Every day, in the morning, at noon, and again in the evening, we all have to think about eating in order to sustain life and health. But initiates are the only ones who have paused to reflect on this phenomenon. Their age-old science has taught them that nutrition is extremely important and that there are many aspects to the question; aspects that most human beings are totally unaware of. And it is this ignorance that is the source of many of their problems.

The importance of one’s attitude

Always remember to wash your hands before eating. Then try to put yourself into a calm, peaceful frame of mind and remind yourself that you are about to receive elements that have been prepared for you in the immense laboratories of nature. Recollect yourself for a moment, renew your contact with the Lord and say a short prayer,  and then, silently and in all serenity, begin the process of nutrition, a process which constitutes one of the highest forms of white magic.

In our centres, before and after each meal, we recite the following formula in Bulgarian, three times: Bojiata lubov razreshava vsickite problemi. (Divine love solves all life’s problems).

Mastication

You must chew your food for as long possible until there is nothing left in your mouth, even without having swallowed. The mouth is the first ‘laboratory’ in which the food you eat is processed, and it is also the most important and the most spiritual. The stomach is of secondary importance. The subtlest processes are carried out in the mouth, for it is in the laboratory of the mouth that the etheric particles are absorbed, whereas the coarser, denser elements are sent on to the stomach. In fact, one often feels strengthened long before a meal has been absorbed and digested and the nutrients distributed to the various organs of the body, and this proves that even before the food has reached the stomach, the mouth has extracted the etheric elements from it and distributed them to the nervous system.

Never eat your fill

You all know that it is very bad to overeat: there is nothing worse than being sated and gorged after a meal, for it makes you heavy and coarse. But what you do not know is that hunger prolongs, strengthens, and enhances life. If you still have some appetite left when you leave the table, it is an incentive to your etheric body to look for other, subtler elements in the surrounding atmosphere.

Think of these elements as etheric hormones, or vitamins if you like, which your etheric body finds and absorbs, and quite soon after, not only do you no longer feel hungry but you feel lighter, more vigorous, and better able to tackle your work. Whereas if you eat more than your hunger warrants, simply for the pleasure of eating (as so many people do at a banquet or a party, for instance), you will feel weighed down and incapable of working.

When you eat your fill you overburden yourself; your etheric body gets tired and overworked and ceases to function properly. Then myriads of importunate, undesirable entities of the astral plane, who have been attracted by the glut of food, come flocking into you to claim their share. This is why, very soon after, you feel hungry all over again; so you eat again, and once again those undesirable guests return. In this way you become a tempting morsel for the famished entities of the lower astral regions who come and feast on you.

The whole universe abounds in creatures of every sort and kind which initiates have grouped into specific categories, and they often intervene in the lives of human beings. This explains many unusual events and phenomena which continue to puzzle today’s scientists. If you do not want to fall a prey to these undesirable creatures, therefore, you must be careful not to eat your fill, not to overstep the limit. Read more…

To be continued…

Omraam Mikhaël Aïvanhov

More details can be found in:
Complete Works, Vol. 16, ‘Hrani Yoga – The Yoga of Nutrition’
Complete Works, Vol. 13, ‘A New Earth – Methods, Exercises, Formulas and Prayers’