Did Osho ever said anything about proper diet for enlightenment?

[MarkusSweden]

Sadhguru say that enlightened people shouldn't eat meat at all. And average mundane people can eat fish but should avoid to eat meat from more complex lifeforms then fish. Not even birds like chicken.

Did Osho ever said anything about proper diet or superfoods? Was he a vegetarian for example? 

I try to find his opinions on both the veggie-question and so called "superfoods" like blueberries, broccoli, almonds and stuff, if that helps in the process of awakening. But couldn't find anything in english regarding diet. Maybe he made a hindu speech on the topic? 

 

Edited July 24, 2018 by MarkusSweden

[DesertRat]

I’m continually amazed at the dietary changes that seem to be completely out of my control.   

“I’m” not telling me what’s best to eat.

 

Edited July 24, 2018 by DesertRat

[KrackJack]

Yes.. Osho too recommended vegetarian food...

http://www.osho.com/read/featured-articles/body-dharma/being-a-vegetarian

 

However, I believe Sadhguru did not say to be vegetarian but he tells to eat simpler food...

That whose structure can be easily broken and integrated with the body (makes sense as less energy is spent in digestion ).

 

However certain veg food (like mushroom) are more complex than certain non-vegetarian food ( like fishes)

[Preetom]

@MarkusSweden

I haven't directly came across the diet concept in Osho's work yet. But then again, I haven't studied much of Osho's work  so I am not sure how deep he went on this topic.

But at one of his lectures on youtube( more than 1 hour long satsang type setting), I heard him say that he generally lived on minimum amount of food. Every morning he would only drink a glass of juice as breakfast before having cold and hot showers one after another. His brisk aliveness and sharpness of mind came from his state of Being, not from food.

Many wise people have reported that a man's tendency takes after what he eats. If you eat like a pig, you're tendency and intellect will reflect that. This is so true if we observe our diet day to day and how we generally behave.

The only restraint Ramana Maharshi prescribed as the most beneficial was diet, precisely for this reason. He generally would not prescribe any other ritual or belief system or mental practices other than self-inquiry.

In the end, I think when it come to food, moderation is the key. The amount and balance of the food is way more important than the content of it. And of course there are totally shitty foods that you can't justify in any way other than it tastes kinda good. They should be out of question from the beginning.

[MarkusSweden]

16 minutes ago, Preetom said:

@MarkusSweden

I haven't directly came across the diet concept in Osho's work yet. But then again, I haven't studied much of Osho's work  so I am not sure how deep he went on this topic.

But at one of his lectures on youtube( more than 1 hour long satsang type setting), I heard him say that he generally lived on minimum amount of food. Every morning he would only drink a glass of juice as breakfast before having cold and hot showers one after another. His brisk aliveness and sharpness of mind came from his state of Being, not from food.

Many wise people have reported that a man's tendency takes after what he eats. If you eat like a pig, you're tendency and intellect will reflect that. This is so true if we observe our diet day to day and how we generally behave.

The only restraint Ramana Maharshi prescribed as the most beneficial was diet, precisely for this reason. He generally would not prescribe any other ritual or belief system or mental practices other than self-inquiry.

In the end, I think when it come to food, moderation is the key. The amount and balance of the food is way more important than the content of it. And of course there are totally shitty foods that you can't justify in any way other than it tastes kinda good. They should be out of question from the beginning.

Thanks, great answer!

So, I guess Ramana Maharashi was a vegetarian as well? Or what diet did he recommend? 

Also, what do you think of all these supplements and superfood that the market industry promote? Not needed? 

[MM1988]

OSHO says here

"Whatsoever is natural always gives you a satisfaction, because it satiates your body, saturates you. You feel fulfilled. If some thing is unnatural it never gives you a feeling of fulfillment"

I experience the exact opposite. If im eating only vegetables im hungry a couple hours later and I sometimes get digestion problem,0, meat always lasts me longer and my body has no problems with it. Also his claim that Humans are Vegetarian is highly debatable. His theory about toxins being released into the animals body when it dies even more.

[Nahm]

He talks about food a little here, and the video is pretty entertaining as well.

Consciousness / enlightenment, Imo, starts with food. 

 

[Preetom]

2 hours ago, MarkusSweden said:

So, I guess Ramana Maharashi was a vegetarian as well? Or what diet did he recommend? 

Also, what do you think of all these supplements and superfood that the market industry promote? Not needed? 

