A diet that is wholly conducive to the practice of Yoga and spiritual progress is called Yogic

diet. Diet has intimate connection with the mind. Mind is formed out of the subtlest portion of food.

Sage Uddalaka instructs his son Svetaketu “Food, when consumed becomes threefold: the gross

particles become excrement, the middling ones flesh and the fine ones the mind. My child, when

curd is churned, its fine particles which rise upwards, form butter. Thus, my child, when food is

consumed, the fine particles which rise upwards form the mind. Hence verily the mind is food.”

Again you will find in the Chhandogya Upanishad: “By the purity of food one becomes purified in

his inner nature; by the purification of his inner nature he verily gets memory of the Self; and by the

attainment of the memory of the Self, all ties and attachments are severed.”

 

Diet is of three kinds viz., Sattvic diet, Rajasic diet and Tamasic diet. Milk, barely, wheat,

cereals, butter, cheese, tomatoes, honey, dates, fruits, almonds and sugar-candy are all Sattvic

foodstuffs. They render the mind pure and calm. Fish, eggs, meat, salt, chillies and asafoetida are

Rajasic foodstuffs. They excite passion. Beef, wine, garlic, onions and tobacco are Tamasic

foodstuffs. They fill the mind with anger, darkness and inertia.

 

Lord Krishna says to Arjuna: “The food which is dear to each is threefold. Hear the

distinctions of these. The foods which increase vitality, energy, vigour, health and joy and which

are delicious, bland, substantial and agreeable are dear to the pure. The passionate desire foods that

are bitter, sour, saline, excessively hot, pungent, dry and burning and which produce pain, grief and

disease. The food which is stale, tasteless, putrid and rotten, leavings and impure is dear to the

Tamasic.” (Bhagavad-Gita. Ch. VII-8, 9, 10).

Food plays an important part in meditation. Different foods produce different effects on

different compartments of the brain. For purposes of meditation, the food should be light, nutritious

and Sattvic. Milk, fruits, almonds, butter, sugar-candy, green gram, Bengal gram soaked in water

 

* Soak ten or twelve almond-seeds overnight in cold water. Peel off the skin the next morning and eat them with

sugar-candy.

 

overnight, bread, etc., are all very helpful in meditation. Thed (a kind of root available in abundance

in the Himalayan regions) is very Sattvic. Tea and sugar should be used in moderation. It is better if

you can give them up entirely. Dried ginger-powder can be mixed with milk and taken frequently.

Indian Yogins like this very much. Another health-giving stuff is myrobalan of the yellow variety

which can be chewed now and then. In the Vagbhata it is represented as even superior to a

nourishing mother. It takes care of the body better than a mother does. A mother gets annoyed with

her child sometimes, but myrobalan always keeps an even temperament and is cheerful and

enthusiastic in attending to the well-being of human beings. It preserves semen and stops all

nocturnal emissions. Potato, boiled without salt or baked on fire, is also an excellent food for

practitioners.

 

A beginner should be careful in choosing food-stuffs of Sattvic nature. Food exercises

tremendously vast influence over the mind. You can see it obviously in everyday-life. It is very

difficult to control mind after a heavy, sumptuous, indigestible, rich meal. The mind runs, wanders

and jumps like an ape all the time. Alcohol causes great excitement of the mind.

Evolution is better than revolution. You should not make sudden changes in anything,

particularly so in matters pertaining to food and drink. Let the change be slow and gradual. The

system should accommodate it without any trouble. Nature non agit per saltum (nature never

moves by leaps).

 

Food is only a mass of energy. Water and air also supply energy to the body. You can live

without food for several days; but you cannot live without air even for a few minutes. Oxygen is

even more important. What is wanted to feed the body is energy. If you can supply this energy by

any other means, you can entirely dispense with food. Yogins live without food by drinking nectar.

This nectar flows through a hole in the palate. It dribbles and nourishes the body. A Jnani can draw

energy directly from his pure, irresistible will and support the body without any food whatsoever. If

you know the process of drawing the energy from the Cosmic Energy, then you can maintain the

body for any length of time and can dispense with food completely.

