F.: When most persons hear that someone has been diagnosed as being “insane” or “emotionally unstable,” they think that that person has certain mental problems. While some realize the impact that programming and conditioning have on human behavior, most believe that conditions such as depression, being bi-polar, suffering obsessive-compulsive disorder, being lethargic, being anxious or irritable, being inordinately stressed, or suffering from ADD are mental conditions. Few realize that all of those can also be triggered by a physical component. Some of the early Advaitan teachers talked about the chemical nature of the elemental space, the physical body. Now it is known that many conditions that are labeled as "mental" or "emotional" in origin may be rooted in physio-chemical imbalances instead. Neither the Advaitan teachings or any other philosophy, religion, or spiritual movements can address those components.
Spinoza over 350 years ago understood the impact that body organs have on "the mind" and on behavior, but most humans today still lack that understanding. He said:
“Whatever increases, decreases, limits or extends the body’s power of action (also) increases, decreases, limits or extends the mind’s power of action. And whatever increases, decreases, limits or extends the mind’s power of action, also increases, decreases, limits or extends the body’s power of action.”
Humans at one point in their evolutionary process knew intuitively what to eat and what not to eat, as most animals do today. Because of the effects of conditioning and enculturation, humans have been programmed to eat what they should not. Humans have so completely lost their sane and natural eating habits that they are not only following food plans that are negatively impacting their health but are eating in ways that generate insane emotions and insane behaviors. A few, made aware of the impact that the bastardized food supply is having, are modifying their food plans without counsel and are eating foods they believe are “healthy” but that are retarding the proper functioning of their organs. Others, just as persons have done for thousands of years, are accepting dietary advice and restrictions as set forth by religious or spiritual advisors who haven’t a clue that their advice is often retarding the proper functioning of the physical organs of their protégés. The end result is that most people either
(1) are blindly eating what their cultures are programming them to eat, or
(2) are self-prescribing food plans that have no logical basis, or
(3) are believing in the nonsense of allowing a religious or spiritual advisor with no nutritional training at all to determine what should and should not be eaten, or
(4) are following governmental recommendations (that actually meet the needs of only 1/3 of the general population), or
(5) are following one fad diet after another which, again, can only meet the nutritional needs of 1/3 of the general population.
Why discuss any of this in relation to attaining the Advaita understanding and Full Realization? Because there was a time prior to the bastardization of the food supply when the organs functioned properly and did not impact mental-emotional states. There was a time when the teachings needed only to address the faulty programming and conditioning and enculturation in order to allow persons to be in touch with reality, to function in a sane and natural manner, and to live sanely and soundly…AS IF. Today, that is not enough. An Advaita protégé, or any other person, so do all the spiritual or religious exercises he wants, can read all the self-help books he wants, can seek out all of the professional counseling he wants, can seek out the most effective Advaitan teacher he wants, but he will often still not be able to function sanely and normally and naturally because of body organs that are malfunctioning (and thereby negatively impacting the mental and emotional states).
“Whatever increases, decreases, limits or extends the body’s power of action (also) increases, decreases, limits or extends the mind’s power of action. And whatever increases, decreases, limits or extends the mind’s power of action, also increases, decreases, limits or extends the body’s power of action.”
Humans at one point in their evolutionary process knew intuitively what to eat and what not to eat, as most animals do today. Because of the effects of conditioning and enculturation, humans have been programmed to eat what they should not. Humans have so completely lost their sane and natural eating habits that they are not only following food plans that are negatively impacting their health but are eating in ways that generate insane emotions and insane behaviors. A few, made aware of the impact that the bastardized food supply is having, are modifying their food plans without counsel and are eating foods they believe are “healthy” but that are retarding the proper functioning of their organs. Others, just as persons have done for thousands of years, are accepting dietary advice and restrictions as set forth by religious or spiritual advisors who haven’t a clue that their advice is often retarding the proper functioning of the physical organs of their protégés. The end result is that most people either
(1) are blindly eating what their cultures are programming them to eat, or
(2) are self-prescribing food plans that have no logical basis, or
(3) are believing in the nonsense of allowing a religious or spiritual advisor with no nutritional training at all to determine what should and should not be eaten, or
(4) are following governmental recommendations (that actually meet the needs of only 1/3 of the general population), or
(5) are following one fad diet after another which, again, can only meet the nutritional needs of 1/3 of the general population.
Why discuss any of this in relation to attaining the Advaita understanding and Full Realization? Because there was a time prior to the bastardization of the food supply when the organs functioned properly and did not impact mental-emotional states. There was a time when the teachings needed only to address the faulty programming and conditioning and enculturation in order to allow persons to be in touch with reality, to function in a sane and natural manner, and to live sanely and soundly…AS IF. Today, that is not enough. An Advaita protégé, or any other person, so do all the spiritual or religious exercises he wants, can read all the self-help books he wants, can seek out all of the professional counseling he wants, can seek out the most effective Advaitan teacher he wants, but he will often still not be able to function sanely and normally and naturally because of body organs that are malfunctioning (and thereby negatively impacting the mental and emotional states).
New obstacles on the “path” to Full Realization and to AS IF living require that the Teachings evolve. The Teachings early on were the single, holistic solution (relatively speaking) for those who were suffering as a result of being out of touch with reality and for those who were suffering the subsequent effects of their illusory “minds.” Because humans are a plant food body and truly are what they eat, and because the food supply nowadays has been bastardized and cannot provide what is needed for proper functioning of the organs, and because—as Spinoza pointed out—the plant food body affects behavior and mental and emotional conditions, the teachings must be expanded if they are to once again provide the holistic solution to the relativistic problems that humans face. Please enter the silence of contemplation.
