UNIVERSAL GOD: Message of Peace
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Promoting peace and harmony from an Abrahamic perspective
Food
Am I addicted to Food? What is it that drives my lust for Food? Is it my Greed and gluttony? or is it my Desire to Live in a physical body in order that I can serve my Creator in this physical world?
Am I a slave to my appetite? Are my thoughts, speech and behaviour driven by my desire to Eat?
How does my addiction to food prevent me from the Remembrance and worship of my Creator? Or does the choice and amount of food I eat allow me to better fulfil my Higher Purpose in this physical world?
What type of food am I addicted to? That which is permitted or that which is forbidden to eat? That which is pure or that which is impure? That which causes me harm or that which helps to keep me healthy? Or do I prefer to rely on my own limited understanding of what food is 'Good?' according to my own limited knowledge and understanding, or according to what tastes 'better' to me? What role does my selfish ego, lust, envy, greed, gluttony, vengeance, sloth, vanity play in my addiction to certain types of Food?
Does what and how much I eat cause me to gain weight and prevent me from using my wings to fly?
Is my bread leavened or unleavened? Do I eat in order to fuel the chariot of my lower self or do I eat in order to fuel the chariots of my Higher Being? Is my lust for Food driven by my Desire to Live in Reality or Delusion? To Live a life of deception or Truth? To Live a life of Justice or oppression? To Live a life which invests in the temporary enjoyment of this worldly life, or a life that invests in the eternal Joy of the Hereafter? Do I eat In order to glorify myself or in order to glorify my Maker?
Do I eat in order that I may have the energy to study, perform more prayers, and good deeds in this physical world? Do I eat in order to grow like a tree that grows sweet fruit all season round? Do I eat in order to strengthen my roots in order that I do not fall during a stormy Day? Am I willing to eat in order that others should eat from my branches? Do I seek spiritual Guidance in order that I can help guide others?
Do I Receive in order to receive? Or do I receive in order to Give? Do I Give in order to receive? Or do I Give in order to Give? Am I not One with both the Giver and Receiver? Am I not One with Those who eat, those who feed, and those who are eaten? Are the Vessel and it's Light not One? Is the vessel itself not made of Light? How does my ego prevent me from sanctifying the food that I eat? How can I use food to help me sanctify the Name of my Creator?
Does the food that I eat help me to become more creative, or destructive? Does it heighten my Awareness of my Creator, or block my perception of Higher Truth?
Do I become like that which I eat? Is my body not merely a vessel which contains the soul of that which I eat?
Am I the Creator of the Food that I eat? Do I make the fruit grow from the trees? Am I the Creator or Planter of the Seed? Am I the Grower or gardener of the tree? Am I the Initiator or the Shaper? Am I the Sustainer or the Destroyer? Or is my body merely a vessel for my Creator to Whom belongs the Best of Attributes?
Am I grateful for that which I eat? Am I grateful for my ability to Taste and Smell different flavours? Am I grateful for my ability to distinguish the bitter from the sweet? How can I use the food that I eat in order to show more gratitude to My Maker and Source of all provision?
Am I able to breathe life into a form that is shaped out of clay without The Permission of my Maker Who I serve? Do I create something from nothing? or can I merely shape one form into another? Who created the clay in order that I can shape it? Who created the Soul in order that I may breathe? Who created Speech in order that I may Speak the Word? Am I able to bring forth ingredients from the soil? Or can I merely use these ingredients to create different recipes of bitter or sweet?
Who gave me the Mind with which to think and reason in order that I may Choose according to my limited understanding? Who gave me the hands with which I can kneed the dough to bake the bread? Who gave me the feet with which to crush the grapes to make the wine? To Whom do these hands and feet belong? Is my body its own provider? Is my body its own sustainer? Am I grateful for my provision? Do I bless the Name of my Creator who creates, provides and sustains my life so that I may better know and worship my Source?
Does the physical food that I eat nourish my body or my soul? Perhaps it can nourish both? Are physical and spiritual Bread separate? or are they in fact one reflecting the other? Perhaps changing our spiritual state of Being, will have effect on our physical state of Being? Perhaps when we surrender our will to the Will of our Maker, and obey His commandments then He will send us our Manna according to the measure of our Faith in both the physical and spiritual form?
Will I reap what I sow? Will I eat what I feed others with? Will I eat that which is harmful, because I choose to cause harm unto others? Will I eat that which is good and pure because I treat others how I want to be treated? Will I be served in the same way that I choose to serve my fellow human being?
How can I Breathe and truly Be a True Human Being, if my soul were to leave my body? Must I not eat and drink food in the physical form in order to maintain a healthy vessel that can shine the Light of my Maker?
