Thought for Food

What is it about food that gets living beings to react and behave the way that they do? Obviously we all need to eat in order to stay alive, but at the same time a whole industry has grown from this basic need, as well as many ‘subsidiary’ industries which strictly speaking have absolutely nothing to do with staying alive. They are merely about profit and greed, about attachment, about sensory supplication, distraction, obsession, and ultimately then also healthcare. Not so much healthcare in that people learn to eat healthily, although that as well, but invariably only because of wrong eating habits, and then subsequently having to engage in dieting, and becoming mindful of ones eating habits.

I believe one can safely say that a huge number of people in the modern world live to eat, and do not eat to live. They have been totally conditioned (programmed) that at a certain time they must eat, regardless of whether they are hungry or not. If one looks purely at the basic purpose of eating, it is to feed or nourish the ailing body in order to keep it alive. That does not necessarily have to happen at any specific time of day. In fact, strictly speaking it should only happen when your body has indicated such a need to you, i.e. when you are hungry. Of course a lot of people nowadays get hungry because their bodies have been conditioned in such a way, but the entire aspect of breakfast, lunch, and dinner are social norms which were put in place to structure and control society.

And this programme is perpetuated from one generation to the next, until it is probably already encoded in some genes. Hundreds, if not thousands, of years ago food was generally not as readily and easily available. People had to go hunting or gathering in order to feed them self, or also plant crops, though that also really only developed or evolved much later. Hence it was not a case of what shall we have to eat for lunch or dinner, but rather let us see what we can find to have to eat at all. You really had to work for your food. No convenience stores back then, no instant foods, no vending machines, but you go out and actually have to put in a lot of effort in order to be able to feed your face. My my, how things have changed indeed – whether for better or for worse?

Over time modern or ‘civilised’ society created the programme whereby from earliest age children are indoctrinated to come and sit down to eat, be it breakfast, lunch or dinner, but all three must be partaken of, and in addition they may not get up until all the food on their plates is not finished. Now what does this do to a child? I most certainly have never come across a child that has intentionally starved to death, or died from thirst, when food and drink have been readily available. It just will not happen. If a child is hungry, it will say so, and likewise if it is thirsty. But now we come along and say you must come and sit down and eat, whether you are hungry or not. Why? Because we say so! In addition the child is not allowed to get up from the table before the plate is not completely empty. We are force-feeding them we are  programming them to overeat. We are teaching them to be fat, to become obese. Sure, there is also the entire aspect of wrong foods, and lack of exercise, but maybe about that another time.

For now, we raise children to have an obsession with, and fixation on, food. The other half, of course, have it due to a total deprivation or lack of access to food. In addition marketing and advertising make sure that we remain focused on food in-between mealtimes. All of this causes people to spend an awful amount of time involving their minds with food, and that to the detriment of being aware of what goes on in their lives, and actually living in the moment. The only time you are living in the moment with food is when you are totally aware of, totally focused on, the taste, texture, temperature, and everything else that goes hand in had with eating the food in order to stay alive. Eating mindfully is not easy, and invariably for most people it is also not so much a pleasant pursuit, because they now have to be aware of the detail and subtleties, and can not just gorge. What does any and all of this have to do with being on retreat, you may well ask?

Usually when on retreat, your senses are largely deprived of much of the stimulation that they normally get bombarded with on a daily basis. When you are on a long-term cloistered retreat, then that experience or phenomena is compounded exponentially. It is not just a day or two, or even two or three weeks, but literally day after day that there is very little to attract your attention, to stimulate your mind, to distract you, to entertain your mind. From early morning, till fairly late at night, day after day, you only have a very basic fairly set routine, and hardly much, if anything at all, changes in the course from one day to the next. The ONLY slight variation is mealtime.

If this were a strict Zen retreat then even meal times would change very little from one day to the next. But here there is somewhat of a variety in terms of the food that is cooked and served, and consequently it is also something that the retreatants can ‘look forward’ to. They can eagerly anticipate what there will be to see, smell, and taste, during that one hour of eating. In a formal Zen retreat people would again be reminded on a regular basis, even with the pre-meal prayer, that the food serves as medicine to nourish the ailing body (and soul). If anybody has any compliments, or qualms or misgivings about anything about the food, like not liking something, of it being overcooked, undercooked, or even burnt, the retreat master would simply tell them to be mindful of it. No engaging in long dialogue or discussions about this or that. Take note of the taste, texture, odour, temperature, etc. recognise it, and let go of it. Don’t dwell on it, and don’t let it be a distraction – either as being pleasant (I like) or as unpleasant (I dislike), but simply “that is how it is”.

This practise should ideally be applied to all food that one consumes. But especially while on retreat. Unfortunately one is dealing with human beings who all have their little (or big) idiosyncrasies, likes and dislikes, and also the need to try to change the world around them to suit their needs, instead of trying to adapt to what is there. Another time I will write about humans’ need to control, but not now. Accordingly people will try to impose their preferences on what they eat. Not only does it become a case of not wanting to eat a banana because the skin is black, even though on the inside it is still perfectly fine (talk about judging a book by its cover), and similar for apples and pears, but they also develop all sorts of ailments. Naturally there are one or two who have genuine allergies and certain food intolerances, but those can become contagious. Well, not really, but in retreat you will experience the meaning of a group conscience.

If one person has an ailment or intolerance, suddenly a big percentage of the rest of the people have the same problem. Why? Well, because you get special attention, special consideration, and you get to exercise your right to demand to be given different food.

I wonder if the cavemen (or is it cavepeople if I want to be PC?) and the various folks since then, already had things like wheat intolerance, or yeast allergies, or similar food issues? You know, “no don’t dig up that bulb or tuber, it contains too much sugar and will affect my skin yeast balance”, or “don’t pick those berries, they make me bloated” ???

!O-3|-W;-