Food for thought

/*Written on 2nd Dec 2013*/

Today, I decided I would practice meditation, focusing my attention on the various sensory stimuli washing over my senses.

And this activity carried over to my brunch, consisting of a day-old biryani and one hard-boiled egg.

Cutting out all other potential distractions like TV or books, I sat before my microwave heated ensemble and proceeded to dig in, paying careful attention to the stuff churning amid teeth, tongue and saliva.

Making an effort to not let the swallow-reflex interfere with the mastication, I became aware that the food I input imparted a blunt but excitatory effect when chewed less and swallowed en-masse than when chewed slowly and with awareness. This was especially true when eating the egg, which gave a particularly strong odour bordering on the unpleasant, when you eat itsans the rice. I was aware too that the rice became progressively tasteless, the more I chewed on it.

Once I finished all the rice and about 45 percent of the egg, I got up with no particular urge for seconds. From experience, I know that any other day would have seen me gulping down 1-2 eggs with generous second helpings of rice. It seemed that the whole meal was designed to give maximum sensory impact when eaten in large chunks accompanied by cursory attention to the finer details. In other words, a semi-aware state of mind enables you to enjoy the meal in a gross manner with the subtle flavors and  the progressive changes in them remaining undetected. This is especially true with food eaten in large quantities.

It brings to mind the classification of food in the Hindu tradition based on the type of temperament its consumption promoted. The 3 temperaments or gunas- Sattvic, Rajasic and Tamasic denote Pure/aware, Excitable and Lethargic states of mind respectively. A person is usually a mixture of all 3 gunas, with one or two gunas dominating his personality.

My above experience suggests that if my everyday meals consisted of I ate today or food similar to it, it would likely strengthen semi-aware eating behavior bordering on gluttony (and I'm no stranger to eating like a horse). Consider the fact that most people who eat slowly tend to eat smaller portions of food, probably because their senses are satiated

sooner. While the glutton downs his food with the frenzy of an addict getting his fix.

This link between food and states of mind is something which should be explored experientially than intuitively or theoretically. So "Bon Appetit"!!

/*Written on 3rd Dec*/

Continuing the above thread, I had today a meal consisting of mutton curry mixed with rice. So sumptuous was the meal with the meat all tender and succulent, that I could scarcely contain the urge to stuff my face with it. Needless to say, the process of eating far more than required to satiate my hunger was thoroughly enjoyable. The post-meal experience was tinged with the lethargy characteristic of digesting a heavy meal.

A more pronounced side-effect of the meal manifested in the form of a stinkier-than-usual poo due to the protein-laden diet. Plus it took a lot longer to completely clear traffic out of one's intestinal intersections.

As for the extent of the Rajasic-Tamasic properties of the meal was concerned, the experience was inconclusive as I was toobusy enjoying the meal to pay attention. But that tells us something too does it not? Wink wink!