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Most of the people think that ahara is very important to human beings because it is the first and basic need of life and the sole means to release from hunger and thirst. It is correct, but this way of thinking has still not put forth the real importance of food in human life. An American idiom is: "Your eyes are bigger than your stomach." This means what we see is more important than what we eat and that we eat nonstop. We fill our stomach through until we are uncomfortable. Though we eat for many reasons, we have been feeding ourselves for many years; we still do not know what fully nourishes us. Really, most of us let our eyes decide what our bodies need, but in reality our thoughts or ideas about what we eat are more important than the food itself, what our stomach can hold, or what

15 we need in this moment for good, strong energy. 15 The food itself is no harmful but the manner and thought of a man who wants to consume it, this matter should be considered. When we are asked: who are you feeding? The answer cannot be the food itself or father and mother, but the very feelings or emotions of joy, anger, or anguish that arise when we are eating that are feeding ourselves. Thus, the importance of food will be evaluated by the very decision of awareness about how to eat, what to eat, and for what purpose to eat. From the above discussion and based on the Buddha's teaching on nourishment, the importance of nourishment in human life that contains both food for mind and food for body can be mentioned as follows: 1. It is important because it is the only medicine to save the hunger and thirst of body and to maintain longer life. Being aware of food like a medicine or antidote, man who will take moderate in food, will eat at right time. As a result, he can control his mind and his sexual pleasure and can develop mindfulness and responsiveness to his inner being. 2. It is vital because it nourishes the inner energy of man through the touch of sense organs. This means when one take moderate in food, his eyes or ears become flexible, consequently his eyes will be lucidly aware of the nature of forms and sights, lust for forms will not arise in him, and his mind will not be contaminated. 3. It is important because it nourishes will that is inclined to the responsibility for others, to the respect for others as man does for himself, to the development of compassion for all beings, to the protection of the environment like the protection of one's mother. 4. It is important because it has the ability to purify one's mind. or consciousness. Our consciousness is like a store, which contains both 15 Hale Sofia Schatz, If The Buddha Came To Dinner: How to Nourish Your body to Awaken Your Spirit, New York: Hyperion, 2003. p. 15.

16 good and bad things. Loving-kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity are the kinds of food to purify our mind. The above discussion, which obviously points out what the importance of ahara in human life is, has put forth the profound meaning of food and the purpose of food consumption. However, for human beings, the importance of food seem to be ignored and the food is not evaluated by one's mind how to eat and what to eat rightly for the growth of spirit or compassion. On the contrary, it is evaluated through the useful guidelines, models, and formulas in which the instructions are inclined to the aim of food consumption for sport, for indulgence, for - 16 personal charm, and for beautifying. These instructions constantly stimulate greed, hatred, sexual pleasure of human beings; hence, they are always subject to the food and face the sufferings. This is the reason why Lord Buddha has taught: "This body has come into being through food, is dependent on food; the food must be abandoned. According to the Buddha, the abandonment of food is that of suffering. ,,17 Having known the importance of ahara in human life, Lord Buddha taught about ahara to his followers with the view of the Truth of life, dukkha and dukkhanirodha or Nibbana in which ahara is regarded as the cause of suffering: ,,18 "Looking upon this pain that springs from the aharas as misery, Having seen the result of all aharas, no resorting to all aharas. According to Buddha's concept, ahara is categorized into four types of ahara viz, edible food edible food (kabalimkarahara,) sense impressions (phassahara,) volition (manosancetanahara,) and consciousness (vinnanahara) as recorded in many texts in Panca Nikaya as well as in 16 S. 11, 98, sutta No. 63. 17 A. II, 144, Bhikkhunisutta No. 9. 18 Suttanipata , v. 748.

17 Abhidhammapitka and other Commentaries. 19 The first is called food for the body, either gross or subtle that is processed as end-product after collecting from the environment and animal's flesh; the latter is called food for the mind that are feelings, and wishes. produced from the operation of the mind. These four nutriments are instrumental to the way individuals experience their lives and the extent to which they are happy or they suffer; they are prominent conditions for the individual lifecontinuity, for the sustaining of beings and for the assistance of those seeking birth. It is clear that all dhammas that are taught by Lord Buddha are quite related directly to the truth of life, the truth of suffering and the end of suffering, and ahara that is one of the dhammas, covers those values. Such a concept of ahara will be considered throughout the present study entitled "A Critical Study of Ahara and its importance as depicted in the Panca Nikaya" belongs to Pali Literature of Theravada Buddhist Sect.