How can the willing sacrifice of my desires to serve my lower self; my ego, lusts, greed, gluttony, envy, sloth, fears and sorrows, enable me to break free from my addiction to overindulgence in physical food and drink? How can sacrifice of the physical food and drink which I love to eat and drink- help me to overcome my addiction to Food? How can it teach me empathy for those who have less physical provision than myself? How can this enable me to become more likely to reach out and share beyond my physical needs in order to maintain justice in the world and better serve my Creator? How can Fasting from food and drink during sunlight hours in Ramadan help me to discover and eat Spiritual Bread, and drink the spiritual wine that helps to nourish my soul and Become more Grateful?
From Which Place comes the Oil that Fuels my Flame and Desire to serve my Master? Must I make the oil with my own hands by performing acts of loving kindness through sacrifice? Must I purify the oil which sustains me- by purifying my heart mind and soul with righteousness?
Where is the Niche within which is a Lamp? Where is the glass that holds the lamp? What is this glass that shines like a pearly white star lit from the oil of a blessed olive tree?- Is this olive tree neither of the east or the west? What is this oil that would almost glow forth, even if untouched by Fire? Is my body a Vessel for the Light of The World?
Must I eat and feed in ways of Peace that helps to create, sustain and protect my vessels in a physical form that enables my speech and behaviour to help discover and reveal The The Beautiful Attributes of my Creator who Resides in me and you?
Must I eat in order to fatten up so that I may burn for longer and more brightly when I am set aflame? Will the smell of my smoke be Pleasing to my Maker- to Whom I belong and to Whom I Return- when I give myself in sacrifice like a willing Lamb headed for slaughter? Is it my blood that reaches my Maker, or is it the piety that is in my heart that He Delights in and readily receives?
How can my physical and spiritual hunger, thirst, suffering and pain cause my ego to be crushed and the wine and oil to be extracted, in order that it fuels my chariots of righteousness and brings me to a Place of Return? A Place of Humility, Surrender, Higher Gratitude, Mercy, Forgiveness, Empathy and Compassion, where I can now better appreciate due to reflecting and learning from my own personal struggles and hardship that resulted from my previous Fall...
How can we transform our addiction to Physical Food to an addiction to Higher Truth? How can we more clearly be able to differentiate pure food from impure food by seeking Truth in the form of knowledge wisdom and understanding- in order that we do not allow that which we ingest to block our Perception of our Source and Higher Purpose?
How can we become more Grateful, in order that we can Truly Appreciate, Delight in Celebrate together the Feast of Shabbat when we can rest from all of our work?
What is Food?
Food is any substance consumed by an organism for nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal or fungal origin and contains essential nutrients such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins or minerals. The food is ingested by the organism, and assimilated by the organism's cells to provide energy, maintain life or stimulate growth. The absorption and utilisation of food by the body is fundamental to nutrition and is facilitated by digestion. Plants convert solar energy to food by photosynthesis, and are the primary food source. Animals that feed on plants often serve as a food source for other animals.
From an Abrahamic perspective- everything in this physical world is an expression of the 'word' "Be!" from our creator Who creates 'something' out of 'nothing' constantly. So anything that exists in the physical form, must be part of the Word of God, and therefore He Desires that it exists as part of His Will- until it has served its purpose. Everything that is Real/part of Reality- must have within it 'truth' in order for it to exist. Often in this temporary physical world, things are a mixture of truth and falsehood, and therefore nothing lasts forever (unless it becomes purely truth) and everything is either in a state of physical 'purification' or 'decay.' Everything physical has within it a holy/pure/energy that can be released and transformed into another form through eating. The Human being has the intellectual capacity to be able to label and name physical substances, in order to use them for their higher Purpose ( ie to serve The creator) if they choose to do so. However the human being can also choose to use that physical substance to serve their lower purpose ( selfish ego) if they choose to do so. So in the same way - all food can be used to serve the Higher Purpose through consumption and utilising that energy from the food to fulfil the commandments of the Creator according to the best of their knowledge and understanding, or do cause harm to relationships and cause division, oppression and corruption in the land through using the energy from food to serve their own ego ( the will of the lower self).
All creatures need to eat in order to survive. It is animal nature to eat in order to survive, and part of the lower nature of every single human being. However, what makes a human being different to an animal with regards to food and eating? Does the Human Being not have a Higher nature/self, that enables it to tame/control and transform the lower animal nature/self into a vehicle that willingly serves it's Higher Purpose? Is an animal able to 'sacrifice' food/eating in order to express its devotion and gratitude to its Creator? Is an animal able to use various ingredients and food substances in order to make a dish such as a casserole or a cake? Are animals able to be 'creative' with food in order to serve different types of cultural recipes to cater guests at a feast? Are animals able to use 'knowledge' about various food substances in order to make 'medicine' for healing purposes like an alchemist- in order to help prolong life? Are animals able to go beyond their animal instincts? Are they able to 'break the rules of creation?' Are they able to seek knowledge and then knowingly 'sin' and then willingly choose to cause harm to creation even after they know it to be morally wrong? Are they able to choose to do good against their animal nature to a fellow human despite their desire to follow their animal instinct to kill? Do animals have a sense of morality like humans do? Do they have free will in the same way that humans do? At what point does the will of an animal become like the will of a 'Human being?'
