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A person considers the origin of their food, its contents, and the energy it contains. When you offer food to God, it is neutralized. Otherwise, food affects not only the body but also the mind, emotions, intellect, and everything else. There was once a thief, a very aggressive and strong man whom people feared. He would steal or demand money from shopkeepers with threats. One day, walking through a forest, he saw a holy saint, a sādhu, sitting in meditation. The thief stood for ten minutes, wondering what the man was doing. Merely by looking at him, the thief's vṛttis, his mental modifications, began to change. The image you see evokes a corresponding feeling. Seeing a picture of your mother awakens love for her. A picture of your father awakens love for him. Seeing a picture of a baby kangaroo or a piglet awakens love for the young. Whether it's a bird or a human child, love arises. When you see a holy person, that sacred love awakens within you. The thief thought, "Many people say that inviting a saint or giving them food is good karma. Offering food or clothing is a virtuous act. In my life, I have done only terrible karmas; I have killed people, beaten them, and destroyed property. Perhaps some of my karma will improve if I invite him for food." He decided not to rob the sādhu, who possessed only a water pot, a stick, a mālā, and a couple of cloths. The thief approached the yogī and said, "Praṇām. Bless you." The yogī asked, "Where have you come from?" The thief replied, "Sir, I wish to ask if you have had your lunch today." The yogī said, "No, I have not had my lunch yet." "May I invite you, please? I can even bring the food here for you." The yogī inquired, "What is your profession?" The thief said, "Well, I do not wish to lie in this case; otherwise, I never tell anyone. When someone asks my profession, I usually give them a slap on the cheek. But my profession is that I am a kind of thief and bandit." The yogī said, "Then I will not take your food." "Why not?" "I will not take it because your food will not have good energy. You have to eat." "No, no, why should I eat? I will not eat." The man left with a strong saṅkalpa, a firm resolve: "He must eat my lunch, my dinner; I will provide for him." He went to a restaurant five kilometers away, armed with pistols and knives. The restaurant owner trembled at the sight of him. The thief sat down and called the owner over. "Yes, sir, what can I do? Please eat or drink something." "No, no. There is a sādhu sitting under a tree five kilometers from here. Bring freshly cooked, nice food to him immediately. Here is the money; how much will it cost?" "No, no, sir, I don't want money. It is my great privilege to do something." "Next time; this time I will pay." The man brought the food to the sādhu, who was very happy and blessed him. "Where did you bring this food from?" "From my restaurant, sir." "Do you have a restaurant?" "Yes." "Okay." After eating the food, the sādhu felt an urge to go to a village, whereas he usually stayed in the forest. He went to the village, where there was a beautiful temple of Lord Śiva. His feelings began to change; many vṛttis, many thoughts, were shifting. There was an evening prayer. They opened the curtain of the altar, which is always kept closed out of respect, opened only for satsaṅg or prayer. When they opened it, there was a beautiful golden statue of Śiva, weighing about three to five kilos. The pujārī, the priest, performed the āratī with a few people present, and the sādhu stood among them. When he saw the gold, the thief's food began to work. His buddhi, his intellect, was breached; his thoughts changed: "If I can have this five-kilo gold statue, I will be very rich. But how should I take it?" After a few minutes: "Oh, this is stupid. What will I do with the gold? It will be a burden for me." But again and again, as this food entered his bloodstream and began to influence his psyche and mind, the thought returned. After the pūjā prayer, they closed the curtains, locked the temple, and retired. Downstairs, a room was given to sādhus to stay, and the pujārī slept in another room. They slept early, around eight-thirty or nine in the evening. But the sādhu could not sleep. At one o'clock, hearing that the paṇḍit was asleep, he got up slowly. He tried to break the lock to enter the temple. He took the Śiva statue and gave it a big hug, moving it this way and that—it was fixed with white cement and was not easy to move. Śiva was happy: "Who is giving me such a big hug today?" The sādhu looked around to see if anyone was watching. He managed to move