Natural living depends on
the selection of food, dwelling and
company. Natural living today requires study, insight and
determination. Natural living is the seekers lifestyle.
A journal of one man's path toward spiritual enlightenment by physical
and mental purity, fasting, raw food diet, few words, natural living,
good works, right thinking, and exhilaration of the mind
by following the guidance of the Inner Voice.
Please,
see "Home" for more information.
PETE'S JOURNAL, MAY 2001
5-12-01
One year on the path today. Working to overcome the pain and dis-ease
of mercury poisoning and candida.
5-19-01
The following quotes are from a little book called,
The Holy Science, by Swami Sri Yukteswar Giri,
(Yogananda's guru). The purpose of the book was, "to establish a
fundamental harmony between the difficult Biblical book, Revelation,
and the Sankhya Philosophy
of India." One chapter of the book is devoted to natural living.
The introduction to the book was written by Swami Giri in 1894 in Serampore,
India, and the book was subsequently published in the U.S. by Yogananda's
Self-Realization Fellowship located near Los Angeles, Ca.
"To understand what natural living is, it will be necessary to distinguish
it from what is unnatural. Living naturally depends upon the selection
of (1) food, (2) dwelling, and (3) company. To live naturally, the lower
animals can select these for themselves by the help of their instincts
and the natural sentinels placed at the sensory entrances... the organs
of sight, hearing, touch, smell, and taste."
"With men in general, however, these organs are so much perverted
by unnatural living from very infancy that little reliance can be place
on their judgments. To understand, therefore, what our natural needs are,
we ought to depend upon observation, experiment, and reason."
"First, to select our natural food, our observation should be directed
to the formation of the organs that aid in digestion and nutrition, the
teeth and digestive canal, to the natural tendency of the organs of sense
which guide animals to their food; and to the nourishment of the young."
"By observation of the teeth we can find that in carnivorous animals
the incisors are little developed, but the canines are of striking length,
smooth and pointed, to seize the prey. The molars also are pointed; these
points, however, do not meet, but fit closely side by side to separate
the muscular fibers."
"In the herbivorous animals the incisors are strikingly developed,
the canines are stunted (though occasionally developed into weapons, as
in elephants), the molars are broad-topped and furnished with enamel on
the sides only."
"In the frugivorous animals all the teeth are nearly the same height;
the canines are little projected, conical, and blunt (obviously not intended
for seizing prey but for exertion of strength). The molars are broad-topped
and furnished at the top with enamel folds to prevent waste caused by
their side motion, but not pointed for chewing flesh."
"In omnivorous animals such as bears, on the other hand, the incisors
resemble those of the herbivorous, the canines are like those of the carnivorous,
and molars are both pointed and broad topped to serve a twofold purpose."
"Now if we observe the formation of the teeth in man we find that
they do not resemble those of the carnivorous, neither do they resemble
the teeth of the herbivorous or the omnivorous. They do resemble, exactly,
those of the frugivorous animals. The reasonable inference, therefore,
is that man is a frugivorous or fruit-eating animal."
"By observation of the digestive canal we find that the bowels of
carnivorous animals are 3 to 5 times the length of their body, measuring
from the mouth to the anus; and their stomach is almost spherical. The
bowels of the herbivorous are 20 to 28 times the length of their body
and their stomach is more extended and of compound build. But the bowels
of the frugivorous animals are 10 to 12 times the length of their body;
their stomach is somewhat broader than that of the carnivorous and has
a continuation in the duodenum serving the purpose of a second stomach."
"This is exactly the formation we find in human beings, though Anatomy
says that the human bowels are 3 to 5 times the length of man's body...
making the mistake by measuring the body from crown to the soles, instead
of from the mouth to anus. Thus we can again draw the inference that man
is, in all probability, a frugivorous animal."
"By observation of the natural tendency of the organs of sense...
the guideposts for determining what is nutritious... by which all animals
are directed to their food, we find that when the carnivorous animal finds
prey, he becomes so much delighted that his eyes begin to sparkle; he
boldly seizes the prey and greedily laps the jetting blood."
"On the contrary, the herbivorous animal refuses even his natural
food, leaving it untouched, if it is sprinkled with a little blood. His
senses of smell and sight lead him to select grasses and other herbs for
his food, which he tastes with delight. Similarly with the frugivorous
animals, we find that their senses always direct them to fruits of the
trees and fields."
"We find that when extraordinary means such as excessive fasting,
scourging, or monastic confinement are resorted to for the purpose of
suppressing the sexual passions, these means seldom produce the desired
affect."
"Experiment shows, however, that man can easily overcome these passions,
the archenemy of morality, by natural living on a nonirritant diet, above
referred to; thereby men gain a calmness of mind which every psychologist
knows is the most favorable to mental activity and to a clear understanding,
as well as to judicial way of thinking."
