Cattāri Brahmavihārā

“When a man is always mindful,

Knowing moderation in the food he eats,

His ailments then diminish,

He ages slowly, guarding his life.”

For some time I have been experimenting with intermittent fasting in the hope that it would strengthen my resolve and help to generate compassion. Unfortunately,it doesn’t seem to have worked that way.

If anything, long periods of fasting have lead me to overeat and lose all restraint; the exact opposite of what I’ve been trying to achieve. My experiments with fasting have little to do with weight loss and everything to do with bringing the mind under control. Therefore, it’s time for a new approach.

What I hope to do is eat three meals a day but pay complete attention to the craving as I eat. By not allowing myself to eat mindlessly by snacking, I hope to see more clearly what I’m doing when I eat. It occurred to me that, currently, when I eat I continue until the pain of eating forces me to stop. So I bounce from the suffering of hunger to the suffering of being over full. I have a sneaking suspicion that one can never find a point of true satiety but this remains to be seen. If one could, though, what would be the point of the Dhamma?