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Phalahari Diet

Phalāhāra is a diet of fruits, roots, and vegetables, excluding all grains and seeds. Milk products are permitted in very small quantities. Consuming large amounts of dairy, nuts, or excessive fruit contradicts the fast's purpose. For physical labor, strength from grains is necessary, making a simple meal preferable to an imbalanced observance. The ideal for spiritual practice is minimal nourishment like fruit and soup.

"Phalāhāra means no grains, no bread, no rice, no lentils."

"It is better you eat a little rice and vegetables."

Filming location: Strilky, Czech Republic

Swamiji has mentioned it many times, but I would like to ask again about the proper way of the phalāhāra diet for one day. One day of phalāhāra means to eat fruits. Phala means fruit. Āhāra means diet or nourishment. So, eat only fruits. You are asking for one day. Then milk and cheese... there is no more fasting, but phalāhāra means no large amounts of cheese and nothing from grains. No grains, but roots and vegetables are allowed. All kinds of vegetables, fruits, roots—everything is allowed—but no seeds. No grains, no bread, no rice, no lentils, no dal, and so on. And milk, very, very little. A very little in coffee, yes. Well, those observing phalāhāra do eat milk products—they drink milk, eat panīr (cheese), yogurt. But if you are using cow's milk from which the fat has not been removed, then it contains too much fat. And so then, it is better to eat one bread in her home. So you say, "I don't eat this and that," but you are taking one liter of milk, half a liter of yogurt, 500 grams of cheese, one basket full of fruits, one kilo of nuts, and potato... and what kind of phalāhāra is that? It is better you eat a little rice and vegetables in Hari Om. Rice is Annevattā. It is called Annevattā, the goddess of nourishment. In the Himalayas, between Nepal and India, there is one mountain—a big mountain, part of the Himalayas—called Annapūrṇa mountain. There is a beautiful temple of the goddess Annapūrṇā. It is said that to this divine mother Annapūrṇā, even the gods go asking her to give food. And anna means the grains, and also the soul travels through the grains. So seeds—not only wheat and corn, but there are also seeds in many vegetables. So in some way, bread, wheat, corn, barley, and this, what you call pohanka (buckwheat), which is always very important. But if you are rich enough, then import fruits from Japan, from India, from Africa, from South America by aeroplane, and eat only fruits. So, too much eating only fruits, and too much milk and cheese, and this and that, while saying "I am phalāhārī"—I do not accept this. For sādhanā, it is good if you eat a little fruit and vegetable soup, that's all. But you have to work physically, hard work, and you do not eat any more meat. So you need physical strength. Your buttered bread is your physical strength, and therefore you should eat this.

This text is transcribed and grammar corrected by AI. If in doubt what was actually said in the recording, use the transcript to double click the desired cue. This will position the recording in most cases just before the sentence is uttered.

The text contains hyperlinks in bold to three authoritative books on yoga, written by humans, to clarify the context of the lecture:

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