Eating to much is not good for health.

At a time of Buddha’s staying in Savatthi. At that moment, the King Pasenadi of Kosala country usually ate hearthy meals..

After enjoying the meal, he came to prostrate the Buddha and sat beside him.

Knowing King Pasenadi was full and happy, Buddha said in a verse:

 People should keep right mindfulnesss

Eating just enough

Enough for long life

Slow aging, longevity.

 At the moment, King Pasenadi called the Brahmin young man Sudassana, the servant, standing after him.:

Hey! Learn by heart and remind me Buddha’s verses whenever you serve the meal. I will give you one hundred gold coins every time.

 Sudassana boy obeyed the king, he learned by heart the verses and read it whenever he served the King.

 Then, King Pasenadi ate abstemiously until the time his full meal is just a nàlika. After a while, the King became healthy and he self-massaged his limbs and expressed the following words of inspiration, ’Oh, Buddha really cares for me in both present and future!’

(ĐTKVN (*), Samyutta I, chapter 3, section 2, part: Great Eating, VNCPHVN (**) published, 1993, page 186)

 COMMENTS:

Daily eating is the best way to bring the outside nutrition into our body to feed and raise it and rebuild the strength. However, eating without moderation or without choosing reasonable food is the reason that causes diseases. So, from long time ago, ‘Food imported from mouth disease’ is an experience, a common knowledge of eating for everyone.

 Nowadays, there are diseases that relate closely to lacking abstemious diet such as: obesity, incurable and dangerous health and age, especially at the developing country. Eating too much and lacking of action make body gain weight quickly and manydiseases which are hard to be cured.

 So, with Buddha’s wisdom, he let his fellows eat one meal a day and walk for alms-giving every day as practice. Reasonable diet and exercise along with spirit training by meditation, Buddhists are easy to improve their wisdom and gain the Holy fruit.

 Beside nurturing and developing merciful mind, the vegetarian tradition of Buddhism is also the nutritional therapy which is very good for health, especially the aspects of the nutrition and pureness. Science in nutrition and therapy have demonstrated specifically that thing. Applying and practising as the Buddha’s taught, vegetarian eating and walking are becoming modernity and being applied widely all over the world, especially in United State of America and the Western Country.

In Viet Nam, although the obesity caused by overeating is not a social problem yet, its sign appears at the cities on women, children, teenagers and a part of men who drink muh wine and beer. Following King Pasenadi example, the Buddhists must be patient, tolerant and moderate in eating; having vegetarian food to have a fit and strong body along with the lucid and smart spirit. That is also the best way to improve the kindness, increase the age, decrease the disease and live as the Buddha’s taught. 

 Website Editorial Board.

Translated into English by Nguyen Khanh Hoa.