 

Food is of four kinds. There are liquids which are drunk; solids which are pulverised by the

teeth and eaten; there are semi-solids which are taken in by licking; and there are soft articles that

are swallowed without mastication. All articles of food should be thoroughly masticated in the

mouth until they are reduced to quite a liquid before being swallowed. Then only they can be readily

digested, absorbed and assimilated in the system.

 

The diet should be such as can maintain physical efficiency and good health. The well-being

of an individual depends more on perfect nutrition than on anything else. Various sorts of intestinal

diseases, increased susceptibility to infectious diseases, lack of high vitality and power of

resistance, rickets, scurvy, anaemia or poverty of blood, beriberi, etc., are due to faulty nutrition. It

should be remembered that it is not so much the climate as food which plays the vital role in

producing a strong healthy body or a weakling suffering from a host of diseases. An appreciable

knowledge of the science of dietetics is essential for everybody, especially for spiritual aspirants, to

keep up physical efficiency and good health. Aspirants should be able to make out a cheap and

well-balanced diet from only a certain articles of diet. What is needed is a well-balanced diet, not a

rich diet. A rich diet produces diseases of the liver, kidneys and pancreas. A well-balanced diet

helps aman to grow, to turn out more work, increases his body-weight, and keeps up the efficiency,

stamina and a high standard of vim and vigour. You are what you eat.

 

Where can Sannyasins in India, who live on public alms get a well-balanced diet? On some

days they get pungent stuffs only, on some other days sweetmeats only and yet on some other days

sour things only. But they are able to draw the requisite energy through power of meditation. This

unique Yogic method is unknown to the medical profession and to the scientists. Whenever the

mind is concentrated, a divine wave bathes all the tissues with a divine elixir. All the cells are

renovated and vivified.

 

Gluttons and epicureans cannot dream of getting success in Yoga. He who takes moderate

diet, who has regulated his diet can become a Yogi, not others. That is the reason why Lord Krishna

says: “Verily Yoga is not for him who eateth too much, nor who abstaineth to excess, nor who is too

much addicted to sleep, nor even to wakefulness, O Arjuna! Yoga killeth out all pain for him who is

regulated in eating and amusement, regulated in performing actions, regulated in sleeping and

waking.” (Bhagavad-Gita: Ch. VI-16-17). Therefore take pleasant, wholesome and sweet food

half-stomachful; fill a quarter stomach with water and allow the remaining quarter stomach free for

expansion of gas. Offer up the act to the Lord. This is moderate diet.

 

All articles that are putrid, stale, decomposed, unclean, twice cooked, kept overnight,

should be abandoned. The diet should be fresh, simple, light, bland, wholesome, easily digestible

and nutritious. He who lives to eat is a sinner, but he who eats to live is verily a saint. In the Siva

Samhita it is said: “Yoga should not be practiced immediately after a meal, nor when one is very

hungry; before beginning the practice, some milk and butter should be taken.”

 

You will find in the Yoga-Tattva Upanishad: “The proficient in Yoga should abandon the

food detrimental to the practice of Yoga. He should give up salt, mustard, sour things, hot, pungent

or bitter articles, asafoetida, women, emaciation of the body by fasts etc. During the early stages of

practice, food of milk and ghee is ordained; also food consisting of wheat, green pulse and red rice

is said to favour the progress. Then he will be able to retain his breath as long as he likes. By thus

retaining the breath as long as he likes, Kevala-Kumbhaka (cessation of breath without inhalation

and exhalation) is attained. When Kevala-Kumbhaka is attained by one and thus inhalation and

exhalation are dispensed with, there is nothing unattainable in the three worlds to him.”

 

In the Bhikshuka-Upanishad you will find: “Paramahamsas like Samavartaka, Aruni,

Svetaketu, Jada Bharata, Dattatreya, Suka, Vamadeva, Haritaki and others take eight mouthfuls and

strive after Moksha alone through the path of Yoga.”

 

Manu, Jesus and Buddha exhorted the people to refrain from using liquors, intoxicants and

drugs as these are deleterious in their effects. No spiritual progress is possible without abandoning

them.

