The weight of Enlightenment

bogwalrus

My original heading was going to be "do you have to be light to be enlightened" but i figured that would get me banned straight away:D

I have posted in this form a few times years back when i was doing a bit of meditation. I now find myself in my new job having plenty of conversations with local buddhism teachers and students in the area that made me interested in looking at the whole idea of mediation and enlightenment again.


So the first thing I have been noticing is the fact that most people who have talked about being enlightened are extremely skinny and look like they have been starving themselves.


This I find really strange/interesting and wondering is a food discipline necessary to meditate right?

I'm thinking of sorting out a balanced diet over the next few weeks and get into a good routine. Cutting out sugar is also something I am looking at as that effects your attention span etc.


So Maybe in future if people wanted to practise mediation properly the first step is to balance your diet etc?

Do you agree?:)

18AD

I think this is mostly true.

You are what you eat. Or rather, what you eat affects your brain activity a lot.

I don't meditate a huge amount so my guidelines are pretty simply.

Avoid caffeine. Even if you had some hours ago, you'll be in the slump of it for the rest of the day. I enjoy my caffeine after meditation.

I try to avoid meditation after eating. As after eating your body gets tired as it uses energy to digest and then it picks up again after you get the energy form the food. I find at least a half hour after eating is a good time. Over an hour at best.

And don't meditate on an empty stomach. Obvioulsy if you want to avoid the hunger pangs you have to cut down your diet in general. I'm not sure if this is possible with my lifestyle.

I've heard a beer or a whiskey before hand can be quite helpful, but I'm yet to try this.

bou

No. You probably don't even have to be human.

18AD

Just to clarify. My post was meant to highlight what I find ideal conditions for meditation. It might not work for you. Know your own body.

And crucially, don't use poor diet as an excuse not to meditate. You don't need anything to meditate. It's free and works any time. You can't not meditate on an iffy diet.