We know that almost every house in today's world is full of people suffering from various diseases. Some suffer from some non-communicable diseases like diabetes, cancer, heart disease and high blood pressure. Some become sick due to malnutrition.
Some suffer from mental illness. Having too many people in such a situation is really a tragedy experienced by today's society. According to Buddhism, illness is suffering. It confirms that a large number of the total population is suffering from pathological suffering. Therefore, it is the responsibility of various parties in society to find the causes and solutions to these illnesses, malnutrition and mental disorders. Religion also has the ability to find reasons and solutions for these.
As Lord Buddha pointed out, for a good human life, every creature should have good food. In short, food is the basic thing that helps the survival of all animal species. At present, although human society eats various types of food for its survival, it is not a process that is carried out consciously and satisfactorily. The current way of life is just a process. When you think about it, people who eat these foods are so confused that they don't even know what food is.This has raised many problems related to the nutrition of young children, youth and adults in the world. The following is an explanation of some of the points in Buddhism regarding food and nutrition.
According to Buddhism, there are four types of food. Without asking the depth of the doctrinal meaning of that food, when we consider the surface meaning, the first kabalingkarahara means foods like rice and bread that we break into pieces and take in our mouths. The higher the nutritional quality of these foods, the better the physical and mental health. There are special details about the qualities of food, the times to be eaten and the methods and practices etc. in medicine as well as in Buddhism.The way food is explained in Buddhism is quite different from the way food is recognized in medicine. According to Buddhism, Kabalingarahara alone is not enough for a man.
A second meal is therefore recommended. That is the touch. Roughly speaking, it means the nourishment brought to the body by gentle touch. Accordingly, food should be transmitted to the mind through the body through the comfortable door, bed, chair, table, etc., as well as the climatic conditions like cold and hot. If not, one becomes mentally ill, even though he is physically fit. Because of this, the role of parents who nurture children is not complete just by giving the child something to eat.
Also, every citizen should be aware of their comfort in addition to camping. And one's physical and mental health is not protected by those two types of food. He must also have a psychological diet. Those are the thoughts that nourish the mind and keep it happy. That food can be given to the mind through the enjoyment of high literature, music, poetry, and the beauty of nature.This is also necessary for a man. The fourth food taught by Buddhism is Vinnyanahara. It can be interpreted as knowledge, vinnanahara, which touches the deep places of the mind, which makes one understand the impermanent and inanimate nature of the world. One will get this consciousness through education, religious teachings etc.
As mentioned above, by examining the facts about food taught in Buddhism, the first of the four foods nourishes our image or flesh body. The other three are related to nama kaya or mind. Therefore, if we are those who get complete food, they should bring nourishment to our body as well as to our mind. If one fails to think deeply about this matter, one should at least think carefully about the food taken in the mouth.
The real situation should be understood, especially regarding the consumption of meat. Even in the Buddhist society we live in, there are two ideologies about eating meat. Some people who like to eat meat cite various facts to confirm that even Buddha ate meat. On the one hand, Lord Buddha is very kind. On the other hand, he is a person who was able to see the facts more accurately and more effectively than we think.
American doctors have found that the fact that humans are not vegetarians is the main reason for the spread of diseases in the world. According to them, fourteen out of the fifteen main diseases that cause death to man are caused and aggravated by non-vegetarianism. This is a common reality for the whole world. The inappropriateness of this can be understood even if we consider the general facts about eating fish flesh aside from religious ideologies.
Think of not only eating meat, but drinking milk, which is widely consumed in the world. Normally, even mammals drink milk only during infancy. If there is any animal in the world that drinks milk even in old age, it is the human being. On the other hand, it is not in accordance with the justice of nature to say that the existence of one species of animal requires the milk of another species.If such is the reality of milk, you can imagine the injustice of saying that human beings need the flesh of other animals to survive. That is why it is a myth to drink animal milk for our food and to kill them and eat meat. It is wrong to say that Lord Buddha appeared to justify such a myth.
Another factor that affects people is that nature is corrupt. In addition to the polluted air emitted by vehicles, ships, aeroplanes, etc., the environmental pollution caused by the animal production institutions of the world is also not insignificant. For example, it has been recognized that the number of land animals we raise and slaughter annually for the consumption of a world population of seven billion is seventy billion. You can imagine how much food and drink is needed to feed such a large number of animals.
Therefore, due to the lack of food for the consumption of human society and the need for a large amount of food to feed animals, malnutrition is also widespread. Also, the excrement of those animals and the waste added to the environment by killing them, as well as the environmental pollution caused by the emotions of the animals that are dying of pain, are another reason for the prevalence of undiagnosed diseases in human society. On the other hand, it is a myth to say that eating meat is necessary for nutrition.Even the world's largest animals like elephants, cows and horses live by eating plants. No one can say that they lack nutrition because they do not eat meat. So no one can say that meat consumption is necessary for human nutrition. According to Charles Darwin's theory of evolution, man descended from an ape. If that is the case, the ape is also not a carnivore.
There is a famous sermon written by Lord Buddha called Rasagedhavivajjito in Tripitaka. This means that the craving for taste has been given up. Rasa Trashnava is the desire to gratify the five senses of eye, ear, nose, tongue and body. The taste of the food we eat is only a short distance from the tongue to the throat. Beyond that, there is no taste perception. When the eye sees a colourful food, we are accustomed to put it in the mouth and enjoy it.Also, there are many foods that we eat with the taste of food when we feel the smell. The tongue also brings food with different tastes into the mouth. Another food is eaten because of tactile taste, whether it has a taste or not. Restaurants display food in different colours, shapes, tastes and aromas to attract and tempt these senses of people. This is the truth about the food and drink we consume.
It is a verifiable fact that as a result of these foods that are made with toxic chemicals and flavourings, we suffer from deadly diseases like diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. Today, we are in a situation where we are saddened by thinking about the fault of our diet when we had to live with the sight of death. As Lord Buddha said, if we had control over our senses regarding food, no creature in the world would inherit such a disaster.Therefore, the sense control of food shown in Buddhism is a special lesson to be understood at this time.
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