food preparation: Garnished with love

When I was told that the Brahma Kumaris only eat food prepared by them, I did not give it much thought. Later, I did feel that the subject requires some deep reflection. In fact, most spiritual masters and seekers prefer to make the food they eat and there are many reasons for this, besides attention to quality and hygiene. What is the state of your mind when you are performing the act of cooking? Is it calm and happy, or is it irritated and angry?What you feel as you are engaged in cooking makes a world of difference to the quality of food prepared and its impact on the person who will be consuming that food. The mood you are in when you cook is, I am told, getting transferred to the food being prepared and, in a chain reaction, will also get transmitted to the person eating it.

All my adult life, I have never had another person cook for me, so when I fell ill and had to hire a cook for a short while, I wasn’t happy. It’s just for a few weeks, I would tell myself. Not that she was a bad cook. It’s just that a special ingredient was missing – the loving involvement in the entire process and the intention behind it.

This may sound zany but it really is true. Love is, indeed, a vital ingredient that makes a huge difference in the way your dishes turn out. And a good mood, too. Never cook when angry, for this negative force will get transmitted to the one eating the food, besides rendering the food not so tasty.