Explain what it is to be a satvik to a common person, and ask this question: How difficult it is being a satvik. The reaction would be like:
- Is it even possible to live like this !
- I am no saint !
- I cannot even think of living like this.
It seems impossible to even imagine life the satvik way. First lets us dive into the meaning of being satvik. ‘Saatvik’ is a hindi word, which translates into living a pure life. Being ‘Saatvik’ includes not eating any kind of non-vegetarian food including eggs & fish. It also requires to be Non-Alcoholic, not drinking any drinks containing alcohol including beer. Staying away from drugs or any kind of intoxicating substance. It also includes non-smoking. Being faithful & committed to one person only. When a person's object in life is spiritual progress, he gradually becomes satvik.
Among the three states(viz Satvik, Rajasik and Tamasik), Satvik is considered to be the most preferred as in this state a human can know the inner dimensions of life. By keeping the five elements pure within us we can attain this state. Two viz earth & water needs more attention. Earth element is the food that we eat, so if we have pure satvik food, it makes us satvik. Water acts in same way, having pure water is helpful. The things we intake can have negative & positive vibes depending on the way they are taken, the intention of the giver etc. Like taking water from a person who hates you will have negative vibes in it. However we can change it to positive by having some reverence towards that water.
The social implications of being Satvik
Indian society has seen many ups and downs, many invasions, wars, colonial rule etc. All this had a big impact on the social fabric of India. However the people still managed to keep their values and ethics intact to a certain extent. Indian culture from the ancient times was formed from the point of view of spiritual progress, the way we sit, the way we stand, the way we eat, all were designed to develop the inner self. They knew that once a person is strong from inside, outside he would manage well. A person who ate non-veg, smoked or drank alcohol, was regarded as a wrongdoer in the past. It was a sin, and the person had an element of guilt inside him for what he was doing. But long are those days gone away, now the society is changing at a very fast speed. New values & cultures are being formed each day.
When a single person does something he is a singular case but when a community does it, it becomes normal. Normal to the point that it is impossible to argue.
People want to be proven right about what they are doing, following & believe. The best way to prove this is to see others surrounding them do the same thing. Now comes the aberration, they come across a person who is a teetotaller, on seeing him that guilt which they had long buried underground arises again. There comes a doubt if they are doing the right thing, but this doubt is easily suppressed by the overwhelming taste and out of the world experience provided by the exotic food & drink. What do they do now, again try to coach the teetotaller about the new culture of the society, about the benefits of eating exotic foods & drinks.
A person is free to choose how he wants to live his life, what he wants to eat, how he dresses etc. The question is, is he making that choice consciously or is he just changing the way he is just to fit into the new society. People want to be iconoclastic just for the hack of it. If there forefathers lived in a particular way, than they would just disregard it by labeling it as old fashioned. They fail to realise the fact that, the elder generations lived their entire life to figure out what is the best way to live life, and if someone disregards what they found, than they are better finding out their own way.
People do not think deeply and are easily influenced by campaign done by commercial companies. These companies somehow are able to spread their message in the society. For example, drinking alcohol is considered being cool. People are made to think that while smoking cigarette or cigar they look fashionable. Eating non-veg is shown to have health benefits, and all the negative impact it does to a human body is concealed.
The other side of the coin
Some people say, don’t they have the right to enjoy life to its fullest, why should they believe somebody's opinion. There are examples in society of people who eat non-satvik food and enjoy life. Instead according to them people who practice abstinence are wasting their life by not enjoying it.
In order to broaden one's network circle in today's society, one must accept the ways of today's society. To say no to a glass of wine offered to you can amount to saying no to a big opportunity in your life. It's considered like shrugging off a hand raised for friendship to you. In higher social gatherings there is hardly any separation of vegetarian & non-vegetarian food. One may think they are having a veg dish, while it had a sauce made from animal parts. So when there is no choice but to be non-vegetarian than why care about it.
In a way it help in reducing social inequalities like those of caste, religion etc. After a while people do not even remember with whom were they wining & dining. Otherwise they were strictly opposed to having food with them, but now they won’t hesitate in drinking from each others glass. Smoking the same cigar etc.
How to decide then !
How do one decide whether to be satvik or not. The object of human life is to live happily in life. What are the most important things that bring happiness in a person's life?
As per the vedic literature top three happiness for a person are as follows:
- Being Healthy.
- Stable Finance
- Family
Just weighting a particular way of life against these three would decide, if we should do a particular thing or not. It's simple, just see if that particular thing takes us near or far from the above mentioned three happiness.
Non-vegetarian food:
- Healthwise: This food is high on protein, our body needs protein but our body requires only three percent of our diet to have protein. This can be taken from vegetarian food as well. Moreover excess consumption of protein without proper workout can cause cancer. These are high in fat & cholesterol, are difficult to digest. Thus for being healthy it's a problem.
- Financewise: It's a burden on the food chain. Research shows that a chicken eats eight kgs of maize for every one kg of its weight. This way it's bad economically. However this aspect has no serious implications in today's life.
- Family: This food being tamasik in nature gives rise to negative qualities anger, lust, greed etc. This creates a un-restful mind, thereby causing friction within the family.
Smoking:
- Healthwise: Government had made mandatory for cigarette companies to show photo of illness caused due to smoking on seventy percent area of the cigarette box. This is enough to say its health hazards.
- Financewise: Cigarettes are costly, at least for the middle class. This is an addiction, and it grows with time. People are ready to skip a meal, but are not ready to skip smoking.
- Family: Passive smoking is equally harmful, so a smoker makes his family suffer along with himself.
Alcohol & Drugs:
- Healthwise: A lies repeated thousands to times seems like a truth. Similar seems to be case with the statement ‘Having one peg daily helps your body’. And when a person decides to have only one peg, after having one generally one more is desirable, than the third also do not do much harm, than finally they lose the count. Same is the case with other intoxicants.
- Financewise: Financially it has devastated so many people. People sell their house in order to satisfy there longing for alcohol & drugs.
- Family: When a person suffers, he never suffers alone, his family suffers along with him. Alcohol & drugs sometimes pushes a person into bad company, thereby avoiding their families
People talk about being occasional drinkers, they claim to have absolute control over themselves when it comes to alcohol. However we see in the society how many occasional drinkers go addict over the years, without them realising this fact. They still think that they can quit drinking whenever they want, it's just that there is no need to try quitting now.
In vegetarian foods also there are some substances like garlic, onions, coffee etc which hinders our process of being satvik. The path to being satvik is not an easy path, but its benefits far outweighs the tiny efforts required to walk its path. So what benefits can a person expect on being satvik:
- Healthwise: Only satvik food can result in best health conditions. Here health should not be confused with muscular body, but a light one, such a body is away from illness and is strong to experience life to its fullest. Satvik food is light, so easily digested by the body, hence no problems like indigestion, constipation etc. When body is in such a clean form, then the body organs are also in good shape.
- Financewise: Even if satvik food was the most expensive then also it would have been worth it. But fortunately it's the least expensive and eco friendly too.
- Familywise: Satvik food gives sattvic mind. With satvik mind comes the feeling of love, compassion, happiness etc all this causes a very positive and pleasant atmosphere in the family.
To gain some mastery over the inner dimensions of life, being satvik is a precondition. For some path to being satvik seems to be very difficult, when in actual the real path which is difficult starts after one is satvik.