From an Abrahamic perspective, eating is not just that which enters our mouths in a physical state. Food can exist in the form of 'words' that enter through our senses: our Vision through reading, our Hearing through listening, and also something beyond words using our sex organs during intimate relations between the feminine and masculine getting to know the 'other.' Our brains can enable our mind -through receiving information in the form of knowledge and wisdom, to process this information (knowledge, wisdom and understanding) through use of logic and reason and the seeking of Higher Truth- in order that it should go down into our hearts, where love is birthed and nurtured. When there is Love and piety in the heart, the human being is able to transform the animal nature which seeks to 'eat' merely to serve its own purpose; into a being that is able to 'sacrifice' for the sake of Love.
The more humans self-reflect, meditate, seek knowledge and ponder about creation with humility- the more able they will be to feel the 'Awe' of the Creator and therefore sense a 'fear of God' within their hearts. When we Fear God- we abstain from eating forbidden food, or engaging in forbidden relations, or causing any intentional harm to any other form of Life. When we feel the Love of God, we are more likely to engage in acts of loving kindness, righteousness, and Unite and celebrate together in Peace in our Higher Perception of our Oneness within the Diversity of Life. The Word of God is Food to all who seek Truth, for all who seek to Eat from the Tree of Life.
Why is Food important?
Food is one of the basic necessities of life. Food contains nutrients- substances essential for growth, repair, and maintenance of body tissues and for the regulation of vital processes such as breathing, digesting food, keeping the immune system healthy and keeping warm. Nutrients provide the energy our body needs to function and carry out many life tasks.
How can anything in the physical world/existence exist in a physical form without physical food? The circle of life itself relies on energy being transferred from one form to another through food chains in order for Life to exist in a constantly changing physical state. Decomposers play a critical role in breaking down dead plant and animal matter, releasing the energy and nutrients back into the ecosystem.
Without physical food, how would we be able to maintain the vessel that enables us to serve and love God with our Mind? Without food, how would we be able to maintain the vessel that enables us to serve and love God with our hearts? Without food, how would we be able to maintain our Body so that we can serve and love God with our physical strength? Without food, how would we be able to get to better 'know' each other and enjoy the beautiful diversity within the different cultures of creation?
Without physical Food, how can the vehicle that carries our soul ;shine its Light in the darkest of places in order that even the most inanimate of creation such as a rock can be commanded through Human Speech to crack open and release the water that is imprisoned within it?
How does Food help our wellbeing?
Different food substances carry different types of energy- both physical and spiritual. So everything we eat has a positive or negative impact on our sense of physical and spiritual wellbeing.
Our Physical Nature/wellbeing changes according to the food that we eat and the drink that we drink. Different food substances have different nutrients within them- some that are good for our body and some that are harmful. Maintaining a healthy balance of food types is important, and different body types might need more of one certain type of food and nutrient than others in order to maintain their physical health and strength.
Our Spiritual Nature/well-being also changes according to the food that we eat and the drink that we drink. So when we choose to eat and drink of the pure and good food that is 'permissible ' for the human being to eat (according to the best of our knowledge/awareness/understanding), it allows for the inner Light of the human soul and Beauty of our Creator to easily 'flow through our body in the form of truth- in Oneness/Unity of Desire/Will, thought, speech and action so that we (the human being) are able to shine the Light of our Maker (like a crystal prism) through righteousness- by reflecting His Beautiful Attributes unto the worlds and connect Heaven with earth.
Although human beings have an animal instinct, they are different in the way that they are more able to 'control' their animal instinct using their intellect, ability to reason, and their 'free-will' ( each according to its own capacity ). Therefore, the human being is able to 'sacrifice' the will/desire of the inner beast (by avoiding eating that which he or she knows to be wrong/forbidden or bad- even if his or her bodily desire is to eat it) in order to fulfil The Will of its Creator (surrender to a Higher Will and eat of the good things).
When we eat of the good things that our Creator has provided for us, with the intention of using that energy to better serve our Creator to fulfil our Higher Purpose, and when we act upon our intention and actually use the energy from the good food that we have ingested, digested and absorbed, as fuel which helps us to purify our desires, thoughts, speech and action (through surrendering to ways of Peace/Higher Truth, and performing prayer, charitable giving) in order that we become more righteous- our bodies become more able to carry Divine Light into the darkest of places, in order to transform Darkness to Light, and reveal the Glory of our Maker unto the worlds.
