If we can’t stop overeating how can we control ourselves?

Anwser Podcast

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
So if we are not able to control our mind, especially with respect to eating, what can we do? First of all, overeating is not a very serious problem.
There are people suffering from far bigger un-orthos in this world. People are addicted to terrible bad habits, which can ruin their lives. So it is good to try to always seek a higher level of self-control in whichever field we are in.
But sometimes the mind, sometimes the mind may magnify a problem too much. So overeating is not that big a problem, first of all. Having acknowledged that, that does not mean that, don’t you get a chair? 10 inch.
No, no, you cannot be comfortable. No, no, it’s okay. You sit here.
Totally comfortable, sit here. No, no problem at all. So with respect to overeating, there are 2-3 things which can be practically done.
One is that, rather than making an absolute, absolute regulation against opulent eating, or absolute rejection of opulent eating, there can be regulation in opulent eating. That means, instead of saying that I will never eat a sweet, or I’ll never eat this, I’ll never eat that, okay, I’ll eat this once a week, or I’ll eat this once a fortnight, I’ll eat this once a month. So, that way, we have to find out what level of practice is sustainable for us.
And, it’s not necessary that spiritual progress has to be literally digital. Either I succeeded or I failed. It’s not necessary like that.
Even if we say, succeed for one week, and then we have a lapse. We still succeeded for one week. That means we have grown.
We had capacity, and after lapse again we will practice. So, spiritual advancement, or especially growth in terms of self-mastery, it is quite often analog, rather than digital. The more we are persevering, the more we are actually growing.
So, focus on that point that, don’t let just the inability to do something once, after being doing it for 10, 15, or 20 days, or one month, or something like that. That one failure is not like the loss of everything else. The fact that we practice for so long, that is also good.
So, the key thing is, that more than considering over-eating, quite often it is that we tend to over-eat because something is eating us. Some anxiety, some fear, some irritation. So, we are 15.
So, we seek comfort in food. So now, if we can, if we make a habit of practicing bhakti sincerely, regularly, then gradually we will start realizing that actually I get comfort in bhakti. Once we start getting the habit of finding comfort in bhakti, then the reflex action will change.
So, rather than thinking simply in terms of I want to control my eating and I am not able to control, we can think, what is it that is making me over-eat? What is the underlying need? It can be fear, it can be irritation, it can be negativity. It can be that, but it can be something else also. Greed for food can also be there, but the point is that whatever food is providing us, that thing, Krishna can also provide us.
So, what does food, when we say I have greed for food, what does it mean? By eating that food, I get some pleasure. But that same pleasure at a much deeper and richer level, Krishna can provide us. If we absorb ourselves in Krishna bhakti, we chant Krishna’s names, participate in kirtans, the same tongue which can give us the pleasure of taste for a few minutes, at the same time if it gets habituated to singing Krishna’s names, it can give pleasure for a much longer time.
So, basically we need to redirect the search for pleasure. So, we will start practicing bhakti regularly and then find out within bhakti, what are the activities that you can connect with nicely, that make you feel peaceful, that make you feel joyful, and then try to do those more and more. And the next time the urge to overeat hits, rather than immediately going for eating, try to do that activity.
Maybe if you find some kirtan very soothing, then keep that kirtan always with you. Keep it in your mobile or something. And whenever the mind gets agitated by a particular desire, immediately start hearing that kirtan.
Mind will calm down. And then that desire will become more resistible. So, over a period of time, we will ourselves be able to come to a balance.
This level of self-mastery, I can go on studying with this. So, what we could do is, we could focus on things one step at a time. So, I said three things firstly.
Don’t take it too seriously. Second is, rather than thinking of rejection of opulent food, you can have a regulation. Okay, I feel attracted to it, but I will eat it in a regulated way.
And third is, focus more on finding out how to become attached to Krishna. Some activities in Krishna Bhakti. And by that, you can get away from other things.
By that, you will be able to give it up. It will come under balance. Don’t worry too much about it.