DISCOURSES & TALKS BY MEHER BABA

 

DIFFERENT  TYPES OF  FOOD

 

 

 

11 October, 1928

 

 

The subject then turned to different types of food and Baba made the following remarks:

 

There are three things that are very good for increasing and purifying the blood: pomegranates, grapes, and tomatoes; but grapes have one defect, they create acidity. Okra is good for people with waist pain. Potatoes give strength, but can cause an upset stomach. Lentils are good; beans, squash, cabbage, and cauliflower are not nourishing, but are tasty. Eggplant is the worst. To eat eggplant is to commit suicide because it actually shatters the blood, which in the form of water causes "discharge" [mucus]. Radishes create gas but they are good for the intestines. Tomatoes are the best for the blood. Methi [fenugreek leaves] and sooa [dill] are also very good.

 

Rustom jokingly interjected, "Chicken is good because it has no sanskaras."

 

"We are not talking of sanskaras, but of the quality of things," Baba corrected. Then he continued:

 

Among non-vegetarian food, fish is the best for the brain because it contains phosphorus. Eggs too are good, but are hard to digest. Among all food, milk is the best because nothing is killed in obtaining it. The next best are vegetables because life in them is not fully developed. The worst impressions lie in non-vegetarian food. By eating meat a person at once contacts animal sanskaras which stimulate anger and lust.

 

The give-and-take of sanskaras depends on the attitude of the mind, i.e. if you do a certain action with good intentions, you catch good sansakaras, and if with bad intentions, bad sanskaras ... When you go on a hunt, you kill an animal for the sake of sport and enjoyment. You therefore take its bad sanskaras. But suppose you are going through a forest and a wild animal attacks you. In order to defend yourself, you kill it. In that case, you do not catch any sanskaras.

 

That is why, without attracting sanskaras, you may destroy the lives of bugs, mosquitoes, scorpions, et cetera, which cause injury to humanity. You may kill the serpent which comes to bite you; but you must not kill the serpent which you happen to see in a jungle while taking a walk.

 

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