyard. I just pay attention to this human mechanism that is me. I keep it in a certain way, which takes a lot of work. And for anything that happens in nature, I observe what is happening with me, and that is what I am speaking about. I am also observing life around me, for confirmation. Every insect, worm, bird, animal, tree is saying the same thing. If you are only going to discover this after many years and a few billion dollars of research, it is up to you.
𝐈𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐟𝐮𝐞𝐥 𝐠𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮.
Some so-called scientists do not have anything to do with real science. A scientist who has looked at something with profoundness will not speak this way. It is just that there are “internet scientists” who think they know every science, because they are on the internet. Something as simple as realizing that alcohol, tobacco, and red meat are bad for your health took so many years and billions of dollars of research. What is a recent discovery for them has been an eternal wisdom for us.
For example, I was in conversation with an Indian-origin doctor in the United States, who is credited with discovering how the atrium functions in sucking back blood to the heart. When I saw his videos and scientific papers, I could not believe that until a few years ago, the medical science did not know that. The yogic system has always focused on that. In yoga, we are interested in our blood being as pure as possible.