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What is Prasad?
In all relationships we can seek either at the lowest level or at the
highest level. That depends on us. For instance, when we have food we
can eat merely for animal satisfaction, for taste, or we can eat in
such a way that it becomes a spiritual thing, contributing not only
to our physical satisfaction, physical growth, but also to our spiritual
growth. This is the idea incidentally of "Prasad".
A prasad is always sweet, but all sweets are not prasad; precisely
because the Divine essence is infused by one who is capable of doing
it, into that sweet. It is offered with love and devotion to the Almighty,
His presence is invoked into it, it becomes Divinised; therefore it
becomes a prasad.
A prasad is not to be eaten in kilos; not even in ounces; it should
be taken in such a small quantity, that it is not thrown out of the
system at all; because it is a Divine thing. It has been Divinised.
So what goes in should not come out. Therefore it is said Anumathra.
The Gita says that prasad, taken with devotion, removes all diseases,
misery, from the system. Not because it was cooked well, or from a Chinese
recipe book, but because it was offered to the Lord with devotion and
love by the devotee, and in accepting it He blesses it. When He blesses
it, His spirit flows into it, therefore it becomes prasad. It may be
chocolates, it may be biscuits, it may be anything.
Prasad is a very potent thing. And it should be taken with great respect,
with great humility, with great devotion as something Divine offered
to us by the Divine. Otherwise it is frivolous. The second thing about
prasad is that, not every thing becomes prasad. Few people know how
to offer prasad.
We are advised by the Master, when we sit down to eat, just to offer
the food to the Master mentally and eat it. But prasad is different
from offering the food to the Master and eating it ourselves you see.
So, don't think every time somebody gives you something, it is prasad.
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