Vegetarian Cooking Classes at the Bhakti Yoga Club
February 18th, 2008 by Lori
Last Wednesday night, I attended a vegetarian cooking class, hosted by U of T’s Bhakti Yoga Club. It was a great experience for me, not only because I am a failed cook but I learned a ton about cooking and the food was tasty! Most of my food comes from cans, bottles, styrofoam containers, and plastic bags, so I really enjoyed that everything was also made from scratch, from the hand-whisked whipped cream on the homemade carob cake to the sauce on the fettucini alfredo.
The most unique thing I found about this cooking class was that we didn’t taste any of the food as we made it. Why?
At the Bhakti Yoga Club (or BYC, as we call it), we believe that you are what you eat, and that the consciousness that goes into the preparation of the food has a deep impact on the consciousness of the individual eating it. The process of ‘bhakti yoga’ teaches us that our real identity is that of a spirit soul, which is full of eternality, bliss and knowledge, and that mis-identification with our material body is the root cause of all sufferings. Therefore, as there is a need to feed and take care of our material body, likewise there is a need to take care of our spiritual self. The food that we eat is spiritualized food, which is made in the mood of devotion, as an offering to the Supreme Being and the ultimate source of real happiness, known as Krishna (confirmed in Vedic texts).
The BYC also offers weekly yoga classes and discussion groups on diverse topics like Karma, Reincarnation, Vegetarianism, and other aspects of the science of self-realization. They run a weekly vegetarian cafe, called Cafe 108, too. Every Tuesday, between 12-2 pm at the International Student Centre (ISC), you can find fresh meals for $5 a plate. The goal of their cooking classes and Cafe 108 (the weekly vegetarian café) is to provide the community at UofT, with a healthy, enjoyable and wholesome diet.
Want to participate in one of these events? Email bhaktiyogaclub [at] gmail [dot] com for more information or join their Facebook group.
March 17th, 2009 at 5:49 am
A very nice article Lori.
I like the way you casually draw attention to what is the unavoidable physical necessity to eat and to the fact that it can be enjoyed through not only the savoring of the taste but also the identification with having a particular way in which you can view the cooking and eating process.