the statue, took it, and ran away. At 3:30, during the Brahma Muhūrta morning prayer when Śiva should be awakened, the pujārī came. He performed āratī with fruits, opened the curtains with mantras to wake the deity, and began the ceremony. The statue was missing. He rang the bell for a long time. Many strong young men from the village came running. "What happened?" "The statue is stolen." "Do you know who it could be?" "I do not know." "Was there anyone else here?" "No, only one sādhu. He is sleeping downstairs in the room." "Are you sure he is there?" They went to the room. It was open. What was inside? A spider. The young men—like Sukadev Purī, Dayāl Purī, and Durgā Purī—saw a chance for action. Young boys are always searching for a command to attack. With torchlights, they saw footsteps in the sand and quickly followed the trail. The sādhu had already run a few kilometers. As dawn rose, they saw a man running and began to approach him closely. He saw the crowd behind him and knew trouble was coming—so many people would make "ketchup" out of him. But as he ran and ran, sweating profusely, all the food he had eaten from the thief was finally digested. His buddhi became normal again while running. But how to protect himself now? He saw a beautiful lake about a hundred meters away. He said, "Thank you, Lord Śiva." He ran toward the lake, with the pursuers only fifty meters behind. He reached the water and called to them, "Come quickly!" They came. "You are a thief!" They picked up stones. "Do not worry. Do not talk too much, because Śiva told me in the night, 'No one has bathed me for so long. I want to have a bath in the lake, but bring me before the sun rises.' Boys, come, help me." Everybody said, "Oṃ Namaḥ Śivāya. Oṃ Tryambakaṃ Yajāmahe Sughandhiṃ Puṣṭi Vardhanam. Abhiṣeka." The yogī massaged Śiva's body and cleaned it, and they all helped. Then they wrapped it in a towel, and he said, "Let us run back to the temple." They ran and brought the statue back to its place on the altar. He said, "Thank you, Lord Śiva, it was hard work." The sun was rising, and Śiva's statue shone because it was cleaned nicely. He said, "Look how happy Śiva is, shining." They said, "You are a great master. Śiva never spoke to us." He replied, "You have to understand Śiva's language." They were all very happy with him. Inwardly, the sādhu thought, "Thank you, Lord, thank you. You protected me, but why did these thoughts come to my mind to steal the gold?" He reflected and remembered, "Yesterday, a man offered me food and said he was a thief, and I refused. I must go to that restaurant and ask if they really brought the food from there and what the background was." He went to the restaurant owner and asked. The owner said, "Yes, your holiness, you know the very famous bandit ordered it. I cannot refuse anything, and this food was paid by him." The sādhu said, "Everything is clear." It is not only that food comes to your table and you begin to eat. You should know how your food came to you. You took it from someone. Did someone experience great pain because of it? There are many, many considerations. It is beneficial for us to know how and from where our food came. Often, milk is not given to the calf; all the milk is taken to sell for money, and the calf gets only a little. There are different kinds of feeders or injections. So the food and drink you consume influence not only your physical being but also your psyche, your mind, and so on. Therefore, if you can pray and offer your food to God, it is said to be neutralized. So, before eating, pray—you know how to do it—or offer it, or at least say, "Thank you, Lord, for giving me this. Please accept it and give me only prasāda." Then you eat. Dīp Nārāyaṇ Bhagavān kī. This means the prasāda. Whatever you eat is a prasāda. Whatever you cook is a prasāda. Make it a practice not to taste the food before offering it. Once you have eaten, God will not accept it. So, offer it to God first. It is also said that when someone is cooking, you should not enter the kitchen. And if you do come into the kitchen, never say, "Oh, it smells good." You have already tasted it in your mind. First, God has to accept it. Smelling is okay, but do not express it. Third, when someone brings food to another person, do not look and say, "Oh, it is very nice." That person may get a stomach ache or lose their appetite for that kind of food forever. In every society, it is said: do not look at someone eating and say, "Oh, very good, it looks nice." Not like that. You may say, "Good appetite, enjoy your meal." There is something very, very important in this. So, offer your food to God.