February, 2014
spiritualit y
M
ost people say they don’t have time to meditate; yet we all find time to have three squares a day.
Eating can be associated with the expansion of our soul and with a few mindful moments, eating can be an opportunity to cultivate a spiritual practice. Here are a couple of ways to invite your soul into your next meal: Give thanks When Ricky Bobby (actor Will Farrell) says grace at dinner with his family in the movie “Talladega Nights,” he prays, “Dear baby Jesus, use your baby super-powers...” His wife interrupts to remind him that Jesus grew up to be a man with a beard. But Ricky Bobby likes the Christmas Jesus better,
together is about the size of your stomach. If
open the heart to the needs of others.
and continues to pray to “the eight-pound,
you are eating just enough as provided to you
It is a common practice in Zen to make food
six-ounce baby Jesus who listens to baby
by the confines of the cup, you will be less apt
offerings to the hungry ghosts. During formal
Einstein tapes...” Whatever “saying grace”
to overeat compared to eating from a plate
meals or during sesshin (an intense meditation
means to you - praying lays the energetic
of food on which you can pile lots of food.
retreat) an offering bowl will be passed or
and spiritual groundwork for the meal. Our
You hold the cup in your hands in a prayer-like
brought to each person about to partake of the
thoughts and spoken word create a vibration
manner to set your intention. Additionally, I
meal. Everyone takes a small piece of food
that influences physical matter. My Native
like connecting a cup to the dimensions of
from his bowl, touches it to the forehead, and
American grandmother used to pray for the
the stomach because it is a subtle reminder
places it in the offering bowl. The bowl is then
spirit of the animals that gave their lives so
that your stomach is the “altar of your being.”
ceremonially placed on the altar.
we could eat. She thanked the farmers who
It is where your mealtime offerings are made
grew the vegetables and always thanked
to your entire self. If we considered eating as
Hungry ghosts represent all of our greed
who ever physically prepared the meal. As a
the process of making an offering on the altar
and thirst and clinging, which bind us to
child I thought her prayers were too long and
of our stomach for its transformation and
our
thanking the animal was ridiculous, but as I
integration into our being, that might create
giving away something that we crave, we
look back on her meaningful words I realize
a different awareness of our intake.
unbind ourselves from our own clinging and
now that it was her way of incorporating her
sorrows
and
disappointments.
By
neediness to think of others.
spiritual practice into every eating experience.
Make a Spirit offering
Each meal was a spiritual journey as she took
Although I grew up Christian, I became
A spiritual object in your kitchen is another
the act of eating to a deeper level and filled
acquainted with various spiritual and religious
way to create an offering where you prepare
every bite of food with the energy of grace.
traditions through university classes and by
food. I have some figurines in my kitchen
Through prayer we invite God into our meal
studying with spiritual mentors of different
to remind me of the divine, including a
making it a blessed and sacred experience.
faiths. When I traveled to Tibet I noticed in the
cross, a Buddha, and crystals that sit on the
Buddhist temples that food offerings to the
windowsill above the sink, to put me in a
The cup concept
gods are a common practice. Food may be
more spiritual mindset when I am close to
Anyone that knows my husband Barry
simply and silently left on an altar, with a small
food.
knows about his cup concept. Essentially
bow, or the offering might be accompanied
Barry suggests choosing a cup to eat out of,
by elaborate chants and full prostrations.
If you don’t have time to meditate, use the
so that each time you eat, your meal takes
However it is done, offering food on an altar is
daily ritual of eating to enjoy and enrich
on an element of sacredness. A cup that is
an act of connecting with the spiritual world.
your life by creating enlightened eating
the same size as both of your hands cupped
It is also a means to release selfishness and
experiences and meals full of meaning.
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