 

The vast majority of persons dig their graves through their teeth. No rest is given to the

stomach. After all, man wants very little on this bountiful earth—a few loaves of bread, a little

butter and some cold water. This will amply suffice to keep the life going. People, on the contrary,

stuff their stomachs with all sorts of things, eatable and uneatable, on account of the force of habit

even when there is no appetite. This is very bad. All diseases take their origin in overloading the

stomach. Hunger is the best sauce. If there is hunger, food can be digested well. If you have no

appetite, do not take anything. Let the stomach enjoy a full holiday.

 

A variety of dishes overworks the stomach, induces capricious appetite and renders the

tongue fastidious. Then it becomes difficult to please the tongue. Therefore control the tongue first;

then all the other senses can be easily controlled.

 

Man has invented so many kinds of dishes just to satisfy his palate and has made life

complex and miserable. He calls himself a civilised man, when he is really ignorant and deluded by

the senses. His mind gets upset when he cannot get his usual dishes in a new place. Is this real

strength? He has become an absolute slave of his tongue. This is very deplorable. Be natural and

simple in eating and drinking. Moderation is Yoga. Eat to live and not live to eat. Follow this golden

rule and be happy. You can then devote more time to Yoga practices.

 

A Yogic student who spends his time wholly in pure meditation wants very little food. One

or one and a half seers of milk and some fruits per day will quite suffice. But a Yogi who ascends the

platform for vigorous active work wants abundant nutritious food.

 

Vegetarian diet has been acclaimed to be most conducive to spiritual and psychic

advancement. It has been found that meat augments animal passion and decreases intellectual

capacity. While it is true that meat-eating countries are physically active and strong, the same

cannot be said of their spiritual attainments. Meat is not at all necessary for the keeping up of perfect

health, rigour and vitality. On the contrary, it is highly deleterious to health. It brings in its train a

host of ailments such as tape-worm, albuminuria and other diseases of the kidneys. Killing of

animals for food is a great sin. Instead of killing the egoism and the idea of “mine-ness,” ignorant

people kill innocent animals under pretext of sacrifice to goddess, but in reality it is meant to please

their own tongue or palate. What inhuman horrible crimes are being committed in the name of God

and Religion! Ahimsa (non-injuring) is the first virtue that a spiritual aspirant should try to possess.

You should have reverence for life. Lord Jesus says: “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain

mercy.” Mahavira shouted in a trumpet-like voice: “Regard every living being as thyself and harm

no one.” The Law of Karma is inexorable, unrelenting, immutable. The pain you inflict upon

another will surely rebound upon you and the happiness you radiate will come back to you adding to

your happiness. He who knows this Law will not hurt anybody.

 

Meat-eating and alcoholism are closely allied. The craving for liquor dies a natural death,

when the meat is withdrawn. The question of birth-control becomes very difficult in the case of

those who take meat. To them mind-control is next to impossible. Mark how the meat-eating tiger

and the cow or elephant living on green grass are poles asunder! The one is wild and ferocious, the

other is mild and peaceful. Meat has direct influence on the different compartments of the brain.

 

The first and foremost step in the spiritual advancement of an aspirant is the giving up of

meat. The Divine Light will not descend, if the stomach is loaded with meat. In large meat-eating

countries cancer mortality is very high. Vegetarians keep up sound health till old age. Even in the

West doctors in hospitals put patients on a regimen of vegetable diet. They convalesce quickly. It is

welcome sign to see that at least in some of the countries of Europe vegetarian hotels are springing

up in amazing numbers, and it is not too much to expect that in the course of a decade or two the

Westerners will become quite a different race of people altogether in their food, dress, manners,

habits and social customs.

 

Pythagoras seems to bewail when he says: “Beware, Omortals, of defiling your bodies with

sinful food. There are cereals, there are fruits bending their branches down by their weight, and

luxurious grapes on the vines. There are sweet vegetables and herbs which the fire can render

palatable and mellow. Nor are you denied milk, nor honey, fragrance of the aroma of the thyme

flower. The bountiful earth offers you an abundance of pure food and provides for meals obtainable

without slaughter and bloodshed.”

