CAN YOU CHEW YOUR FOOD, FOR 32 TIMES?

You can’t. Try and see it for yourself and you will find it, to be very hard because that kind of eating requires awareness and awareness or consciousness comes by efforts only. Of course, you can gulp your food, in unconsciousness (behoshi) i.e. eating by habits only, because unconsciousness needs no efforts. Please know that unconsciousness comes for free but consciousness needs to be earned. That‘s why, for chewing every morsel of food, for 32 times, you need, lot more alertness and awareness. Without being conscious and being alert, it is just impossible. May be, you can, now, try and chew, one or two morsels of your food, for that many number of times, since I asked you to try it, but eating your full meal, by chewing, each morsel, for 32 times is just impossible, in our current state of consciousness. 

Our eating, thus, happens in complete unconsciousness and for that reason alone, we do not know as what to eat and how much to eat. Overeating, can happen and happen only in unawareness. If you eat your food in full awareness, then overeating can never happen. In awareness, you will eat only that, which you should eat and also only that, much which you need to eat. Because, we eat our meals habitually and hence, we just swallow, whatever is there, in front of us and hence, overeating. Please know that only, what you do by habits, can happen in unawareness but that which you do, by choice or by consciousness, can happen, only and only, in awareness. Habit means unconsciousness and choice means consciousness. 

Now, this number 32 is not significant. What is significant is, conscious eating. In the tradition, such things are set up; such numbers are prescribed, only to inculcate consciousness, in whatever you do. So, if you, now, have to chew each morsel of food for prescribed number of times, then you can do that only, in awareness. In unawareness or unconsciousness or by habits, you can only swallow your food. 

This is just one example of eating, which I have taken from the daily life but, if, you pay little attention then, you will observe, that this is not the case with eating alone but the same is true for everything else, which you do, in your waking state. Whatever you do, in your waking hours, you only do by habits or in unconsciousness. Habit means, not awareness, which is your nature, is driving you, but your unawareness or unconsciousness or simply your mind, which is not your nature, is driving you. Mind and habits are synonymous with each other. Living by habits means, you are living here, as a mind or as a physical body only and not, as awareness or consciousness, which is your reality. Please know that mind, too, is a body, except that, mind is subtle and body is gross.

Habits are setup, by the nature, for animals only because they are pure unconsciousness and do not have any consciousness or intelligence within them. Because they just exist here as bodies, they need to do things by habits, so that they can survive and preserve their bodies, by repeating or doing same things, repetitively or habitually. That’s why, they do all, by habits only. We human beings, stand apart from, other creatures, because we have little amount of consciousness and thus can act consciously, which other creatures cannot. Other creatures just survive, by instincts only. 

Now, this little amount of consciousness which we are gifted with, by the nature, can be stretched further and a human being, if he strives, can become and live as total consciousness or awareness, if he brings consciousness, to all what he does. That’s why this number of 32. Hence, start bringing consciousness, by eating consciously, on a count of 32 for each of your morsel of food, from now on. Gradually and slowly, your eating will start happening, consciously and a time will come, when you will not have to this counting. 

This consciousness which you started, with your eating, will gradually, spill over to your other actions too. If you also practice meditation, then it will be, an icing on the cake, because both these things will supplement with each other and that day will come much sooner, when you will become and exist here, as an expression of that which IS i.e. the consciousness and not an expression of that which is NOT i.e. mind.