Four Types of Food

I am about to embark on a grand adventure – heading out West for an Asian Bodywork inspired Massage Therapy training at a school in Crestone Colorado.

And I am very fortunate. I have many friends and well-wishers who support and treat me with kindness. So in this spirit, several people have thrown little parties for me (I am abashedly grateful!) and they have wished me safe journeys and great learning and growing.

At one particular gathering, an old yogi friend wished that I would receive all four forms of food – which he also explained.

According to some Tibetan Lamas, the four types of food are this:

1. Physical food – the nurturance and sustenance that we need, vitamins, minerals, amino acids, etc
2. Sleep – we need to rest and integrate and digest what has happened in our full and busy days, so relax and sleep are necessary – and sleep is a form of sustenance as it were
3. Massage and Bodywork – there is something to be said about caring, compassionate, appropriate touch; something nurturing, vital and it makes us more robust. An important part of sustenance if you ask me.
4. Finally, a form of food not many people here in the West truly taste: Samadhi – a state of intense focused concentration often only attained by great meditators; I believe that some Tibetan Lamas (like Garchen Rinpoche) radiate vast auras of samadhi as they rest in that state on a constant basis – that is their reality, the union of wisdom and compassion. For the rest of us, we would be lucky to get to that state for a second while we are on a ten-day retreat. 🙂

I love this though. So many people are looking for sustenance from food alone. They are seeking better nutrients, better vitamins, better balance from their food. But maybe they are not aware of the methods available to help them work through emotional knots (which may very well be obstructing their physical digestion in the first place!).

But there is certainly such thing as emotional food – unconditionally loving, compassionate, kind, caring, welcome, appropriate, boundary-laden touch. ❤ There is psychological food of working through our Double Binds – see birth process work or Pre- and Perinatal psychology. There is obviously spiritual food – working with authentic spiritual teachers who know our karmic predispositions and who can lead us to a direct experience of our innate Buddha-nature, the natural state, clear light mind.

May all sentient beings taste the silky deliciousness of all levels of food. May they revel in the bliss of spontaneous joy and effortless being-ness!

Thank you for reading!

~km

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