Three Kinds of Food: Bronze, Silver, and Gold

Years ago, as a new meditator on a course at Humboldt, California, I had a chat with Brahmachari Satyanand. He studied with Maharishi in the late 1940s and early 1950s under the guidance of their teacher, Guru-Dev. Satyanand was everyone’s favorite: a tiny, kindly, helpful uncle.

“Satyanand-ji,” I asked, “What is it about food? Everyone on this course is into some diet—the Zen macrobiotic diet, the mucusless diet, the Bragg diet, the raw food diet—how important is food really?”

He made me a warm cup of tea and gave me an advice-gem:

🥉 Bronze Food: What You Eat Physically
“Food matters, of course,” he said, “you are what you eat. But if you eat some bad food, it’s gone from your system in two or three days.”

🥈 Silver Food: What You Consume Through Your Senses
 “But there’s a deeper kind of food, not so easy to get out of your system—what you take in through your senses: what you hear, see, read, and watch—books, news, movies, all of it. This feeds your mind and heart, shapes your thoughts and emotions, and becomes your conditioning and subconscious. If it’s negative, it can lurk unseen and take years to release.”

🥇 Gold Food: The Company You Keep
“But the most important kind of food? Your friends: the company you keep has the biggest influence on your life. And the funny thing is, if you hang around with low people, you won’t bring them up, but they’ll bring you down.

“In India, we have a word: Satsang. Satsang means gathering in the company of the wise. Seeking the company of the enlightened. And if none are around, keeping the company of fellow seekers, uplifting each other, protecting, and keeping each other on the path together.”         

His words rang true; I’ve never forgotten them.

Do you have a Gold Food strategy? 🥇

John