 

Fasting is interdicted for practitioners of Yoga as it produces weakness. But occasional mild

fasts are highly beneficial. They will overhaul the system thoroughly, give rest to the stomach and

the intestines and eliminate uric acid. Yogic students may take one full meal at 11 o’clock, a cup of

warm milk in the morning and half a seer of milk and some plantains (or oranges or apples) at night

with much advantage. The night meal should be very light. If the stomach is overloaded, sleep will

supervene and as too much sleep is injurious to Yogic practices, one cannot make any real headway

in the path of Yoga. Therefore a diet consisting of milk and fruits alone is a splendid menu for all

practitioners.

 

Aspirants should avoid all narcotics, coffee, tea, alcohol and smoke that stimulate the

senses. Our senses are compared to restive horses, and they become uncontrollable by taking

narcotics. You should control them by refraining from taking narcotics. We are all slaves of our

senses more or less and the senses in turn are the slaves of narcotics. If you really crave for

perfection, control of mind and success in Yoga, avoid these narcotics by all possible means.

Boil half a seer of milk along with some boiled rice, ghee and sugar. This is called Charu.

 

This is an excellent food for Yogic practitioners. This is for dinner. Half a seer of milk and some

fruits will do for the night. Try this prescription and tell me the benefits you have derived in your

Sadhana.

 

Milk should not be boiled too much. It should be removed from fire the moment the boiling

point is reached. Excessive boiling destroys all nutritious principles and vitamins and renders milk

unfit for consumption. Milk is an ideal food for aspirants. It is a perfect food by itself.

Fruit-diet exercises a marvellous influence upon the constitution. This is a natural diet.

 

Fruits are tremendous energy-producers. Fruits and milk help concentration and meditation.

Barley, wheat, milk, ghee and honey promote longevity of life and increase power and stamina.

Fruit-juice and the water wherein sugar-candy is dissolved are very good drinks. Butter mixed with

sugar-candy and almonds soaked in water overnight will cool the system.

 

Above all do not make much fuss about your diet. You need not advertise to everyone that

you are able to live on a particular form of diet. The observance of such Niyama (rules) is for your

own advancement in the spiritual path and you will not be spiritually benefited by giving publicity

to your practices. There are many nowadays who make it their profession to make money and their

livelihood by performing some Yoga-Asanas, Pranayama or by having some diet regulation as

eating only raw articles or leaves or roots. These people cannot have any real spiritual growth. The

goal of life is Self-realisation, and aspirants should always keep this in view and do intense Sadhana

with zeal and patience.

 

Live a natural simple life. Take simple food that is wholly agreeable to your system. You

should have your own menu to suit your constitution. You are yourself the best judge to select a

Sattvic diet. In the matter of food and drink you will do well to eat and drink as amaster. You should

not have the least craving for any particular diet. You should not become a slave to this food or that

food. Simple, natural, non-stimulating, tissue-building, energy-producing, non-alcoholic food and

drink will keep the mind calm and pure and will help the student of Yoga in his practices and in the

attainment of the goal of life.

TABLE SHOWING SATTVIC, RAJASIC AND TAMASIC ARTICLES OF DIET                    SATTVIC RAJASIC TAMASIC
SATTVIC	RAJAS	TAMASIC
Cow’s milk. Cream. Cheese Butter. Curd. Ghee. Sweet fruits. Apples. Bananas. Grapes. Papaya. Pomegranates. Mangoes. Oranges. Pears. Pineapples. Guavas. Figs. Vegetables. Coconut. Brinjals. Potatoes. Cabbages. Spinach.	Fish. Eggs. Meat. Salt. Chillies. Chutney. Asafoetida. Pickles. Tamarind. Mustard. Sour things. Hot things. Tea. Coffee. Cocoa. Ovaltine. White sugar. Carrots. Turnips. Spices.	Beef. Pork. Wine. Onions. Garlic. Tobacco. Rotten things. Stale things. Unclean things. Twice cooked things. All intoxicants. All liquors. All drugs.
Tomatoes. Cucumber. Pumpkin. Cauliflower. Lady’s finger. Peaches. Almonds. Pistachios.Raisins. Wheat. Red rice. Unpolished rice. Barley. Oat-meal. Dried peas. Dates. Sugar-candy.Green gram. Bengal gram. Green pulse. Groundnut. Cereals. Dried ginger. Myrobalan. Lemon.Honey. Charu.