In ANTHROPOSOPHICAL SPIRITUAL SCIENCE as a PATH of TRUE COGNITION
it is explained that our ability to gain knowledge about the world we live
in is dependent upon three factors:
- on our capacity of perception by means of the various
sense organs that mediate to us percepts (impressions of something seen,
heard, tasted, etc.);
- on our capacity of thinking by means of which we evolve
concepts
(mental images, thoughts, ideas) about what we perceive;
- on our basic soul mood that permeates all our striving for the
attainment of knowledge. [1] This includes also our
feelings of sympathy or antipathy towards what we perceive.
The link between food and the second factor is addressed in the
nutritional principle NUTRITION AND CAPACITY OF
THINKING. The link between food and the third factor is addressed in the
nutritional principle FOOD AND SOUL MOOD. In
this nutritional principle we will focus on the link between food and our
capacity of perception.
The Supersensible Nature of the Processes of Perception
The role of senses in our life is evident at once when we ask the
question: “How is it we gain any knowledge at all of the sense world? The
answer is simple: By means of our senses. By means of the ear we acquire
knowledge of the world of sound, by means of the eye knowledge of the world
of colour and form, and so on. We know the sense world through the medium of
our sense organs. A man who confronts this world of the senses in an
ordinary everyday manner receives impressions of it and then forms his
judgments” [2] about what he perceives.
Therefore when we are “reflecting upon perception, we have the feeling
that with it we are directly in touch with the outer world. Through
perception we interiorise the outer world; it furnishes something which
belongs to our inner being.” [3] At the same time we are aware that “every
failing or defect in the life of perception and of sensation, every
distortion of the senses means that our inner life is impoverished through
our becoming poorer with respect to what we are able to obtain from the
outer world.” [4] This means that our senses must be in good condition to be
able to perform their tasks. If for some reason a specific sense organ,
let’s say the eye, is malfunctioning to a slight measure then we may have
problems with short-sightedness or long-sightedness; in more serious cases
some people cannot see colours; and in an extreme case people can become
blind and consequently lose completely the capacity of perception of light,
colours and forms of the outer world.
In comparison with a scientific approach to the study of the functions
of human sense organs which is focused exclusively on the physiological
activities, spiritual science right away from the start draws attention to
the fact that “when a human being receives impressions of the outer world,
he actually receives into his consciousness only a small portion of what
really surges in upon him. When in the physical world, he opens his sense
organs and the intellect connected with his brain and nervous system; when
he considers the world and tries to explain what comes to him in this way,
only a small portion of what surges in upon him really attains the form of
ideas – only a tiny portion really enters the consciousness of man. Light
and colour contain much more than what enters man's consciousness. In sound
there is much more than what comes into the consciousness of man.” [5] And
this is valid also for the rest of the sense perceptions.
Now we will describe that hidden part of the sense perceptions which is
needed for the purpose of this nutritional principle. If we look at the
nature of sense organs, we can see that “the etheric body is not completely
within the physical body, but it has, as it were, left pieces of the
physical body for themselves; the etheric body does not penetrate the whole
of the physical body. Thus there are places in the physical body of man
which are not filled with the etheric body. It is owing to this fact that
the sense organs have attained their present form. For example, we have in
the eye something you can compare with the purely physical workings of a
photographer's apparatus. It is just as if a piece had been left out in the
general penetration of the physical body by the etheric body. And that is
what has actually happened. It is the same case with the inner ear where
there is a kind of keyboard in the labyrinth of the ear. And it is the same
with all the senses – everywhere we can find a preponderance of physical
body over etheric body.” [6]
However, this doesn’t mean that in our sense organs there is no
occurrence of etheric activity. The above description refers to the
relationship of our own etheric body to the senses which are organs of our
physical body. Due to this very relationship something else is possible: the
sense-organs become the doors through which can enter the etheric streams
from the outside world. This is not true only for the present role of the
senses, but also in the case of their origin. For example, “the eyes have
gradually come into being through the working of the inner forces of light
upon our organism. The etheric forces of light which play around the earth
are inwardly connected with the formation of our eyes; even though the
foundations for the eyes (spiritual archetypes) were already in existence,
yet by the formation of the eye, by its position in the organism, the eye is
inwardly connected with the forces of the light-ether of the earth. In the
same way, our sense of taste is connected with the forces of the
chemical-ether of the earth, out of which for the most part it is developed.
Our sense of smell is connected with the life-ether of the earth.”
[7] And
our sense of warmth is connected with the warmth-ether; and sense of hearing
with the tone ether which can only work only indirectly through the medium
of the air surrounding the earth. [8]
Now we can ask: What is happening with these ethers when we perceive
with our senses? We will take for an example again the eyes. “Rays of light
penetrate the eye, they plant themselves within the eye as far as the
retina. There they call up chemical processes. The working of this stimulus
is carried through the optic nerve to the brain. These are physical
life-processes which, if man could observe them, he would see as physical
processes similar as are carried on otherwise in the outer world. But the
perception of the colour blue which the recipient of the rays of light has,
can never be found in this way. It exists in the soul of the recipient. Man
receives from all sides through his senses impressions of the outer world,
that means he is the recipient, he is in a passive relation to the world. He
also reacts to these impressions through his feelings; that means he
responds in all directions to the impressions of the outer world, and
therewith stands in an active relation to the world. The two ways in which
man is related to the outer world are really quite different from one
another. The process through which a sense impression becomes a reality is
an etheric process. The sense impression from the outer world produces an
inner experience, an inner activity, and this source of inner activity is
called in spiritual science the sentient soul [9] – that is, that part of
the astral body which is permeating those nerves inside the sense organs and
those connected to them.
