The Middle Path
The Middle Path
1. What Did Buddha Sakyamuni Teach?
Buddha Sakyamuni encouraged us to follow the Middle Path - to avoid extremes and calm our minds. But what does that mean when it comes to our daily life?
2. Healing With Balance: Four Traditional Systems
Unani Medicine
Unani teaches moderation between the extremes of hot, cold, dry, and wet:
Too hot and dry: animal flesh, eggs, tobacco, strong cheeses, garlic, onions, chives - these overstimulate the mind and dry out the body.
Too cold and wet: cane sugar, processed sweeteners, milk, yogurt, tomatoes, potatoes, tropical fruit in winter - these dampen and chill the system.
Ayurveda
In Ayurveda, the goal is satvic food - pure, nourishing, and calming for the mind:
Satvic foods are organic whole grains, beans, lentils, fresh vegetables, and seaweed.
These foods support digestive harmony, calming the mind.
Macrobiotics
This approach works with yin and yang energies:
Excess yang foods can lead to anger, digestive issues, ulcers, and some cancers.
Excess yin foods can contribute to diabetes, asthma, emotional imbalance, and other conditions.
TAO Inner Alchemy
In the esoteric path of TAO Inner Alchemy, the body is a sacred temple of transmutation, containing three cauldrons aligned with the alchemical ascent of satva. The lower cauldron ( digestion) refines food into essence - an elixir that is the root of satva which then rises to the middle cauldron, located in the heart, where it transforms into overwhelming love. As the current flows upward into the upper cauldron, the crown, the mind is annihilated in the divine light.
In the end, all three levels - the gut, the heart, and the mind - become one single stream of consciousness. This is the quiescent, clear state of satva - a natural harmony beyond words, beyond effort - the living center of the Middle Path.
3. The Common Thread: Finding Balance
All four systems teach the same truth: avoiding extremes is key to health, clarity, and spiritual growth. The ideal diet is whole, organic, nourishing, and neutral - perfectly balanced for both body and mind.
4. Beyond Food: Living the Middle Path
Ramana Maharshi clearly understood satvic food and said that of all the practises that people perform, that of eating satvic food is the best. It is from his teaching that we know where the sweet spot is for liberation.
Between sleep and wakefulness is where true awareness lies.
In deep sleep, the mind is inactive and unaware.
When we’re awake, the mind is active and engaged.
The Middle Path lies in that space - awake yet mind inactive.
In that moment of pure, effortless awareness, true transformation happens.
Digestive harmony in the lower “cauldron” generates the love elixir.
That love rises to the heart cauldron.
Finally, love ascends to the upper cauldron, dissolving the mind entirely.
What remains is pure, awakened being - the essence of the Buddha mind.
The realization of Love is the very essence of the Middle Path, representing an alchemical transition away from extremes and toward pure Satva. From a practical, evolutionary standpoint, this sacred love - which has no direction, is not attached to any individual or object, and is the eternal substratum from which all phenomena emerge - is realized at the digestive level of the body. Echoing Krishna’s assertion in the Gita, "love is my nature," this beingness exists in pure being, total silence, and absolute emptiness, realized only when the transient, conditioned mind is dissolved. Human consciousness, fueled by sentiment and emotion, can never fully embody this love; attachment to transient phenomena remains the sole barrier.
This is where the principles of Satva become essential. Harilal Poonja observed that a Dharmic life filled with right actions, particularly a devotion to a Satvic diet, begins the process of mitigating the consequences of extreme attachment. Satva is the most basic force regulating karma, gradually purifying the mind until it is indistinguishable from true freedom. Once this Satvic balance dominates, spontaneous signs arise without effort or merit: humbleness, stillness, ahimsa (non-violence), and a healthy body. This internal spontaneity signifies that the journey - which never truly existed - is complete; the realization of love is the realization of the Buddha mind, where Self will simply reveal Self to Self. It is not the mind which makes the decision to be free. All will come that will come – make no effort or seek happiness.
5. Why It Matters
All Buddhas are called “the awakened ones” because they’ve realized this freedom: fully aware, yet free from the chattering mind. That’s the heart of the Middle Path - balanced living that naturally leads to clarity, compassion, and liberation from the mind. It’s that sweet spot between extremes where the mind dissolves, awareness blooms, and the true nature of the Buddha mind is realized.
