Sattvic Food

 

When people first learn about Ayurveda they are drawn in by the feeling of peace that surrounds everything about this ancient science. This peace is far different from the way much of the world operates these days, one that fluctuates between extremes of too-much-to-do-too-little-time and “vegging out” in front of the television with a dinner of microwaved leftovers.

Sattva in your life

Ayurveda was originally grounded in the idea that we can experience freedom from suffering by coming into harmony with the four pillars of health, which include:

Ahar: Eating foods that nourish our bodies and minds

Vihar: Living in alignment with nature's rhythms

Nidra: Appropriate sleep

Brahmacharya: Management of our energy, particularly sexual energy - both in our physical actions and in our minds.

We come into balance in these four areas of life by increasing sattva.  This guide aims to provide information on ahar - eating sattvic foods that connect you with your higher consciousness. Sattvic foods are grown with mindful practices (organic, non-GMO, ideally from your own garden). They digest easily and provide the strength and vitality you are meant to naturally have.

The three gunas

Ayurveda and Yoga are built on the philosophy of the three gunas: sattva, rajas and tamas. These concepts represent the qualities that are present in food, nature and actions, as well as our body and mind.

TAMAS

Tamas is inertia, darkness and dullness. When a seed is resting inert in the darkness of the earth, it is in a state of tamas.  When we sleep, it is tamas.

When tamas is dominant in our lives, there is heaviness, sleeping too much and eating leftovers, meat and deep-fried foods. It leads to lethargy, lack of purpose and depression.

RAJAS

Rajas is activity and movement. When a seedling cracks through the endosperm and pushes through the earth to reach the sun, it is in a state of rajas. 

When rajas is dominant in our lives, it looks like stimulation, stress and overexcitement. Too much rajas imbalances the body and mind, leading to anxiety, disturbed sleep and overindulgence.

SATTVA

Sattva is balanced and harmonious. When a seedling has turned into a beautiful flower, unfurling its petals to soak in the beauty of the sun, it is in a state of sattva.

When sattva is present, it looks like lightness and grounding, peace and serenity in the body and mind. This is our ideal state, one that defines true health.

Sattvic foods

Sattvic foods are balancing and harmonious, and they are plentiful; this is only a partial list to have you think about the qualities and how they make you feel. Sattvic foods can be loosely categorized as most fresh fruits and vegetables, most whole grains, legumes and nuts. How they are eaten, for example cooked versus raw, can make a difference in whether they add sattva or rajas to the mind and body. A vegetable may have all of the possibility of sattva but if it is eaten raw then it may be rajas for the body and mind.  Many fruits are also sattva for the body and mind when cooked lightly with ghee and spices. 

In all cases we are assuming food that is fresh, not genetically modified and without chemicals in the process of growing and delivery.

Fruits - apples, apricots, berries, dates (fresh), dragonfruit, feijjoa, figs, grapefruit, grapes with seeds, longons, lychee, kiwifruit, mangoes, melons, nectarine, oranges, peaches, pears, persimmon, pineapple, plums, pomegranates, prunes, starfruit, tangerines (sweet), raisins

Legumes -  adzuki beans, anasazi beans, black beans, black eyed peas, broad beans, brown lentils, cannellini beans, edamame beans, fava beans, green lentils, lima beans, mung beans, fresh snap peas, split mung beans, split peas

Nuts - almonds, brazil nuts, cashew nuts cooked, chestnuts, coconut, filberts, gingko, hazelnuts, macadamia nuts, pine nuts, walnuts, pecans, pistachio, tahini, tiger nuts

Oils - almond oil, coconut oil, flaxseed oil, ghee, macadamia nut oil, mustard seed oil, sesame oil, olive oil

Other - honey, maple syrup, raw milk, raw sugar cane, watercress,  fresh wasabi, rose petals, lavender flowers, fresh almond milk, fresh rice milk, fresh coconut water