I can't imagine Ramana eating meat lol. He had tremendous amount of compassion for every person and animal that lived in the ashram. When someone bought any food or souvenir as courtesy, Ramana would only eat after that was distributed among everyone present right there.

As recommendation for food it is written ''Sattvic food in moderate quantity is the best''. I think your own body awareness can come here to resolve this issue. As one grows spiritually/mindfully, one becomes sensitive to food and the energy of the body. So developing consistent body awareness is a win win. It auto-corrects your diet and movement levels thus providing great benefit for the body on one hand and on the other hand it increases mindfulness/focus.

2 hours ago, MM1988 said:

I experience the exact opposite. If im eating only vegetables im hungry a couple hours later and I sometimes get digestion problem,0, meat always lasts me longer and my body has no problems with it. Also his claim that Humans are Vegetarian is highly debatable. His theory about toxins being released into the animals body when it dies even more.

Our entire body adjusts to how we act generally. I've actually tried this out. When I shift to a plant based healthier diet after eating meat daily for 2 weeks, my tummy feels bad. Because it was used to assimilate meat regularly now suddenly it is reacting against veggies. The opposite is equally true. So it may take few weeks/months to shift to a new diet properly.

This reminds me of a Teal Swan video where she ranted against the classic spiritual notion that the body is the enemy for a seeker. She said that it's actually the opposite. Our bodies love us the most. Even if I start snorting cocaine regularly, the body will adjust so that the damage can be minimized as much as possible. Our bodies love us so much that it supports every single of our actions, no matter how ignorant and self-destructive it is.   

Edited July 24, 2018 by Preetom

[Recursoinominado]

Sadhguru recommends basically a raw foods diet (with exception of onion and garlic, they make the mind agitated). 

[Prabhaker]

@MarkusSweden

Question - What about Food? Is it not absolutely essential to be a Vegetarian for Spiritual Growth?

Osho - What you do is never essential, what you are is always essential. Being is essential, doing is not essential. Being is essential, having is not essential. Consciousness is essential, character is not essential -- because it is not character that creates consciousness but consciousness that creates character.

If you are religious, if you are spiritual, things will change around you. You may become a vegetarian, you may not. It depends -- people are different. But to be a vegetarian cannot be an essential condition for being spiritual. There have been spiritual people who were vegetarians, and there have been spiritual people who were not. And it is good that life consists of variety, it is good that life consists of different kinds of people. Otherwise it would be utterly boring.

Just think -- only Mahaviras, roaming around the earth, naked vegetarians. No Krishna, no Christ, no Buddha, no Mohammed, no Mansoor. It will be a very poor world, it will be really ugly. And remember, Mahavira is beautiful but too many Mahaviras won't be beautiful. God never creates the same person again. And the reason is that once is enough, once is more than enough. God is completely satisfied. He never repeats, He never duplicates. He believes only in originals, He has no carbon copies.

So I cannot say that food has any essential thing to contribute to your spirituality. But your spirituality may change your food habits. That too cannot be predicted; I keep your freedom intact. less used to drink, and he is not less spiritual because of that. Patanjali will never be able to even conceive of a spiritual man drinking, but that is Patanjali's angle of seeing things. Jesus will not be able to understand: 'Why is Patanjali not drinking? If Patanjali cannot drink, then who else? If Patanjali cannot celebrate, then who else? He should be dancing, he should be singing, he should be celebrating -- he has arrived.'

But celebrations are also different. Somebody may celebrate by fasting, somebody may celebrate by feasting. People are different. If you can remember this you will never become a fanatic. Otherwise the danger is always there: on the path of spiritual growth the greatest danger is that of fanaticism. All so-called religions are fanatic, because they only allow that which THEIR scripture says, and THEIR founder says -- everything else has to be denied. That is making life very very limited. And life is unlimited, it is an infinity.

You ask: WHAT ABOUT FOOD? I don't talk about food, I talk about you -- the real thing is to happen there. When it has happened then I am not worried about you; then whatsoever you do will be right. Let me say it in this way: There is no act which is right and no act which is wrong, there are only persons who are right and persons who are wrong. When the right person does something it is right, when a wrong person does something it is wrong. Right and wrong are not qualities of any act -- all depends on who is behind the act.

I don't give you any particular instructions, what to eat or what not to eat. I simply teach you one thing: become more and more conscious, become more and more aware, and let your awareness decide.

