Practical Spirituality: Blessing the Food You Eat
Many spiritual traditions contain a practice of blessing food prior to eating it. Christians, for example, say grace before a meal. This prayer more often than not thanks God for the food they are about to eat.
Jews say a blessing over a particular type of food–one for bread, one for wine, one for cookies (yes, cookies). The blessings vary depending upon if the food comes from the earth, a tree, a vine, and such. Jews also say grace after meals.
Anyone can take a moment and say a blessing of gratitude for the food or drink they are about to ingest. Doing so not only connects them to the Creator of that food–and I don’t mean someone in a manufacturing plant, but also raises their energy around the food they are about to eat. By acknowledging that the food comes from the Source of life and that that it continues to give them life, they raise their vibration and the vibration of the food itself, thus increasing the food’s ability to enliven them.
I learned about his idea from Rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburgh of Gal Einai Institute of Israel. He teaches that on a mystical level, eating any food represents a clarification process. Our bodies extract the good from the waste and integrate it into our system to create the or primi, or “inner light.” The digested food become blood, the medium through which ruach hachayim, the “spirit of life” passes. This is our life force, the pulse of our being.
So, when you eat, you develop your inner light. You bring more life spirit into your experience.
You can think about this when you cook for yourself, your family and your friends. Do so with the intention of increase everyone’s inner light. This raises the vibration of the food. It changes the way you think about food and makes you feel blessed when you eat it. So, why not offer gratitude to the One who gave you the food to begin with.
Then, before you eat, take just a moment to bless that food and to remember that it creates your inner light and and allows the spirit of life to pass through you.
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May 7th, 2010 at 2:56 am
blessing food is one of the most overlooked aspects of spiritual development, i agree with what you are saying whole heartedly and would add that the science of intention also charges the food with life supporting energy. Blessing water is also highly effective. Remember our bodies have a very high water content to charge water improves its beneficial qualities.
bless you
May 7th, 2010 at 7:45 am
Thank you for your comment. Ah, intention. That’s a whole subject unto itself. We call it kavanah in Hebrew. It’s all important–why we do what we do, the intent behind out actions, thoughts…everything. And yes, blessing water is important. I mentioned blessing food and drink. Of course, there are those great studies by Dr. Emoto. I recommend his book, The Hidden Messages in Water.
December 2nd, 2010 at 4:26 pm
Very nice, I really like the “extract the good.”