Sutta Meditation Series

HOW DO YOU APPLY THE BUDDHA’S TEACHING TO FOOD OBSESSIONS & EATING DISORDERS? - Dhamma Q&A

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Welcome back to the Sutta Meditation Series Podcast.

A question received in relation to our examination of the Four Nutriments and Going the Four Wrong Ways:  

“I’m a bit of a foodie and I was wondering how big of a problem this can be when it comes to the Physical Nutriment. When we went through the Buddha’s teaching on how we should view food in the Son’s Flesh Sutta and then more recently the process of craving, it really made me look at my relationship with food. Do you have any advice on applying the Buddha’s teachings to food obsessions and even eating disorders?”  

The key to answering this question is about CORRECTING OUR MISAPPREHENSION OF FOOD (Physical Nutriment) - at the view level, thoughts and perceptions.  

To answer the question we examine: 

  • — and revisit the process of craving food  
  • — the process of going down the first unprofitable direction and the "bigger picture" of our predicament, not seeing the decay, and the danger of misapprehending food and creating habits and tendencies with the wrong view 
  • — the Buddha's four key terms of how we should consider food in the Puttamaṁsa Sutta 
  • — highlight the importance of the perception of the repulsiveness of food (ahārepaṭikūla) 
  • — run through a key meditation to help penetrate this Dhamma  

    • Some of the suttas that are directly or indirectly referred to: 

    • — Āhāra Sutta (SN 12.11) 
    • — Paṭiccasamuppāda Sutta (SN 12.1) 
    • — Samādhi-bhāvanā Sutta (SN 22.5) 
    • — Sekha-pāṭipada Sutta (MN53)
    • — Vipallāsa Sutta (AN 4.49) 
    • — Puttamaṁsa Sutta (SN 12.63) 
    • — Suttavebhaṅgiya (Pe 9) 
    • — Atthirāga Sutta (SN 12.64) 
    • — Saṁvara Sutta (SN 35.98) 
    • — Kummopama Sutta (SN 35.240)
    • — Asubha Sutta (AN 4.163)  
    • — Stories of Hungry Ghosts (Petavatthu)

      • To listen to the talk on Moderation in Eating (episode 26) as something to be developed in the Sekha-pāṭipada Sutta - https://bit.ly/3sVhJfb

      Bohoma pin to the person that asked this question.  

      A VIDEO of this DHAMMA Q&A with presentation slides has been published to the Sutta Meditation Series YouTube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSmL4boZsfg AND on Spotify as a video podcast

      Blessings of the Triple Gem. Theruwan saranai.

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