Life is so complicated that if I start giving you details about everything -- 'This has to be eaten and this has not to be eaten' -- it will never be a complete guide for you;things will always be left.

AMONG the youth of the country, there began a resurgence of interest in foods. Many different diet theories were offered, telling what was best to eat, and how and when to eat it. And with these theories came fierce loyalties, for eating is a very serious subject. One young man said 'Whole grains only, with fruit and nuts.' And his girlfriend added 'Vegetables and fruits don't mix.' Her roommate believed 'No vitamin C, but lots of D and E.' And her cousin advised 'Fast one day out of every ten.' And she had a friend who worked in a health food store, who said 'Minerals are the key.' And every evening she ground her teeth on a tablespoon of highly-advertised garden soil, attractively packaged.

Some discovered miraculous healing properties in certain foods, and for a time there were shortages of figs, apricot kernels, yak butter, sawdust and earthworms. But if these foods could be modified to bring out all their natural goodness, they might be even better. One young man read that vitamins are trapped within the cell walls of foods, and he began to prepare his meals with a blender. He blended bread, fruit and cheese with wheat germ, kelp and strawberry yogurt, and each of his meals came out a nutritious grey glue. 

Then the dietary habits became more exotic. One very serious man learned that certain yogis can exist on air alone; and he tried it for a time. And he had a close friend who learned of an ancient practice of turning the stomach inside-out to improve digestive secretions. But he was forced to stop when the neighbors complained of the unusual sounds.

Now, the confusion was caused by the fact that each theory was a little bit true. And people changed from diet to diet and felt guilty because they continued to like the things they weren't supposed to. Yet their diet loyalties remained strong and, as these things go, each one believed his current diet to be the panacea for all mankind. And for all the debates heard throughout the land, the most frequent and heated was the question of vegetarian-versus -meat. One day, a wise man arrived in the city. A crowd gathered around him and he was asked all manner of questions. He was asked about Mind, Soul, God, Stars, Love, Fate, and the significance of the Sanskrit language. These were all non-controversial topics. But then a young man asked 'Should I eat meat?'

A hush fell over the crowd, for this was important. The wise man answered with another question: 'How do you feel when you eat meat?' 
The young man thought about that for a moment, then said 'Well, not as good.'
And the wise man replied 'Then don't eat it.' And there was a murmur of approval from the vegetarians in the crowd.
Then another young man rose and said 'I like meat and I feel fine when I eat it.'
And the wise man said 'Fine, then eat it.' And there was a murmur of approval from the meat lovers. Then the voices became louder and the debate started anew.

Just then the wise man started to laugh. At first it was a chuckle that softened the serious crowd so that several grinning faces were seen. And the sight of the wise man sitting on the little dais laughing was so infectious that the crowd began to laugh with him. And as it often happens, there was one among the crowd that had an especially funny laugh, and this so tickled the wise man that he began to shake up and down until he nearly fell off his seat. And this so pleased the crowd that an enormous peal of laughter arose and echoed through the streets. And passers by, without knowledge of what had caused it, were so affected by the pleasing sound that they stopped and joined in, until a great throng of laughing people had gathered.

The sight and the sound of so many people enjoying themselves made the wise man... well, it went on and on until not one among them could remember having such a nice time. But the nicest thing of all was, on that day nobody had indigestion.

Remember that. Whatsoever goes well with you is fine. Don't impose unnecessary structures upon your being. You are already in a prison, don't create bigger prisons for yourself. Although remember one thing: work as diligently as possible for becoming more conscious. Forget about character; character is a concern of the stupid and the mediocre. Let your whole concern be consciousness. And when you are conscious, when you are a little bit alert, aware, when a light starts burning in your inner being, when you are able to see, many things will change. Not according to any structure, not according to any ideology, not according to any fanaticism -- but according to your own understanding, things are bound to change.
My own feeling is -- remember, it is my feeling; it need not be a commandment to you -- my own feeling is that if you become more and more alert and aware, you will find it less and less possible to eat things which depend on hurting animals, which depend on destroying animals' lives. But this is not a commandment, and this has nothing to do with spirituality. It simply has something to do with an aesthetic sense.

To me, the question is more about aesthetics than about spirituality. In that sense I will call Mahavira more aesthetic than Jesus. Spiritual they both are, but Mahavira is more aesthetic. It is simply ugly to eat meat -- not unspiritual, remember, not a sin -- just ugly, dirty. To depend on killing animals -- just visualize -- for your small taste buds which can be satisfied in many other ways, torturing millions of animals around the earth is anesthetic. You are not showing poetry, you are not showing feelings.

