Page 137 - Extinguishment of self, in search of dhamma
P. 137

we understand? Or, take these natural conditions and contemplate these: When we eat (Translator’s note: And swallow) into an emptiness, do we need to eat a lot? Or, do we need to  ll that emptiness until it is full? Or, should we  ll it moderately, leaving spaces for other things? In reality, just contemplate like this, that is enough.
I went to Japan. There was a restaurant, as soon as we sat, they placed down a menu. It told us how many calories each dish had. For people who are health-conscious, they will know that this much is suf cient: Eating for calories, not for tastes. Taste may not be as we think, but we receive the required calories. We receive suf cient energy. But, we take in the quantity, we eat to the fullest—we worry about calories later; we burn them later. Therefore, afterwards we need to do a lot of walking meditation. If we do sitting meditation, we fall asleep. We feel tired, too full. Our body is working (Translator’s note: To digest food), so we fall asleep.
Therefore, the natural conditions that we experience are like this: We experience the tastes of sourness, sweetness, savoriness, saltiness emerging. After we experience them, they cease. It is up to us: When we contemplate delicious tastes like this, it is up to us how much is enough. This is something we contemplate. But, sometimes we get carried away while eating. For some, after we have contemplated the food—when chewing rice, we experience that the taste
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