andeatingthewrongfoods,alcoholismandotherdruguse.Thesenegativebehaviorsheapfurtheras-
saults on the body.
Sodis-easestartsatthesoullevelduetoadisconnectionfromone’sspiritualSelf,
thenfestersinthemind,andfinallyeruptsinthebodyasthevariousdiseasesthat
plagueamajorityofsociety.IsitanywonderthattheWesternmedicalscience,
whichissoadeptatpalliatingthesymptoms,hasgreatdifficultyinfindingthe
causesofdiseasesplaguingWesternsocietysuchascancer,mentalillness,etc.?
Howcanthey,whenthecauseofthecancerandotherdiseasesisinthesoul?Sur-
gerybladescannotreachthesoul,andneithercanpills.Soillnessanddis-easemust
beaddressedatallthreelevels,thesoullevelthroughthedisciplineofmeditation,
thementallevelthroughstudyingandunderstandingthepurposeoflifeandhowto
properlyachieveit,andthroughrigorousthinkingandserenityofmind,andatthe
physicallevelwiththeproperdietandexercise.Whenthesethreelevelsareprop-
erlyaddressed,one’shealthissuretoimprove.Youwillstarttoappreciatethemen-
talandspiritualbenefitsimmediately,however,ifthedamagetothephysicalbody
istoogreat,thephysicalbenefitsmaynotbefullyrealizedinthislifetime,butcer-
tainlyinthenext.Noeffortiseverwasted;itiscumulative.Rememberthatinmys-
ticalspirituality,themindisnotequaltothebrain,andviceversa.Themindis
subtleenergywhichflowsthroughthebrainandnervoussystemtoenliventhe
physicalbody,soevenifsomeonehasbraindamage,theycanstilloperateatthe
mentallevel.Thus,regardlessofhowseverethecondition,thesepracticeswillbring
about an improvement in the quality of life.
Thedietofmostpeopleisjustthat,adie-et,aconcoctionforleadingapersontodis-ease(absenceof
ease,i.e.stress)anddeath.Therefore,whenconsumingwhatisthecorrectfoodforthebody,asdic-
tatedbythebiologyandphysiologyofthebodyandthelawsofnature,oneshouldnotthinkinterms
ofdieting,butofembarkingonalifestyle(ratherthanadie-etstyle)ofcomingintoharmonywiththe
lawsofnature(theDivine)astheyrelatetothephysicalbody.Thisisthepracticeoftruthinlifeasit
relatestothephysicalbody.Forsomethisisadifficultstep,asitrequiresthattheyabandontheeat-
inghabitsofthecultureinwhichtheygrewuporwithwhichtheynowidentifythemselves.Thus,
thereisanemotional-culturalaspectthatalsohastobedealtwith.Forexample,thetypesoffood
commonlyknownwithintheAfricanAmericancommunityassoulfoodisintegraltotheirmodern
historyandculture.However,thisdietisprobablyoneoftheworsedietswithrespecttonurturing
one’sbody,mindandsoul.Itisanythingbut“soul”food.Somecallit“slave”food,asmuchofits
developmentoccurredduringthetimeofAmericanslavery.Itisdeadlytothephysicalbody,and
thereforedoesnotnurtureone’sspiritualevolution.Sinceoneisnowfreetoeatasonepleases,there
isreallynoexcusetocontinuetoeatinthismanner,certainlynotwiththelegacyhandeddownfrom