The Buddha says it's okay to eat potato chips

In the sutras, the Buddha very clearly says to venerable Ananda: "Ananda, if there is no body, there is no dharma. If there is no food, there is no dharma. If there are no clothes, there is no dharma. Take care of your body, for the sake of the dharma."

So here's a little food dharma to help with that. Now in midsummer swelter is the time to gorge on oily, salty food. Yes potato chips. Right now they're good for you.  So are all those "olive oil dishes"--that's actually the translation of their category--from the Mediterranean: French ratatouille, Italian pesto, Greek plakis, Turkish imam bayaldi, Syrian tabouli and all those Armenian vegetables braised in olive oil. Right now when you are sweating in the heat, your body needs a lube job. Enter oil. It lubes the muscles and tissues so nothing tears while you're out having fun. 

And since you're sweating out the moisture the rest of your body needs, you need salt and lots of it to stem the flow. Yes potato chips. But yes, olives and feta cheese, anchovies and capers, even salt cod and miso.

Now is the moment Mother Nature hands out watery food: tomatoes, cucumbers, melons, berries. She knows your body needs the juice. Watermelon agua fresca anyone?

One more thing: chilies.  Now is the time. Hot and hotter inside and out. The reason super spicy dishes are so prevalent in hot climates is that chilies make the body sweat and sweating is nothing more than your body dehumidifying. A fancy air conditioner is nothing more than a dehumidifier so in essence chili peppers are cheap Frigidaires. 

The other sneaky thing about hot chilies: they make you want to put out the fire and boy does the body need water right now.

So there's dharma of the body for you, wisdom at least as old and proven as the Buddha's.


~Sandy Garson "Wordsmithing to attest how the Dharma saved me from myself!"
http://www.sandygarson.com
http://yoursinthedharma.blogspot.com/
Technorati Tags: Yours In The Dharma, Sandy Garson, Dharma, Buddhist, Buddhism, Spirituality, Religion This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 License.
Click here to request Sandy Garson for reprint permission.
Yours In The Dharma 2001-2010, Sandy Garson Copyright 2001-2010 Sandy Garson All rights Reserved