How does Food Connect Us to the Spiritual?
Food plays a major role in every major religious tradition, from the breaking of bread and consumption of wine in Christianity, to the avoidance of certain foods and eating according to one's body type, as found in Ayurvedic medicine. Many other ancient cultures and belief systems attribute spiritual importance to various kinds of foods. In China, Japan, the Middle East and Native America, people all revere the persimmon. In Chinese culture, persimmons symbolize joy and prosperity, and in Japanese culture, their word for persimmon is translated into "food of the Gods". The reason might be the fact that perssimmon is a rare source of beta-cryptoxanthan, which is a precusor to Vitamin A whose imporatnce is only recently being recognized (1).
Were religious leaders simply recognizing the nutrient requirements of the diet, and creating rituals around healthy habits? Or were they recognizing a spritual aspect to the physical world? The answer might a little of both, that they knew certain food had healing and life-saving properties, but they also knew that certain foods allowed spiritual channels to open.
GInko biloba, for example, was known to improve mental clarity and memory. Others like St Johns Wort were known to improve mood. Not only did certain fruits and vegetables gain cultural and even religious value due to their life-promoting properties, but they also took on new meaning by symbolizing the kind of joy that spiritual experiences allow. Just like the New Age trend towards an eclectic blend of artifacts and rituals, ancient religions adapted their teachings to appeal to human experiences of pleasure, and our ultimate desire for meaning. This quest for a higher purpose is what our reverence for food is all about. Our ancient ancestors must have felt a sense of gratitude for the prevalence and positive experiences given by food. Not only did certain foods become associated with our highest spiritual desires and feelings, but they also created inexplicable miracles of protection and healing. We may have had such positive experiences because food communicates to us, individually and as a species.
We can be tricked, of course, by high sugar and artificial flavors, but the experiences we obtain will usually then be the opposite of what we get from fresh food. The plant kingdom itself is something that predates human and the other animal species by hundreds of millions of years. It would not be a stretch to say their evolutionary memory is greater than ours, and one of their capabilities is imparting information that is physiologically and spiritually healing. To make eating an even more spiritual practice, we can use the opportunity of meal-making to honor the origins of our food, which are still mysterious. We can also be present and mindful when eating, eat according to our intuition, and eat while sharing with friends and family.
In the following excerpt, the author discusses the other ways that food connects us to the universe outside ourselves, while also getting us more in touch with our spiritual core:
From Digesting the Universe: A Revolutionary Framework for Healthy Metabolism Function:
"One of the most important ways we connect to Spirit is through food. Because we don’t see Spirit, it’s hard for us to believe it can be realized through a material substance, yet food offers humans a powerful bridge. As with many things, when we look from a different angle, we can see different things. Let’s explore the nature of food from the spiritual angle.
Natural foods like honey or vegetables and fruits come from living plants or living things. To exist in this reality, it must follow natural law and the laws of the Universe, just as we do. Everything you eat is based on Universal love. Love comes from the inside out. A simple flower garden offers an example of something transformed by Nature’s unconditional love. In it, flowers bloom and butterflies and bees perform their duties. The flower does not try to outshine the others; it just wants to show its beauty. When it is fully in bloom, the flower has fulfilled its highest purpose. At the energetic level, this is how Nature shows its love. Since we are part of Nature and follow its laws, we also want to show our singular beauty and the love we entered this reality with that birth. Otherwise, we would not exist in this dimension. Embedded within us is the urge to fulfill our purpose—to bloom just like the flower.
Yin and Yang
In this reality though, you cannot just always receive. If you receive energy or love through the food you eat, at the highest level of functioning, you have to let that love flow through you and return it as well. We do not live in a close system. Energy always flows both ways. If the flow of Nature’s love cannot be processed through you and given or returned to others, it becomes stuck...No matter who you are, you play a singular role in the cycle of life as well as in the destiny of the Universe. Just as flowers have a responsibility to bloom, so too do you. Your job is to manifest your unique gifts. When you are able to do this, you increase your capacity for receiving even more. Your whole being can function at a higher level. This is the true purpose of metabolism function. Without manifesting itself externally, healthy metabolism has not completed its cycle of receiving, digesting, processing, transforming, and then manifesting itself. Without its application in your own life, the highest level of healthy metabolism function can’t be achieved. Metabolism function goes far beyond food."
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