" Something more should be said here about the natural instinct of
propagation, which is, next to the instinct of self-preservation, the
strongest in the animal body. Sexual desire, like all other desires, has
a normal and an abnormal or diseased state, the latter resulting only
from the foreign matter accumulated by unnatural living as mentioned above."
" In the sexual desire everyone has a very accurate thermometer to
indicate the condition of his health. This desire is forced from its normal
state by the irritation of nerves that result from the pressure of foreign
matter accumulated in the system, which pressure is exerted on the sexual
apparatus and is at first manifested by an increased sexual desire followed
by a gradual decrease of potency."
"This sexual desire in its normal state makes man quite free from
all disturbing lusts, and operates on the organism (awaking a wish for
appeasement) only infrequently. Here again experiment shows that this
desire, like all other desires, is always normal in individuals who lead
a natural life as mentioned."
"The sexual organ... the junction of important nerve extremities,
particularly of the sympathetic and spinal nerves (the principal nerves
of the abdomen) which, through their connection with the brain, are capable
of enlivening the whole system... is in a sense the root of the tree of
life. Man well instructed in the proper use of sex can keep his body and
mind in proper health and can live a pleasant life throughout."
"The practical principles of sexual health are not taught because
the public regards the subject as unclean and indecent. Thus blinded,
mankind presumes to cloth Nature in a veil because she seems to be impure,
forgetting that she is always clean and that everything impure and improper
lies in man's ideas, and not in Nature herself."
"It is clear therefore that man, not knowing the truth about the
dangers of misuse of the sexual power, and being compelled to wrong practices
by nervous irritation resulting from unnatural living, suffers troublesome
diseases in life ultimately becomes a victim of premature death."
"Secondly, about our dwelling place. We can easily understand, when
we feel displeasure on entering a crowded room after breathing fresh air
on the mountain top or in the expanse of field and garden, that the atmosphere
of the town or any crowded place is quite an unnatural dwelling place."
"The fresh atmosphere of the mountain top, or field or garden, or
of a dry place under trees covering a large plot of land and freely ventilated
with fresh air is the proper dwelling place for man according to nature."
"And thirdly, as to the company we should keep. Here also, if we
listen to the dictates of our conscience and consult our natural liking,
we will at once find that we favor those persons whose magnetism affects
us harmoniously, who cool our system, internally invigorate our vitality,
develop our natural love, and thus relieve us of our miseries and minister
peace to us."
"If on the other hand we disobey the warning of Mother Nature, without
listening to the dictates of our pure conscience, and keep the company
of unwholesome people, an opposite affect is produced and our health is
impaired and our life shortened."
"Thus natural living is helpful for the practice of Yama. (Noninjury
to others, truthfulness, nonstealing, continence, and noncovetousness.)
Purity of mind and body being equal important in the practice of Niyama,
(Purity of body and mind, contentment, and obedience.) every
attempt should be made to attain purity."
[Bold emphasis mine.]
Natural living is almost exactly opposite of how modern man lives today.
Natural living might be thought of as the, "old way" of living;
the way our Great Grand Parents on the farm. Natural living is the lifestyle
of the seeker of truth.
"What modern man considers natural... is completely unnatural; and what he considers unnatural... is completely natural."
MY MAN'S NATURAL DIET IS FRUGIVOROUS
by
Dr. Raymond Bernard
Animals may be classified, according to their dietetic
habits... into four major groups : herbivorous (the horse), carnivorous
(the lion) omnivorous (the pig) and frugivorous (the ape).
As is evident from a consideration of the following anatomical facts,
man
is a frugivorous creature; his natural diet consists of fruits and nuts.
This is so for the following reasons:
1. Herbivorous and omnivorous animals have hoofs, in order
to roam around
on grassy plains; carnivorous ones have claws, to grasp their prey; while
frugivorous ones have hands, to pick fruit from the trees.
2. Carnivorous animals drink by lapping up water with
their tongues; while
man and herbivorous animals drink by-suction. The tongue of the former
is rough; that of the latter is smooth.
3. Carnivorous animals sleep by day; man and herbivorous
ones sleep by
night.
4. The teeth of carnivorous animals have five times the
hardness of the
teeth of man and frugivorous animals. The former have highly developed
incisors and pointed molars, while the latter have well developed incisors
and blunt molars.
The argument that man is naturally carnivorous, or omnivorous, because
of his "canine" teeth is fallacious, for these eye-teeth are
much longer in the frugivorous ape which uses them to crack nuts.
5. According to Huxley's classification of animals, by
the type of
placenta, man is frugivorous. The placenta of the, carnivorous animal
is of the zonary type; that of omnivorous and herbivorous animals is of
the non-deciduate type; while that of man and frugivorous animals is of
the discoidal type.
