The Connection Between Meditation, Nutrition, and Our Existence : หน้า 76/164

Suzanne Jeffrey to eat because of energy and repair and growth. We cannot, of course, argue with that. However, when we meditate, we have a greater insight because our mind is clearer and our view becomes more profound. When we meditate, we will see that our bodies are made up of four elements: These are the ancient elements of earth, water, fire, and wind. These elements are not pure, but impure, and because of this, we have problems. “Every minute in our lives about 300 million cells in our body die and we need to constantly need to repair these cells. We breathe – the wind element – to repair that part of us. Food is the earth element, water for the water element, and clothing for the fire element – to keep us warm so we do not deplete this element. What do we learn from this? Every moment of our life, we are dying. And at what age do we start to get old? When we are born. Every moment is one step closer to the grave. Because of our impurities, we are a built-in time bomb for our existence. Each of us has impurities, so we have to keep on trying to repair our cells all of our lives. This is at the foundation of our life. Even though we sit around with a good life, we might not feel good. This is why sometimes the doctor cannot find anything wrong with us when we complain about something, or we have an ill feeling. We might sing Happy Birthday to one another but underneath, the cells are dying. “Now suppose our elements are not of high quality. Then, more than those 300 million cells die. Perhaps you have had impure food, for example. What is impurity? Generally speaking, we think about nutrition – and pure means no virus, no bacteria, no preservatives. But that is limited. If we look at a single plate of food, it may be pure in terms of nutrition, but then you have to think about the ethics that are involved with that plate of food. Did you buy it? Did you steal it? It may have the same nutrition, but the ethics involved are very different. Suppose you are angry when you eat it, or suppose you use the energy for something unethical after you eat it. Is it wholesome? Or are you causing problems? Feelings are important. Giving thanks and feeling gratitude is learned from generation to generation. When you are grateful, you should give thanks for your life, your strength to do goodness. Say, ‘thank you for all of the goodness that I can do because of my food.’ This causes a chain reaction: When you understand this, then you see the universal continuity and connection. “If we use it for meditation, we will get deeper answers. Each person’s individual ability is important: We must not be content with what we have attained. Usually we want happiness, but if we see things deeply and profoundly, we will be able to help others and create more happiness. This will help us understand why we experience crises.