We hear of hunger of the soul, moral weakness and depravity, emotional dryness, intellectual hunger, mental turpitude, aesthetic impoverishment, failing memory, distracted or wicked senses, poor character, sadness, and depression. What is the nature of this poverty?
Adi Shankaracharya gives another definition of ‘food’; and
Swami Vivekananda mentions it: ‘That which is gathered in is Ahara. The
knowledge of the sensations, such as sound etc., is gathered in for the enjoyment
of the enjoyer (self); the purification of the knowledge which gathers in the
perception of the senses is the purifying of the food (Ahara).’
This second source of ‘food’ is essential for the development
of one’s inner dimensions. One’s senses, mind, intellect, and ego interact with
the faculties of other beings and things of the external world which are at a
similar level of ‘vibration’. One fond of food will visit restaurants or raid
the refrigerator. Intelligence develops in an intellectual atmosphere; those
with a well-developed intelligence seek intellectual persons and challenges.
Similarly, moral persons will seek and be comfortable with moral persons;
spiritual persons will seek other spiritual persons and a spiritual atmosphere.
Since the personality is dynamic, people who are highly developed
in one dimension may also be attracted to those developed in another: a moral
person can interact with an intellectual or an emotional person; an emotional
or aesthetic person may enjoy food, science fiction, prayers, or music; a
spiritual person might take pleasure in mathematics or music. Such mutual
interaction helps develop and culture the personality. Thus, matter (food)
sustains matter (body), life sustains life, mind sustains mind, intellect
sustains intellect, and happiness sustains happiness. We nourish and enrich
each other.
Source – excerpts from article titled ‘Food for All’
published by Swami Satyamayananda in Prabuddha Bharata Magazine May 2008 Issue.