6. While all other animals are four footed, the higher-ape
and man have
two hands and two feet with flat nails instead of claws or hoofs. The
former look from side to side as they crawl; the latter look straight
ahead as they walk. The former have tails, and mammary glands on the abdomen;
the latter are without tails, and have mammary glands only on the breast.
7. The alimentary canal of the carnivorous animal is three
times the length
of its trunk; it is smooth and non-sacculated, so that its putrescible
contents
may be quickly assimilated and eliminated. That of the ape and man, however,
is twelve times the length of the trunk, being lined with sacculated valvular
folds, so that its frugivorous contents may be retained for a relatively
longer period.
8. The stomach of carnivorous animals is a simple sac;
that of herbivorous
animals has three or four compartments; while that of frugivorous ones
has a
duodenum, or a small second stomach.
9. The appendix of carnivorous animals
is very small; that of herbivorous
animals is larger; that of frugivorous ones is still larger; and that
of man is
largest of all.
10. Carnivorous animals have atrophied sweat glands and
have no pores on
the skin. Herbivorous and frugivorous animals do have pores and functional
sweat glands.
11. The salivary glands of carnivorous animals are very
small and produce
an acid secretion which has little effect upon starch; those of man and
frugivorous animals, on the other hand, are well developed, and produce
an alkaline secretion which does affect starch.
12. The gastric juice of carnivorous animals has a decomposing
and
antiseptic influence upon meat, while that of man is far too weak to disintegrate
it's tough fibers.
13. The liver of carnivorous animals is much larger than
that of man or frugivorous animals, and is able to destroy proportionately
ten to fifteen times as much uric acid.
5-21-01
The following excerpt is from the, The Yoga Aphorisms
of Patanjali, translated by Swami Prabhavananda
and Christopher Isherwood.
"The internal organs of the body must be cleansed and strengthened
by following a proper diet. Similarly, we must follow a mental "diet"
in order to cleanse and strengthen our mind. We must regulate our reading,
our conversation, and indeed, our whole intake of mental "food."
We must cultivate the society of those who are spiritually minded."
"This does not, of course, involve an absolute taboo on certain person
and topics, on the grounds that they are "worldly" or "sinful."
Such negative Puritanism would only lead to self-righteous pride and a
future desire for what is forbidden. What really matters, as always, is
our attitude. [Which should be one of Love] If we never relax in the exercise
of discrimination, we shall find that every human encounter, everything
we read or are told, has something to teach us."
"But this discriminative awareness is very hard to maintain, and
so the beginner has to be careful. The danger in gossip, "light"
entertainment, ephemeral journalism, popular fiction, radio romancing
etc., is simply this: they encourage us to drift into a relaxed reverie,
neutral at first but soon colored by anxieties, addictions and aversions,
so that the mind becomes dark and impure. Cleanliness of mind can only
be maintained by constant alertness."
Natural living is simple living, taking from nature only enough to sustain
ones self and family.
5-22-01
Sometime in the 1970's I came across a little booklet published by the
US Agriculture Department during the great depression of the 1930's. It
seems that President Roosevelt asked the scientist of the Agriculture
Dept. to figure out the most economical and nutritious diet for the American
people. And the booklet I found had the scientists findings.
They said for optimum health people should eat a 70% alkaline forming
diet of fruits and vegetables, and for the other 30%, a diet of acid forming
foods of meats, grains and dairy products. And if a person was sick, they
should eat a diet of 90% fruits and vegetables.
I thought that was pretty good information. A little later on I got to
wondering what information the Federal Government was putting out about
nutrition at the present time. So I went down to the local county extension
office and picked up all their free pamphlets on diet and nutrition.
What I found was very interesting. The present day material suggested
that people should eat a diet of 70% of acid forming food: meat, grains
and diary products; and a 30% diet of alkaline forming foods of fruits
and vegetables.
Further research turned up the fact that meat, wheat and dairy producers
have large well funded lobbies in Wash. D.C. I found no information on
lobbies for fruits or vegetable producers.
5-25-01
A short quote of interest from the Oasphe Bible:
"Yesterday it was said,
thou shalt eat flesh and oil;
because they supply certain things for the blood, without which man can
not live; today it is proven otherwise." [Bold emphasis mine.]
When I read this years ago I remember thinking, "that's strange"
because oil is one of the big three nutritional categories.(Years ago
three, now four categories.) I went over to the local college library
and found a recently published physiology book, which I thought was very
good. When the authors didn't know for sure how something in the body
functioned they always said something like, "We think" or "Its
possible" or "Perhaps" it works this way. I felt this was
a good indication of their reliability.
In the case of oil the authors said without equivocation that, "
the body can synthesize all the oil it needs
from simple sugars." I wouldn't be surprised
if in the years to come that they find out the same thing about protein.
Anyway, after that I stopped worrying about oil in my fruit and raw vegetable
diet. I am committed to a natural diet and natural living.