Effect of Carbon Ether on the Capacity of Perception
From the content of EARTHLY NUTRITIONAL STREAM
it is evident that our food provides substances for the physiological
activities of the nerve-sense system which form the basis for the spiritual
activities of perceiving and thinking. Now we will look at one particular
aspect of this complex relationship – on the impact of carbon on the nerves
and senses.
As is explained in WHOLEFOOD vs REFINED FOOD,
in our digestive tract we break down proteins,
carbohydrates and fats into simple molecules:
amino acids,
simple sugars, fatty acids and
glycerol.
All these molecules contain carbon which forms the so-called carbon framework to
which oxygen, nitrogen and hydrogen are linked. In this manner we receive
inside our metabolic system the element carbon. But this carbon is not used
directly for CREATION OF HUMAN PROTEINS
because before it becomes part of our organism it needs to go through the
processes of TRANSUBSTANTIATION OF
MINERALS.
For that reason "the human being is involved in a very, very complicated
activity when he manufactures his own protein. First he divides proteins he
has eaten into their separate parts and puts the carbon from them into his
body everywhere. As we know we inhale oxygen from the air and that this
oxygen combines with the carbon we have in us from proteins and other food
elements. And we exhale carbon in carbon dioxide, keeping a part of it
back." [10] What is retained is not, of course, carbon
in its physical form, but carbon in the etheric condition of matter.
However, there is something else happening in the process of breathing: "Before carbon is exhaled, it becomes the benefactor, so to speak, of the
human organism for, before it leaves the human organization, it lets
ether stream out everywhere
in the organism. Physiologists merely state that carbon is exhaled with the
carbon dioxide. This, however, is only one side of the whole process. Man
exhales carbon dioxide; but, due to the process of exhalation, ether is left
behind everywhere in the organism; ether is left by the carbon when it is taken
up by the oxygen. This ether penetrates into man's ether body, and it is
this ether, continually produced by the carbon, which makes the human
organization capable of opening itself to the spiritual influences,
of absorbing astral and etheric impulses from the cosmos. The ether left
behind by carbon attracts the cosmic impulses which in turn impose form
principles on man. They prepare the nervous system, for example, so that it
can be the bearer of thoughts. This ether must continually be present in our
senses, in our eyes, for example, so that they may be able to see, to
receive the outer light ether. Thus we are indebted to carbon for the supply
of ether within us that enables us to come into contact with the outside
world. The metabolic system paves the way for all this" [11]
activity.
Therefore we can summarize that in the phenomenon of
sense perception we have cooperation of:
- the physical body
which provides the physical structure of a sense organ to enable entrance
for selected etheric streams from the outer world;
- the carbon ether which by the mediation of own
etheric body prepares the sense organ and associated nerves to be
capable of receiving an incoming etheric stream;
- the astral body which receives the
etheric stream that carry information; this consequently produces a sense
impression in the sentient soul.
In this manner we are during the day constantly receiving a multitude of
sense impressions which carry specific information about the world around
us. However, this would not be possible without the ether produced by carbon
which enters our body in the food we consume. This ether permeates our
nerves and senses and thus enables the inflow of sense impressions from the
outer world. Although we are surrounded by the physical world, the only
‘things’ that can enter into our being via physical senses are streams of
etheric substances which carry etheric forces, cosmic astrality and
spiritual forces which are active behind the things, beings and phenomena of
this world.
For a complementary perspective see:
♦ NUTRITION AND CAPACITY OF THINKING
DIETARY CONCLUSIONS & PRACTICAL INSTRUCTIONS
In regard to the importance of carbon in our food we need to know that
the human organism has some reserves of carbon and therefore the lack of
food will not have an immediate negative effect on the capacity of
perception. Only in the case of prolonged food
shortage can the negative consequences of the lack of carbon ether
be seen. This is confirmed by “observations in starvation areas of Central
Europe during the wars. Malnutrition first shows itself in nerve-sense
degeneration, symptomized by forgetfulness, nervous depletion, inability to
think, and so on, to disturbances of sight and hearing.” [12] Nowadays
these symptoms are appearing in to a great extent in the most developed
western countries. This is not such surprise if we consider that in these
countries numerous people consume large quantities of the worst quality of
food – junk food.
Therefore the best way of getting enough carbon in the most suitable
'package' is to eat real food – such as barley, Swede, kale, beans, apples,
etc. – which some people today call superfood.
Other designations for such food are: natural, traditional, organic,
biodynamic, and wild. In regard to the term ‘natural’ one needs to be aware
that not all foods carrying label 'natural' are really natural. Such
labelling is not properly regulated and for that reason there is no warranty
that all food labelled as 'natural' is really produced with natural
substances and methods in all phases of growing and processing.
♣ See
HOLISTIC FOOD 'PYRAMID'
for the list of real natural foods.
In regard to the topic of carbon it is interesting that carbon dioxide is
one of the primary nutrients of plants. Plants obtain 97% of their substance
from the air (through the process of photosynthesis) and only 3% from
nutrients in the soil. [13] If we add to this the fact that the
primary component of plants is carbohydrate, then one can anticipate that there
must be some qualitative advantage of plant food in
comparison to meat food in regard to the effect of carbon ether. [14]
WARNING: You always have to put the above
practical dietary instructions inside the framework of
GENERAL NUTRITIONAL
GUIDELINES with the aim to know their limits when looking for a solution
of a specific nutritional problem. You also need to be familiar with
THE ROLE OF NUTRITIONAL GUIDELINES
with the aim to avoid any one-sided conclusions.
