If you observe the natural cycle of the body, there is something called a mandala. Every 40-48 days, the system goes through a certain cycle. Every cycle of this, every single cycle, in this three days will appear, where your body does not need food. If you are conscious of how your body functions, you will become aware that today my body does not need food. And without any effort you can go without food, on that day, if you observe the cycle properly.
Every 40-48 days, the system [body] goes through a certain cycle, called a mandala
If that awareness is not there as to which day that is, for that in India they fixed, what is called as Ekadasi. That means, four days before the full moon, four days before the new moon day, people don’t eat. They wake up in the morning, no breakfast, no lunch, only after the sun sets they eat one meal. This is just to allow the system to realign itself. If you give this break, it’s very, very good for your health and your body the way it functions. Because the system needs that time to adjust itself. Every day food, every day food, it’s a lot of hard work for the body. Give it a little break.
If you’re not able to fast, on one day you go on something lighter, maybe just juices or something else which is much lighter for the system to handle. Definitely body will be very grateful to you. Yes? Every day loading it up with cooked food is not a good thing to do. So what is its spiritual significance? Because it’s a cleansing. If your system is not vibrant, you won’t feel like doing anything spiritual, you’re feeling lethargic. For a meditator, the biggest enemy is sleep. To sit here with eyes closed and fully alert takes something else. For most people if they close their eyes, should sleep.
Every day food, every day food, it’s a lot of hard work for the body. Give it a little break
So to sit here and to be very alert with the eyes closed, takes a certain level of vibrance in the body. So to create this vibrance, we observe how to eat, what to do, how much to eat – all these things. It is not spiritual, but it is providing the right kind of body. Right now if your body is feeling very lethargic, I am talking enlightenment – so what the hell, isn’t it? So keeping it vibrant, alert and keeping the body free of pains and problems is important, because only then you will seek something bigger. Right now your leg is hurting, really hurting – God appeared, what will you ask? My leg pain should go. Yes or no? What more will you ask? That’s all you’ll ask, isn’t it? Because body has that kind of power over you. Unless you keep it in a certain level of ease, it rules you from every direction. Isn’t it so?
