Recently, our Guru Paramahamsa Sri Nithyananda Swamiji gave two simple guidelines for sattvic living and lifestyle. The first guideline is to incorporate 6 sacred foods in our diet everyday. Second guideline is to chew betel leaf and bilva leaf daily.
This is a simple instruction, easy to follow. Until, we look at the ingredients listed we do not clearly appreciate the science and thoughtfulness behind it. Now, we are thrown into an interesting bit of challenge.
The list has nothing remotely sweet included in it. And it has two bitter, two sour, and two foods with peculiar tastes in the list. This tells us a couple of things. First, we don’t need any sugar from external sources to run our bodies. Bye, bye, candies and chocolates! We can still enjoy something sweet, but it seems better to include fruits rather than processed sugars of any kind. It is best to minimize our consumption of sweets. Also missing from the list are red chilies or jalapeno peppers. This is another clear indication that what appeals to the tongue is not necessarily the best for the health of the guts or the growth of the consciousness.
To know more about sattvic diet and the healing powers of turmeric, please click on the links.
A daily plan to incorporate the sacred elements
A simple routine to incorporate all these elements in our food daily has been provided by Sadashiva in Kamaika Agama. By following this routine, we can become integrated to sattvic food habits and non-violent lifestyle. We need to carefully esatablish and follow this routine. Everyday, every food we eat, we should be conscious of what we are eating. Although, there are many possible permutations and combinations to attain this, here is one that might work out well for most people.
- Everyday in the morning, as soon as you wake up and brush your teeth, drink neem water to fill your empty stomach.
- Drink lemon water through out the day.
- Add tamarind to your sauce or pasta.
- Include turmeric in your foods. You can include tamarind and turmeric at the same time.
- Sprinkle black pepper on your salad, or lime juice or other foods to ensure that you get a bit of spice in your system.
- Always end your day’s eating with one-half teaspoon of haritaki in warm water. For best results, take it before brushing the teeth at night and heading to bed.
Our challenge is always to have small, short, tasty, sattvic recipes for cooking. Here are some quick, sattvic, recipes that incorporate tamarind, turmeric and black pepper.
Explore the our YouTube channel for more recipes. Please respond with any questions you have. Thank you!