The Middle Path
1. What Did Buddha Sakyamuni Teach?
Buddha Sakyamuni encouraged us to follow the Middle Path - to avoid extremes and calm our minds. But what does that mean when it comes to our daily life?
2. Healing With Balance: Four Traditional Systems
Unani Medicine
Unani teaches moderation between the extremes of hot, cold, dry, and wet:
Too hot and dry: animal flesh, eggs, tobacco, strong cheeses, garlic, onions, chives - these overstimulate the mind and dry out the body.
Too cold and wet: cane sugar, processed sweeteners, milk, yogurt, tomatoes, potatoes, tropical fruit in winter - these dampen and chill the system.
Ayurveda
In Ayurveda, the goal is satvic food - pure, nourishing, and calming for the mind:
Satvic foods are organic whole grains, beans, lentils, fresh vegetables, and seaweed.
These foods support digestive harmony, calming the mind.
Macrobiotics
This approach works with yin and yang energies:
Excess yang foods can lead to anger, digestive issues, ulcers, and some cancers.
Excess yin foods can contribute to diabetes, asthma, emotional imbalance, and other conditions.
TAO Inner Alchemy
In the esoteric path of TAO Inner Alchemy, the body is a sacred temple of transmutation, containing three cauldrons aligned with the alchemical ascent of satva. The lower cauldron ( digestion) refines food into essence - an elixir that is the root of satva which then rises to the middle cauldron, located in the heart, where it transforms into overwhelming love. As the current flows upward into the upper cauldron, the crown, the mind is annihilated in the divine light.
In the end, all three levels - the gut, the heart, and the mind - become one single stream of consciousness. This is the quiescent, clear state of satva - a natural harmony beyond words, beyond effort - the living center of the Middle Path.
3. The Common Thread: Finding Balance
All four systems teach the same truth: avoiding extremes is key to health, clarity, and spiritual growth. The ideal diet is whole, organic, nourishing, and neutral - perfectly balanced for both body and mind.
4. Beyond Food: Living the Middle Path
Ramana Maharshi clearly understood satvic food and said that of all the practises that people perform, that of eating satvic food is the best. It is from his teaching that we know where the sweet spot is for liberation.
Between sleep and wakefulness is where true awareness lies.
In deep sleep, the mind is inactive and unaware.
When we’re awake, the mind is active and engaged.
The Middle Path lies in that space - awake yet mind inactive.
In that moment of pure, effortless awareness, true transformation happens.
Digestive harmony in the lower “cauldron” generates the love elixir.
That love rises to the heart cauldron.
Finally, love ascends to the upper cauldron, dissolving the mind entirely.
What remains is pure, awakened being - the essence of the Buddha mind.
The realization of Love is the very essence of the Middle Path, representing an alchemical transition away from extremes and toward pure Satva. From a practical, evolutionary standpoint, this sacred love - which has no direction, is not attached to any individual or object, and is the eternal substratum from which all phenomena emerge - is realized at the digestive level of the body. Echoing Krishna’s assertion in the Gita, "love is my nature," this beingness exists in pure being, total silence, and absolute emptiness, realized only when the transient, conditioned mind is dissolved. Human consciousness, fueled by sentiment and emotion, can never fully embody this love; attachment to transient phenomena remains the sole barrier.
This is where the principles of Satva become essential. Harilal Poonja observed that a Dharmic life filled with right actions, particularly a devotion to a Satvic diet, begins the process of mitigating the consequences of extreme attachment. Satva is the most basic force regulating karma, gradually purifying the mind until it is indistinguishable from true freedom. Once this Satvic balance dominates, spontaneous signs arise without effort or merit: humbleness, stillness, ahimsa (non-violence), and a healthy body. This internal spontaneity signifies that the journey - which never truly existed - is complete; the realization of love is the realization of the Buddha mind, where Self will simply reveal Self to Self. It is not the mind which makes the decision to be free. All will come that will come – make no effort or seek happiness.
5. Why It Matters
All Buddhas are called “the awakened ones” because they’ve realized this freedom: fully aware, yet free from the chattering mind. That’s the heart of the Middle Path - balanced living that naturally leads to clarity, compassion, and liberation from the mind. It’s that sweet spot between extremes where the mind dissolves, awareness blooms, and the true nature of the Buddha mind is realized.
You can read more in the book Sacred Holistic Health.
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