As promised, here is a summary of the philosophy I am propounding in this blog and by which I am currently living my life. This will also be helpful to me, no doubt, as a reminder of just what I am doing and why.
The Buddha was a real human being who found enlightenment over 2500 years ago and spent the rest of his life teaching the path to freedom he discovered. He was not a fat guy. Because he taught the middle way between indulgence and asceticism, it is highly doubtful he would have been self-indulgent enough to overeat to that extent.
The Buddha taught only two truths: there is suffering and the end of suffering is possible. All the other teachings and corollaries and commentaries are an attempt to teach these truths and the path to their fulfillment.
Each of us already have enlightenment in us, but it has been obscured by generations and centuries of fear, instinct, and training. These have created layers upon layers of rock-hard assumptions, beliefs, and actions that stand between us and the precious jewel of enlightenment. Nonetheless, it is there in each of us all the time, waiting to be discovered.
When we are not working toward our own enlightenment and that of others, we are suffering. This is true by definition, since enlightenment is the end of suffering.
Overeating and being overweight are forms of suffering. Not only do they cause us to suffer directly, they are also futile attempts to find the end of suffering through external means. This will never and can never work to find the true end of suffering and as long as we are practicing futile means, we will be neglecting skillful means.
Deprivation and dieting are also forms of suffering. This blog is not about dieting or control or guilt or shame. In fact, the first step in the process of any change is complete and loving acceptance of ourselves as we are in this moment in time. This moment in time is all we have until the next moment comes, and no moment should be wasted in self-hatred of self-loathing. This, too, cannot and never will lead to the end of suffering.
The key to a healthy relationship to food is mindfulness. There are many ways of becoming more mindful about how we eat. Jan Chozen Bays' book Mindful Eating is a useful if imperfect guide to this. Particularly useful is her description of the seven hungers.
Meditation is one of the keys to eating mindfully. It need be no more complicated then finding the time to watch the breath arise and pass away. The more one meditates, the more benefit derived, but each person much find what works best for them. Typically, meditation is a minimum of 15 minutes a day. On retreat, one meditates up to 18 hours a day. Finding a happy medium between these two should be the goal. 45 minutes at least once a day is fairly typical.
My primary method to develop mindfulness about eating is calorie restriction. The formula I use is ideal weight (in pounds) times 10 equals daily calorie intake. I do not consider this deprivation because my attitude toward it is to use this discipline to increase my awareness of my relationship to food. I also am not depriving myself because this amount of calories is sufficient for my well-being and I assume that consumption in excess of this is an attempt to find the end of suffering through the medium of food, which will never be effective.
When on vacation or out to eat, I do not count calories, but still try to eat mindfully at all times. I abandon the calorie counting primarily because it's just too much of a hassle and because I don't want my practice to become a pain for others. Because I do not consider the calorie restriction to be a burden, I don't splurge when I am not observing it. Rather, the way I eat on vacations and such is simply a different way of paying attention to my relationship to food. Yes, I feel the urge to gorge myself when on vacation, but why is this? Is this just habit? Does it really make me feel better? Is it on the path to the end of suffering or a form of suffering? On the other hand, as past posts have made clear, I don't practice deprivation, either.
Eating itself can be a method of contemplation and meditation that leads to the freedom of the end of suffering. Life cannot be separated into the good and the bad, the useful and the not-so-useful. Everything is grist for the mill of mindful investigation.
Despite what we may have been taught, it is not a waste to leave food on our plates or throw it away. It makes no sense to think that eating an excessive amount of food is somehow less wasteful than to toss it out. Ideally, we would always have the perfect amount in front of us (or perhaps just slightly less than that) and never waste a thing, but this is not always possible. Let it go. The starving children of Darfur were not going to eat the rest of your burrito anyway.
There are many teachings that point to the path the Buddha taught, and some of the most useful ones are the Four Noble Truths, the Five Precepts, and the Brahma Viharas. These are not obscure or difficult to understand. The Four Noble truths simply state that there is suffering and an end of suffering and describe the path to it. The Five Precepts suggest that it is most skillful to avoid killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, harmful speech, and intoxication (and I would include overeating in this last). The brahma viharas describe four ways we can be more attuned to the path to enlightenment: lovingkindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity.
No one is more deserving of love, kindness, compassion, and joy than you are. Celebrate life. Food is part of the celebration, but so is feeling physically whole. There is a balance that is possible. I wish nothing less for all of us that we should find this truth for ourselves, and to find it now.