Spices -  anise, basil, black pepper, brown mustard seeds, cardamom, carob, cilantro, cinnamon, cumin, coriander, dill, fennel, ginger, mint, lemon grass, sesame seeds, sorrel, turmeric, vanilla bean

Vegetables - artichokes, asparagus, bamboo shoots, beets, bitter gourd, bok choy, broccoli, brussel sprouts, burdock, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celeriac, celery, corn, courgette (zucchini), cucumbers, daikon, fennel bulb, flowers (edible), green beans, dark leafy greens, jerusalem artichoke, kohlrabi, lotus root, okra, parsnips, snow peas, spinach, summer squash, sweet potatoes, turnips (sweet), yacon, yams

Whole grains - amaranth, barley, rice (high quality, basmati, jasmine…), buckwheat, cornmeal, farro, kamut, millet, oats, quinoa, rye, spelt, teff, wheat, wild rice, fresh pasta, fresh noodles

Is magic real?

 

Yes it—here’s what magic, or “magick,” truly is, why it’s the world’s most misunderstood spiritual path, and how it can radically, profoundly and positively change your life!

Is magic real? That’s a question that I asked myself many years ago, when I was a young man. I wanted to know so bad, that I ended up spending two decades searching for an answer. And amazingly enough, it turns out that yes—magic is real.

So real that I decided to dedicate myself to studying, mastering, and practising it, because I discovered that it was the key to life itself. 

Magic is also a topic that’s easily misunderstood, and that so easily gives the wrong impression—immediately conjuring images of goofballs in black robes hanging out at the local mall’s food court, or silly New Age nonsense.

Is magic real? Yes, but it has nothing to do with any of these things. It’s sacred, deep, and truly profound.

Magic—or, as it is properly called, Magick, the art and science of causing a change in conformity with will—is, in my opinion, one of the great gems of Western culture.

It’s the tradition that some of the great geniuses of Western history—including the originators of science—were involved in: Francis Bacon, Daniel Dafoe, William Butler Yeats, Dr. John Dee, Giordiano Bruno, Pythagoras and many, many others, whether remembered by history or not.

So is magic real? It’s certainly been real enough to shape history, and be a subject of fascination for some of the greatest people in history. “Magick” is the long-running sacred tradition of the West, in the same way that esoteric yoga or Tibetan Buddhism are sacred traditions in the East.

Practically speaking, it’s the path of enacting your spiritual growth ritually, in the day-to-day world, because that’s what tends to be healthy for people in Western cultures.

Dropping out of life and sitting up on a mountain top meditating for the rest of your life is, by-and-large, an Eastern path. It’s an outgrowth of Asian culture and a path that can work remarkably well in the cultural context of Hinduism or Buddhism.

But people living in America, the UK, Europe or other “Western” locales by and large do not live in a culture that supports that. (Just try it!) We live in a culture that forces action in the world, where the path to independence, self-reliance and happiness tends to rely on rolling up your sleeves and getting stuff done in the real world.

While the Western tradition incorporates a lot of meditation, it isn’t a path that allows escape from reality. It’s the path of directly confronting reality, the circumstances of your life, and using those circumstances as the raw material for your spiritual growth.

Consider the legend of alchemy, in which the practitioner is spoken of as having the “magic” power of transmuting lead into gold—or even, in some versions, turning shit into gold.

This is what it’s about—taking lead, which represents mundane, boring existence, and turning it into gold. Taking the shit that you’re given, and turning it into gold. Taking the raw matter of existence and making something incredible out of it.

Broadly, you live a magical life by:

Disciplining your body, mind and spirit;

Figuring out what you’re here for—your unique purpose for existing (note that this is a continuum, and evolves over time);

Using the discipline developed in Step 1 to accomplish Step 2, understanding that when you Do your True Will, or engage in your reason for existing, life makes a whole lot more sense.

It’s not necessarily easier, but it’s infused with meaning, a major accomplishment in a world where people drift through seas of endless meaninglessness.

Is magic real? Yes it is, if you actually practice it, and have the discipline to make it real!