We are what we eat. We become what we eat. That is not a wild notion but a recognised truth. When offering food at our retreats or workshops we make certain that it is shopped & prepared as an offering of the highest love with all of our hearts. A magical alchemy transforms even the simplest offering from good to sublime  …. It is always faith affirming to see people gobble up every morsel…. wondering what makes it so tasty.

A great disciple asked a great being, “ when I leave this beautiful ashram and go back out into the world,  how may I best serve you “ ? Two words were heard in response.
“ Feed people “. The mendicants mind raced as he mulled over the simple statement…. Do you mean give lectures and talks and tell them ancient truths to nourish their souls. he blurted.  “ Feed people “ came the solid response. A simple command to a busy mind.
Nothing could be simpler but can this really be a blessing in action.

Food can be healing and nourishing, enlivening & uplifting or it can be uninspiring and morbid, unhealthy & destructive. Much has been written about the qualities of foods & the combinations of ingredients that embrace all of the culinary extracts of cultures from across the globe.

Transforming your food:

All food is blessed by the sun, soil, water and the divine hand that nourishes it.  Food for yogi’s is traditionally vegetarian and frankly, without going deeply into a discussion about the laws of karma and the taking of animal lives, our methods instead will apply only to vegetarian cuisine.

For myself, when I contemplate cooking for others and even right before setting out to shop. I always pause and close my eyes and sing the Sanskrit chant of offering that I have learnt over the years. Taking only a couple of minutes this moment of offering instantly transforms my experience and my intention. and here’s the great secret, it reinforces my faith … faith that everything I do from the moment of offering until I have served the food is as perfect as it could be and as it’s meant to be. Of course, The blessings carry on beyond that … but that’s as far as I get as life crowds in.

When you make any good intentioned thing you do an offering & a selfless act, it is transformed and there is a shift in your experience.

Without teaching you the Sanskrit chant and melody,  I offer to you the heartfelt understanding of my prayer in English or at least what I feel I am invoking.

Oh great one. with all of my being, I surrender everything to this offering with all of my faith and all of my love. In gratitude & humilty I pranam (bow) to the eternal teacher who dwells within the lotus flower thriving in my heart. Om peace peace peace

At this point & after taking a minute to allow this invocation to resonate …..  I go shopping…. You will be simply shocked at how different things will feel…..  if you have
a mantra, repeat it silently to yourself and enjoy the play. You will notice smiles and beautiful fruit and people will be tolerable…. You will even forgive the guy who took your parking space !

Dal Recipe