All the ancient traditions state that the mental and emotional state of a cook is imparted into the food that cook prepares and is thus imparted into those who eat the food that cook prepares. If you prepare a meal while steeped in thoughts and emotions of anger, for example, those anger vibrations are absorbed by the food you are preparing and then consumed by those who eat the food. A cook can be preparing a very healthy and nutritious meal made of natural and organic food but that food will still become tainted by the vibrations being generated by the cook. Food that is prepared by a cook whose mind is empty of negative thought patterns and emotions and prepared in a state of mindfulness and love will be enhanced vibrationally. Whether for yourself or others, never cook while in a bad mood.

It has taken me a long time to become fully aware of this. In the past I have let my mind run amok while I cook; going over all the events of the day or plans for the next day. I let my hands do the cooking while in my mind I was thinking about the driver who pissed me off in traffic or the awful state of politics or my boss at work who treats everyone poorly or the unfair state of economic imbalance in our country. Cooking was a time to let my mind play back all the things that got me emotional upset in my life. And then I would eat the food that I cooked while emitting all these negative vibrations! I finally realized that all I was doing was feeding those negative vibrations and keeping them alive. And worse, I was feeding that food to others!

For me, it has been a hard habit to break. As soon as I start cooking my brain goes into overdrive. I now do a very short meditation before I start cooking and I try to maintain a mental state all the gurus call, 'mindfulness.' Personally, I think the term is misleading because it is more a matter turning the mind off--or at least turning all the recurring thoughts off. One is still alert but focused on the task at hand. It is then that I can project love into the food. It may be a subtle thing but over time I have realized that I now enjoy cooking more and I also enjoy eating more. I also feel healthier.

The downside to this is that I am now quite wary of eating out. Who knows what mental and emotional state the cooks back in the kitchen are in.