As the proverb goes, health is wealth. And in this instance we are talking about the wealth of the human spirit. Good food is necessary for our health because our body is able to absorb its full nutrients - it is exactly so with our life. When we accept life in its sum total, relishing all its phenomena and sensations, our soul will be able to imbibe its entire range of 'nutrients', comprehending the full meaning of our existence, and letting us live our life to the utmost. Masami Sato shares the secret of living a full life in this excerpt from her latest book, ONE.
Why is it many of us (in fact, most of us) occasionally experience some kind of empty feeling in our life? It is like being hungry. When we eat, we feel satisfied and become less interested in food. But as some time passes, we get hungry again. Then all of a sudden we feel so attracted to the smell and thought of food. We can also feel some kind of hunger when we are not even physically hungry-just after eating something. Some of us stay being hungry all the time.
Constant emotional hunger is not the most pleasant thing to have. Then, how can we live our lives to the fullest? How can we be more satisfied permanently?
Maybe the answer is easy. Just live our lives totally. The word 'total' holds the meaning of fullness. Then the secret to live a full life is just to live it totally.
Let us begin by looking at an example of this 'completion' with something very close to our mind - our stomach.
Whole Food VS Semi Food
We are used to the usage 'whole food.' People say that taking whole food is the secret to the vigour and wellbeing that we require. How is whole food better than 'semi food?'
A complete grain pulsates with a life of its own. If one keeps the complete grain in water, drains it off and keeps it for a few days, it germinates. It has got a full life. When we consume such an item, our body absorbs the full spectrum nourishment. It has the ability to clean, cure and nourish various body cells.
As in the example of a grain, most conventional dining includes having whole creatures as well. Having entire fresh fish used to be more popular than taking a portion of fish and throwing the balance away. It was ditto for poultry and also for vegetables.
'Half food' sometimes has more sweetness and flavour but not much other nutrition. We like its taste, but we could develop a long-term illness if we only ate 'half food' every day of our life.
So, to make up for the missing half, we began to take nutritional supplements. We have been trying and researching for pretty long to find the perfect equilibrium. It gets more and more difficult as we slice the food up, add preservatives and transport, and even try to supplement with other parts coming from various sources, places and seasons. Some of the nutrients are not even from natural resources. They are synthetically generated. After it is tested and analysed, it is approved for man's consumption. But however hard we try, we cannot merge the 'bits' from different sources to make it alive.
Half Life-'Sweetness' of Life
So, if we looked at our life now, part of what we are doing can be like eating the 'half food'. Just savouring the sweetness of life but throwing away the real nourishing part. And if we soaked our 'half life' in water with other bits and left it in the sunlight, could it shoot and grow into a beautiful whole life?
Whole food is not (as some people perceive it) poor in taste. It is actually tastier when we prepare it properly. But while the demand is low, it is more expensive. It is actually more economical in the long run though, as we have less medical expenses later on. When more people start eating it, it will naturally become cheaper because it is a simpler food with less processing and waste.
Our life is the same. When we only appreciate the 'sweetness', and throw away the rest in rubbish bins because we don't see its value, we may be wasting the most important part. And the part we throw away could have the greatest power for the sustainability of our life and our economy. It also takes more energy and resources to discard it. Better yet, the part we throw away is free.
So, what is that we are not looking at?
Picture a life where we didn't in fact believe that we were lacking anything there.
The secret is right here. The secret of a complete life.
Whole Life-The Complete Life
When it is 'full', it does not matter how big the full is. It can spread out all at once. It can still have within it all the components to uphold itself as a complete living thing. Once it develops to a given size, it can continue to live without some portions of it. Like plants can remain alive after birds feed on a little of it or trees survive even after losing their leaves. But if we ignore the equilibrium for a pretty long time, finally it can lead to a deadly disproportion. Then it might become too difficult to revert to normalcy.
We don't have to go back to the Stone Age to find the wholeness. Wholeness exists right now. All we need do is look closely; look closely enough to really see.
When we start seeing our life as a whole and stop throwing away what nourishes our life the most, we start feeling more and more fulfilled without looking for 'things' to fill holes and dents of our life. Everything finally falls into place. We now understand the mechanism of our world in a very different way.
Yes, it is now time to find out how we can create (and see) this balance, continuously and sustainably.
The real nourishing part of our life is what makes us feel good deep down. It is like the part of food that makes our body become healthy in the long-term. Feelings we experience in our everyday life are the real key to our long-term happiness. And there are feelings that make us feel more complete.
The happy faces we see when we give recognition to others. The pleasure we experience when we give presents to others. The affection we feel when we see our kids being happy. The encouragements we get when we feel our life is full of significance ..
Let us internalize these moments of our life totally and relish the flavour of our entire life. Then we will perceive how it is not so imperative to constantly fill our heart (and tummy!) with physical indulgences - those types of things that only increase our cravings afterwards.
We can actually feel this joy, gratitude and love in order to experience the life as a whole at any moment regardless of the situations. It is not about what we see, what we hear or what we do that complete our life as a whole. It is about what we 'choose to' feel about our life.
Yes, our life indeed is already absolute.
