Nutrition
for Hearing the Harmony of Life
By
Patrick Bernard
 Adapted
from Patrick's new book, Music as Yoga - Discover the healing power
of sound
From
Living Nutrition Magazine, Vol. 17
Eating
a diet of fruit, vegetables and sprouts elevates the body and mind
and enables us to listen to the great universal vibrations which
are all around us, but which we cannot hear when our ears are obstructed
with fermentations resulting from the digestion of animal flesh.
Carnivorous humanity becomes powerless to perceive the higher truths
of the self and is prevented from gaining access to the influence
of miraculous celestial vibrations. "Gastronomic" dishes,
laden with pain, make the human being deaf to the subtle call of
the soul's music.
By
following a nutritional regimen that is in harmony with the laws
of the universe and respectful of life, we open ourselves to the
highest sensory perceptions and experiences. We penetrate the infinite
world of virtue. Our eyes no longer see the same colors. Our ears
detect nature?s most subtle sounds. The wind in the clouds, the
breeze murmuring among the leaves, and the rhythm of the fountain
become the most wonderful of symphonies. The doors of contemplation
and meditation are opened to us and we discover the astonishing
music of the inner self. Not only does our food intake affect our
digestion and in turn our listening, but what we listen to while
we eat can also influence our digestion.
In
his book The Doctor Prescribes Music, physicist Edward Podolsky
considers the value of listening to music during meals. In his opinion,
beautiful music played during a meal. In his opinion, beautiful
music played during a meal is of great help in facilitating the
digestive process. In his work he describes a scientific discovery:
the principal nerve of the eardrum (middle ear) ends at the center
of the tongue; it is linked to the brain, and reacts to both taste
and sound impulse.
Commenting
on the scientific report, Hal A. Lingerman, in The Healing Energies
of Music , states that it is no longer possible to ignore the close
relationship between healthy food and appropriate music. It is not
pure chance that in ancient cultures, expert musicians were invited
to play soft and pleasant melodies during meals and feasts.
When
unpleasant emotions are felt, the pylorus, a muscular structure
situated at the base of the stomach, closes. The contents of the
stomach can no longer reach the bowel. There follows a bloated sensation,
a heaviness that occurs while digestive acids stop working. The
result is drowsiness and irritability.
Professor
Pldolsky notes, "Music is the best antidote for unpleasantness
at the dinner table. When there is music to be heard, there is an
outpouring of gastric juices. Food is properly digested and it passes
from the stomach into the duodenum through a wide-open pylorus."
During
meals, music should be simple and joyful, with neither great contrast
nor intellectual or emotional complexities. Hal Lingerman particularly
recommends the flute and the harp for this. Personally, I have observed
that the music of the Versailles School , which includes the work
of Lully, Couperin and Delalande (Symphonies for the King's Dinners),
creates an atmosphere of peace, joy and majesty that is well-fitted
to accompany the sacred act of nourishment.
The
Vedic scriptures proclaim, "Spiritual awakening begins with
the tongue." By transforming the otherwise banal act of eating
into a conscious offering to the Divine, the more sordid impulses
of the senses can be sublimated. Through the nature of our nutrition
and the attitude with which we feed ourselves, we can either open
or close the crystalline doors of the music of the soul.
Virtuous
nutrition can facilitate the refinement of hearing and listening.
The Bhagavad Gita stipulates that spiritual nutrition has the power
to purify the sensory organs, to produce fine cerebral tissues and
to clarify thoughts. Spiritual nutrition goes beyond simple vegetarianism
and lays claims to the purifying power of love: "If, with love
and devotion, I am offered a leaf, a flower, a fruit or some water,
I will accept it."
Here,
the ultimate devotional aspect of the God force, Krishna , the mystical
poet of the Bhagavad Gita , reveals that the sanctification of food
opens the doors to the inner sound. The main factor, the principal
ingredient in the preparation of such a selfless gesture, is in
our thirst for absolute Love.
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