The Buddha was a real human being who found enlightenment over 2500 years ago and spent the rest of his life teaching the path to freedom he discovered. He was not a fat guy. Because he taught the middle way between indulgence and asceticism, it is highly doubtful he would have been self-indulgent enough to overeat to that extent.
The Buddha taught only two truths: there is suffering and the end of suffering is possible. All the other teachings and corollaries and commentaries are an attempt to teach these truths and the path to their fulfillment.
Each of us already have enlightenment in us, but it has been obscured by generations and centuries of fear, instinct, and training. These have created layers upon layers of rock-hard assumptions, beliefs, and actions that stand between us and the precious jewel of enlightenment. Nonetheless, it is there in each of us all the time, waiting to be discovered.
When we are not working toward our own enlightenment and that of others, we are suffering. This is true by definition, since enlightenment is the end of suffering.
Overeating and being overweight are forms of suffering. Not only do they cause us to suffer directly, they are also futile attempts to find the end of suffering through external means. This will never and can never work to find the true end of suffering and as long as we are practicing futile means, we will be neglecting skillful means.
Deprivation and dieting are also forms of suffering. This blog is not about dieting or control or guilt or shame. In fact, the first step in the process of any change is complete and loving acceptance of ourselves as we are in this moment in time. This moment in time is all we have until the next moment comes, and no moment should be wasted in self-hatred of self-loathing. This, too, cannot and never will lead to the end of suffering.
The key to a healthy relationship to food is mindfulness. There are many ways of becoming more mindful about how we eat. Jan Chozen Bays' book Mindful Eating is a useful if imperfect guide to this. Particularly useful is her description of the seven hungers.
Meditation is one of the keys to eating mindfully. It need be no more complicated then finding the time to watch the breath arise and pass away. The more one meditates, the more benefit derived, but each person much find what works best for them. Typically, meditation is a minimum of 15 minutes a day. On retreat, one meditates up to 18 hours a day. Finding a happy medium between these two should be the goal. 45 minutes at least once a day is fairly typical.
My primary method to develop mindfulness about eating is calorie restriction. The formula I use is ideal weight (in pounds) times 10 equals daily calorie intake. I do not consider this deprivation because my attitude toward it is to use this discipline to increase my awareness of my relationship to food. I also am not depriving myself because this amount of calories is sufficient for my well-being and I assume that consumption in excess of this is an attempt to find the end of suffering through the medium of food, which will never be effective.
When on vacation or out to eat, I do not count calories, but still try to eat mindfully at all times. I abandon the calorie counting primarily because it's just too much of a hassle and because I don't want my practice to become a pain for others. Because I do not consider the calorie restriction to be a burden, I don't splurge when I am not observing it. Rather, the way I eat on vacations and such is simply a different way of paying attention to my relationship to food. Yes, I feel the urge to gorge myself when on vacation, but why is this? Is this just habit? Does it really make me feel better? Is it on the path to the end of suffering or a form of suffering? On the other hand, as past posts have made clear, I don't practice deprivation, either.
Eating itself can be a method of contemplation and meditation that leads to the freedom of the end of suffering. Life cannot be separated into the good and the bad, the useful and the not-so-useful. Everything is grist for the mill of mindful investigation.
Despite what we may have been taught, it is not a waste to leave food on our plates or throw it away. It makes no sense to think that eating an excessive amount of food is somehow less wasteful than to toss it out. Ideally, we would always have the perfect amount in front of us (or perhaps just slightly less than that) and never waste a thing, but this is not always possible. Let it go. The starving children of Darfur were not going to eat the rest of your burrito anyway.There are many teachings that point to the path the Buddha taught, and some of the most useful ones are the Four Noble Truths, the Five Precepts, and the Brahma Viharas. These are not obscure or difficult to understand. The Four Noble truths simply state that there is suffering and an end of suffering and describe the path to it. The Five Precepts suggest that it is most skillful to avoid killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, harmful speech, and intoxication (and I would include overeating in this last). The brahma viharas describe four ways we can be more attuned to the path to enlightenment: lovingkindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity.
No one is more deserving of love, kindness, compassion, and joy than you are. Celebrate life. Food is part of the celebration, but so is feeling physically whole. There is a balance that is possible. I wish nothing less for all of us that we should find this truth for ourselves, and to find it now.
No comments:
Post a Comment