Why Does Diet Affect Buddhist Practice?

Question: Why does eating the five pungent foods give rise to lust and anger, and what does this have to do with the tathāgatagarbha?

Answer: Our food and drink all contain the four great element seeds of earth, water, fire, and wind. The proportions of the four great element seeds differ in each kind of food and drink, and so their nutritional value differs, as do their utilization and effects on the body. When the body absorbs these different four great elements, various different physiological reactions arise. The components of the five pungent foods, whether raw or cooked, also differ in the proportions of their four great elements; because the elements and nutrients differ, their effects on the body differ. Among those material components, some have the effect of causing sentient beings to develop lust and anger. For example, with the five pungent foods, eating them raw stimulates lust, and eating them cooked increases anger; both are foods that obstruct cultivation, preventing one's mental disposition from being tamed.

From the moment food enters the mouth through chewing, swallowing, digestion, absorption, and excretion, all of it is related to the tathāgatagarbha; all the various reactions of the body are related to the tathāgatagarbha—all are phenomena that the tathāgatagarbha, in accordance with the various conditions, has no choice but to cooperate in manifesting. Not only do the five pungent foods produce special adverse effects on the body and physiology, but smoking, drinking alcohol, taking drugs, and so on all have adverse effects on the body and physiology as well. These substances all contain components that stimulate the body; their composition of the four great elements differs from that of other substances. When the body absorbs these four great elements, the mind will produce abnormal emotions that are not easy to regulate, and thus one's mental state will undergo negative changes; it may even obstruct the birth of wisdom, resulting in the retribution of ignorance and delusion.