My own approach is to help make your journey a joy. Not only the end -- the spiritual person is only concerned with the end. He is in a hurry, impatient to reach the end; he does not bother what is happening on the roadside. And millions of flowers bloom there too, and birds sing songs and the sun rises and in the night it is full of stars. And all this too is beautiful. Let the journey also be beautiful. When you can pass through these enchanted lands, why not? But your concern should basically be for more consciousness. And whatsoever that consciousness makes luminous for you, follow it.  

[pluto]

There is a wise saying: When the student is ready, the master appears.

Same thing for food and everything else in life, you will naturally be drawn to the foodstuff you require based on your level of consciousness. As you become more whole, things just show up, you will naturally "know" things without having any memory of learning them.

As you become more whole, the whole becomes more you.

[charlie cho]

Question – So many dishes in the ashram kitchen contain onions. Remembering that Raman Maharshi said to avoid chillies, excess of salt, onions, etc, I am struck with the question: Is the kitchen sabotaging our possibilities of enlightenment?
Osho – That’s my whole work here. To sabotage all your possibilities of enlightenment. If your desire for enlightenment is not sabotaged you will never become enlightened. But don’t be angry at poor onions, they are innocent people. And they are as spiritual as you are, and far deeper in meditation than you can ever be. And I don’t believe that a man of the understanding of Raman Maharshi would have said it. But if he has said it then he must be joking.
But the so-called spiritual people have been obsessed with such things. The so-called spiritual people are obsessed with absolute nonsense. Now how can the onion or the chillies or the salt prevent you from becoming enlightened? Stupid ideas. Rather than looking deeply into your being, and rather than facing real problems, you create false problems. These are false problems. This is a strategy of the mind, so that the real problems can be bypassed. The real problem is not onions, it is greed. The real problem is not chillies, it is anger. The real problem is not salt, it is possessiveness. The real problem is not what you should eat and what you should not eat. The real problem is what you should be.
To avoid real problems we create false problems. And there is something beautiful about false problems: they can be solved, easily solved. What is the problem? You stop eating onions. And you become spiritual and you are enlightened because you don’t eat onions. So simple. But not to be greedy will be difficult, arduous. Not to be an egoist is going to be an uphill task. You will need immense understanding. you will need great awareness. Only in the fire of awareness real problems will be burned.
You know you cannot solve those real problems. So the best way is, create false bogus problems and start solving them. This is one of the most basic tricks of the human mind. For example, India is suffering for centuries because of poverty. And Morarji Desai thinks prohibition will solve the problems. Now this is a false problem. Prohibition has no thing to do with it. Prohibition or no prohibition, the poverty will remain. The poor will become even more miserable, that’s all. Because through alcohol sometimes he can forget his suffering, sometimes he can drown himself. Once prohibition is there he will not have even that possibility to drown himself. Then his suffering will be utter. Or, Morarji Desai thinks if cows are not murdered, if cows are not butchered, then all problems will be solved. These are tricks of the mind. And this is how one can go on befooling oneself, for centuries.
India suffers because of these false prophets. And false prophets are those who tackle false problems. First they create a problem, then they start solving it. And they make much fuss about it and they seem to be much too active. If they fail, certainly nothing is achieved. If they succeed, then too nothing is achieved. But one thing, they can camouflage the real problem. They can focus your attention on something false, like a toy. It looks a real problem, it is not.
Now see into it. How can onions prevent you becoming meditative? How can onions prevent you from becoming silent? There is not a problem there. But you want to be spiritual and you want to be known as spiritual, you start doing foolish things.
In my new commune I am going to have a bar also. And a smoking room. If tea can become a ceremony then why not smoking? If people can drink tea and make it a meditative process, so can be smoking. I am not saying you should smoke, I am not saying you should drink, but I am saying that these are not the things that prevent you from becoming spiritual. Jesus used to drink, Gurdjieff used to drink. That has not prevented them from becoming enlightened.
Remember, anything that prevents you from becoming enlightened is your knowing, your thought-process, nothing else. And there is the real task — how to drop the thought-process. And because you feel impotent there, you create small problems: how to eat only once a day, how to eat without salt, how to eat without ghee, how to eat this way or that way. Jaina monks eat standing. If you eat sitting, enlightenment is sabotaged. Jaina monks eat only once a day. If you eat twice, enlightenment is sabotaged.