When we eat and drink as we desire -even if it is beyond only our basic needs (as long as our fellow/neighbour too has his or her basic need) and as long as it is done within the boundaries of what we know to be 'permissible' by our Creator as 'good food'-and as long as we are 'grateful' for our provision; then we are serving our Creator even through the act of eating itself- especially if the food we eat is shared with our fellow human being/s. . In fact it gives our creator great joy for His creation to sit together and eat and drink and enjoy one another's company- especially when a blessing has been made over the food, and we have given thanks for our provision, and we intend to use this feast as an opportunity to better 'know' one another- and celebrate Life.
How does Food cause us harm?
When we choose to eat of a substance which we know to be 'bad for us'- simply because we 'desire' to eat of it, then we 'feed' and strengthen the desires of our inner beast with the energy from that food substance- which cause our ego/greed/gluttony/sloth/envy/lust/vengeance/fears/sorrows to grow and cause more division, corruption and oppression in the land. Eating forbidden food (after the knowledge has reached us and the truth has been recognised) is like engaging in forbidden sexual relations. It leads to the breakdown of relationships (between ourself and our Creator, and between ourselves and others) and our spiritual fall from our state of Eden. Our Spiritual fall then manifests itself in the physical reality in which we experience life. The less we experience our Creator ( due to willing disobedience- knowingly eating that which is forbidden) , the less 'Reality' we experience in the physical world.
Animals eat when they are hungry and follow the animal instinct that is within them. Certain animals have a nature that is more 'greedy' and 'impure' than others- for example the 'pig.' The energy that manifests as the attribute of 'greed' in the Pig, can also manifest in the creature that eats the pig- especially if it was 'greed' that caused that individual to eat of it. The negative/impure attributes that are within the animals that humans choose to eat- can cause 'blockages' to the human perception/awareness of Higher Truth and therefore the ability to reveal the Light/ Beautiful Attributes/ true Glory of our Creator.
Some foods are physically harmful and some are spiritually harmful. Some are both. What makes a certain type of good food (physically) -spiritually harmful?- It is when it has become forbidden for us to eat by our Creator- either due to a reason of which we are aware or unaware. That which is not known to be harmful physically to eat, but is known to man to be forbidden and therefore spiritually harmful- becomes a curse in the physical when eaten- if the one who eats does so while being aware of its sin. So the one who eats a food he or she 'thinks/knows' to be pure or good physically- while aware that it is forbidden to eat (and therefore spiritually impure)- in a way is setting his or her own desire ( of ego) and his or her own 'understanding/mind' as a false god beside his or her True Creator/God. This leads to the fall from the state of 'paradise'- which only those who truly 'surrender to the Will of God can reside in Peace.
Eating the forbidden fruit can be symbolic also of the engaging in all types of sin and occurs when one either 'does not know,' or 'forgets and errs', or refuses to 'fear God' as much as one should- (usually because of arrogance/ego).
That which applies to forbidden food and gluttony, also applies to other desires of the heart which belong to the family of Satan: Ego, Lust, Greed, Sloth, etc . for example one may choose to 'eat' the property of an orphan unjustly, or 'eat' usery (deal with interest) in order to self-profit and satisfy their own desire through greed for power/fame/wealth etc, while oppressing others and spreading corruption and oppression in the land.
How can we break free from our addiction to forbidden food?
In order to break free from our addiction to harmful food- we must not seek to discriminate between food that is physically pure/good from food that is spiritually pure/good. The Physical and Spiritual are in fact One. It is only our perception of Reality that tells us that there is a concept of Duality/Seperatness. We must not allow our minds to try to convince us that the food which is spiritually impure (ie forbidden by our Creator) is in fact good for us to eat physically- of how can it be physically good if it is spiritually impure? It will never be good for us unless our Creator decides or Wills us to eat from it. We must not rely on our own understanding instead of the Understanding of our Creator- Who Knows Best ( even if something is beyond our own understanding- it is best to refrain from eating that which is forbidden if we have become aware through His Revelations that it would either displease our Creator for us to eat from it, or because it is harmful for us to eat from.)
But One may ask- how can we know that it is harmful unless we try it for ourselves? how can we truly believe unless we see God with our own eyes? how can we truly 'know' God exists unless the faith has entered our hearts? How can the faith enter our hearts if we do not use our reason, seek knowledge wisdom and understanding with our Minds? How can we truly 'Understand' and 'know' unless we have 'experienced' the taste of the forbidden fruit ourselves? Surely our burning desire to really 'Know' our Creator involves the act of eating that which is forbidden- for otherwise how can one know 'evil' as well as 'good?' How can we otherwise know to understand the 'other side'? How can a human being truly understand The 'Compassion' and 'Mercy' of our Creator if he or she does not 'know' what it is like to 'fall' spiritually through sin and physically 'suffer' through hardship and strife?
How can we use the wisdom from Food to help us transform Darkness to Light?
Some Scripture Verses about Food..
