Heard this story from a friend who is a frequent visitor to ashrams abroad. As this story portrayed the clash of life style and world views clearly wanted to write about it. In one of her visits to an ashram in the US recently she had to cook for a retreat. Used to the customs in India, she prepared fresh food for all those who came apart from a few speciality dishes the monk present would have liked. She was also informed that that this would be a pot-luck retreat and others would bring in food too. To her utter dismay she found that people (both Indians living there and locals) bringing in food that has been prepared for some other occasion and refrigerated for long. In her own words, '...in America, you get plenty of food for small amounts, their serving is really large (compared to India) and it was shocking to find that people brought left overs from some birthday party of a few days back, others brought food left over from a party they had given...I thought how could you bring food left over for a retreat or offer it to a monk?'. Of course, courtesy demanded that she does not ask this question aloud and perhaps even the monks living under the patronage of the same people who attend such retreat could not ask these questions.
Sanctity to food is an old Indian thought that carries many values along with it. Food is always prepared fresh, offered to a deity and only then partaken. Fresh preparation means normally food is bought in fresh also, which in turn means that it is seasonal food and not from the cold storage (In fact different festivals of India have different seasonal foods, fruits in particular associated with them so as to ensure that only fresh food is consumed). When it is freshly prepared, it retains its nutrients still fresh and most often than not it is consumed immediately after offering it to the deity through a pooja or a ritual of offering. As any expert in nutrition would vouch for, such immediate cooking (in certain ways) and consumption of fresh food is the most nutritious. In India the sanctity attached to it ensures that this health imperative is adhered to with much rigour and discipline. The food prepared for a monk or sannyasi is prepared with the same amount of reverence that would be attached to preparing for the offering to a deity or God. Retreats are special spiritual occasions where you not only convene to share spiritual thoughts, but, also practice some aspects of spirituality.
The availability of cold storage devices, of easy access to food, of dollar power, of inability to make up ones mind to discard old food all add up to such a situation as what this friend described. More important than any of these for me was the lack of sanctity to food. Sanctity enjoined with health consciousness and understanding of nature could be so helpful if only people were aware of the meaning of such rituals. This is where culture and the current conservation priorities join hands and there could be so much that can be achieved. However, it seems to have been compromised in the quest for a way of life. Americans are large consumers is well known, but, that Indians can lose their idea of sanctity for food so easily in the American environment is unfortunate.
Perhaps it is time some of the Ashrams that are established start teaching mundane day to day things where sanctity is practised. This may be more practical and useful (perhaps not very popular) and will at least address the growing menace on inequitable consumption pattern and eventually address the issue of 'way of life'.