One Jaina monk come to see me and he said ‘Eating twice is not good.’ I said ‘Eating once?’ He said ‘Eating once is okay.’ I told him ‘Half the enlightenment is sabotaged.’
And enlightenment does not come in parts. Either it comes whole or it doesn’t come. If twice a day is dangerous then once a day is fifty percent dangerous. You can eat thrice a day, it makes no difference. I am not saying eat thrice a day, because it is not going to help you to become enlightened either. It does not affect you, this way or that; it is irrelevant.
Don’t bring irrelevancies into your spirituality. Otherwise you will become obsessed with fads. And those fads are a kind of insanity, psychosis.
But these people become mahatmas — Morarji Desai is a mahatma. He does not drink wine but he drinks his own urine. And that’s perfectly good, that helps enlightenment. He would like everybody to drink his urine, that seems to be the cure for all the illnesses of this country. I think it is time he should graduate and go to the ultimate mahatmahood, he should start eating his…And that will solve the food problem.
People just become faddists. And it simply shows some neurosis, some psychopathology is in it. Sixty years ago, he came to know that a young man, completely drunk, had tried to rape his own sister. That has been his antagonism against alcohol. Now this has to be understood. Even in his antagonism against alcohol there is somehow sex involved. And drinking one’s own urine…he needs Freudian psychoanalysis. There must be some sexual repression in it, it is somehow an obsession with sexuality. And for almost fifty years he has been trying to remain a celibate. Now this too much concern creates all kinds of problems. Nothing is solved, more problems are created. But people will think he is a mahatma.
I would not like you to become a mahatma. If you can become simple innocent human beings, that is more than is required. Eat whatsoever feels good to you. Take care of the body, be respectful of the body. Be respectful how much you eat, don’t overburden the body, because that is a kind of anger, violence. And violence is so subtle that you have to watch it. When a person goes on stuffing himself he is being violent with his own body, he is destructive. Or he can go on a fast, then again he is violent. Just see the point of it. You can eat too much and you can be violent, and you can fast and you can be violent. Eating or fasting is not the question: Don’t be violent.
Love your body, respect your body, it is God’s shrine. But it is very easy to move from too much stuffing to fasting, because the mind always easily moves from one extreme to another, from one obsession to another obsession. First you go on stuffing your body and hurting it, loading it unnecessarily. Then one day you turn against it, you become the enemy of the body. As if it has been the body’s fault. Then you start fasting, and again you start torturing your body. But it is violence.
And violence is so deep in man that you have to watch it continuously, otherwise it will come from some other way. Morarji Desai goes to other countries — he is against innoculation, any kind of innoculation. Now this is violent. He can carry diseases from this country to another country and he can bring diseases from another country to this country. But he insists. And he is a non-violent man, a great follower of Mahatma Gandhi. But this is being very violent, disrespectful to people. Now this single man can create problems for a whole country. In fact he should not be welcome in any country of the world.
One can be in a very subtle way violent. Watch it. If you don’t like onions it is perfectly good, don’t eat them. But you need not condemn them. And if others like them, you need not think they are unspiritual or something. Don’t become spiritual so easily, don’t depend on such bogus things. Spirituality has only one taste and that is of awareness. Onion or no onion, chillies or no chillies, salt or no salt. Spirituality has only one taste, the taste of awareness. Stick to it! And don’t get distracted by small things.
Source – Osho Book “This Very Body the Buddha”

[Brandon Nankivell]

I've read 27 Osho books in the last 12 months (Ikr, fan boi much?) - From what I recall, the main points about food:

• Osho is vegetarian
• Osho supports vegetarianism and says the future enlightened people will all not eat meat (He mentions some enlightened figures in the past who would eat fish etc)
• Osho doesn't eat all that much
• Osho isn't doesn't advocate fasting (only when necessary, to say, balance out a day where you over-eat)
  • Because it isn't truly conducive to raising consciousness, it gives a fake high (I'm talking long fasts, 7 days plus etc)
• Osho says what you eat is not nearly as important as cultivating awareness when it comes to awakening
• I haven't come across him saying anything about a superfood, nor do I get the impression he ever would have

 

Sidenote: Sadhguru has also blanketly said "Listen to your body" when it comes to eating food.

[Mosess]

@MarkusSweden enlightened people say whatever they want to say