When we begin acting based on this awareness, we can have real mastery over the balance creation - lasting physical wellbeing, riches, nourishing bond and joy. - 16463
Why is it many of us (in fact, most of us) occasionally experience some kind of empty feeling in our life? It is like being hungry. When we eat, we feel satisfied and become less interested in food. But as some time passes, we get hungry again. Then all of a sudden we feel so attracted to the smell and thought of food. We can also feel some kind of hunger when we are not even physically hungry-just after eating something. Some of us stay being hungry all the time.
Constant emotional hunger is not the most pleasant thing to have. Then, how can we live our lives to the fullest? How can we be more satisfied permanently?
Maybe the answer is easy. Just live our lives totally. The word 'total' holds the meaning of fullness. Then the secret to live a full life is just to live it totally.
Let us begin by looking at an example of this 'completion' with something very close to our mind - our stomach.
Whole Food VS Semi Food
We are used to the usage 'whole food.' People say that taking whole food is the secret to the vigour and wellbeing that we require. How is whole food better than 'semi food?'
A complete grain pulsates with a life of its own. If one keeps the complete grain in water, drains it off and keeps it for a few days, it germinates. It has got a full life. When we consume such an item, our body absorbs the full spectrum nourishment. It has the ability to clean, cure and nourish various body cells.
As in the example of a grain, most conventional dining includes having whole creatures as well. Having entire fresh fish used to be more popular than taking a portion of fish and throwing the balance away. It was ditto for poultry and also for vegetables.
'Half food' sometimes has more sweetness and flavour but not much other nutrition. We like its taste, but we could develop a long-term illness if we only ate 'half food' every day of our life.
So, to make up for the missing half, we began to take nutritional supplements. We have been trying and researching for pretty long to find the perfect equilibrium. It gets more and more difficult as we slice the food up, add preservatives and transport, and even try to supplement with other parts coming from various sources, places and seasons. Some of the nutrients are not even from natural resources. They are synthetically generated. After it is tested and analysed, it is approved for man's consumption. But however hard we try, we cannot merge the 'bits' from different sources to make it alive.
Half Life-'Sweetness' of Life
So, if we looked at our life now, part of what we are doing can be like eating the 'half food'. Just savouring the sweetness of life but throwing away the real nourishing part. And if we soaked our 'half life' in water with other bits and left it in the sunlight, could it shoot and grow into a beautiful whole life?
Whole food is not (as some people perceive it) poor in taste. It is actually tastier when we prepare it properly. But while the demand is low, it is more expensive. It is actually more economical in the long run though, as we have less medical expenses later on. When more people start eating it, it will naturally become cheaper because it is a simpler food with less processing and waste.
Our life is the same. When we only appreciate the 'sweetness', and throw away the rest in rubbish bins because we don't see its value, we may be wasting the most important part. And the part we throw away could have the greatest power for the sustainability of our life and our economy. It also takes more energy and resources to discard it. Better yet, the part we throw away is free.
So, what is that we are not looking at?
Picture a life where we didn't in fact believe that we were lacking anything there.
The secret is right here. The secret of a complete life.
Whole Life-The Complete Life
When it is 'full', it does not matter how big the full is. It can spread out all at once. It can still have within it all the components to uphold itself as a complete living thing. Once it develops to a given size, it can continue to live without some portions of it. Like plants can remain alive after birds feed on a little of it or trees survive even after losing their leaves. But if we ignore the equilibrium for a pretty long time, finally it can lead to a deadly disproportion. Then it might become too difficult to revert to normalcy.
We don't have to go back to the Stone Age to find the wholeness. Wholeness exists right now. All we need do is look closely; look closely enough to really see.
When we start seeing our life as a whole and stop throwing away what nourishes our life the most, we start feeling more and more fulfilled without looking for 'things' to fill holes and dents of our life. Everything finally falls into place. We now understand the mechanism of our world in a very different way.
Yes, it is now time to find out how we can create (and see) this balance, continuously and sustainably.
The real nourishing part of our life is what makes us feel good deep down. It is like the part of food that makes our body become healthy in the long-term. Feelings we experience in our everyday life are the real key to our long-term happiness. And there are feelings that make us feel more complete.
The happy faces we see when we give recognition to others. The pleasure we experience when we give presents to others. The affection we feel when we see our kids being happy. The encouragements we get when we feel our life is full of significance ..
Let us internalize these moments of our life totally and relish the flavour of our entire life. Then we will perceive how it is not so imperative to constantly fill our heart (and tummy!) with physical indulgences - those types of things that only increase our cravings afterwards.
We can actually feel this joy, gratitude and love in order to experience the life as a whole at any moment regardless of the situations. It is not about what we see, what we hear or what we do that complete our life as a whole. It is about what we 'choose to' feel about our life.
Yes, our life indeed is already absolute.
When we begin acting based on this awareness, we can have real mastery over the balance creation - lasting physical wellbeing, riches, nourishing bond and joy. - 16463
About the Author:
Contents are taken with minor modification from ONE, a book by Masami Sato. Visit Buy1GIVE1 for blog updates.
