Author's note: This is the twenty-fifth installment of a column that explores a new diet based on spiritual rather than physical paradigms.  It is arranged in "bite-sized chunks" that come to you each Friday and that build on each other.  It is sometimes called the "eat-half" diet and is guaranteed to bring about significant weight loss if followed diligently.  It is built around some surprisingly simple concepts that require discipline and commitment (and practice) to implement — these physical principles (outlined in the first 12 columns) lay the foundation for the more enlightening and revealing mental and spiritual concepts which follow. The next twelve columns have been devoted to expanding from the physical to the mental. This week, we make the final paradigm shift — going to the Spiritual Diet. Your challenge as a participant is to put the principles into practice each week as they come to you in a sequence that builds from the physical to the mental to the spiritual.  If you missed any of the earlier columns, catch up by clicking here to go to the Bridell archives.  And remember that Dr Bridell appreciates feedback and comments as well as questions that you can send to him or her by clicking here.

Think of this column as an "intermission" between the mental and the spiritual parts of the Bridell diet.  In it, we will review where we have been so far in this column and look forward toward the "final third" of the diet, which will run over the next several weeks.

The Physical

First, here’s a little recap of the journey we have taken so far as we have followed Bridell’s diet.  The first several episodes laid out the physical "eat-half" diet, and, wow, has it ever been working for Meridian readers.  It seems that different individuals found different ways to get into the diet.  Some found the "sip and savor" approach appealing, others liked the "give back" or "water first" or "poetry" techniques. But the point is, it works.  Here is just one sample of recent feedback from a Meridian reader:

The Mental

But the promise of the diet is more than physical, more than the loss of weight.  The promise is that you will be "lighter" not only in terms of weight but in terms of illumination and optimism. Lighter in mind and in mood as well as in body. We moved on, in the past dozen columns, to the mental diet, applying every "type" learned from the physical diet to the way we think and the way we live as well as to the way we eat.

Much of the mental diet has been the realization that awareness and perspective can lift us above our urges and appetites.  The more aware we are, the less greedy.  The broader our perspective, the less gluttonous we are.

And it was Christ, of course, that taught us to elevate all truth and all commandments from the physical to the metal.  In place of "don't kill," He said "don't be angry."  And instead of "don't commit adultery," He said "don't lust."

Essentially then, physical appetites are controlled with mental attitudes and disciplines. If we sip and savor, concentrating on the taste and joy and quality of eating (with our minds) we bring the physical appetite to eat under our mental control.  The horse and bridle metaphor works at every level. By bridling the horse’s head, we control his body. 

The apostle James put it perfectly:

The Spiritual

The problem is that physical appetites are not the only ones we have.  There are also social/emotional/mental appetites, lusts, and passions that can destroy us if we let them have their way and take control of our lives.  They can work for us or against us depending on which way we lead them.  So here is the question:  If it is the mental that can bridle and control the physical appetites, what is it that can bridle and control the mental appetites.  The answer, of course, is the spiritual.

Just as we must elevate our physical appetites to the mental level in order to bridle them, we must elevate our mental appetites to the spiritual level in order to bridle them.

These three levels represent three completely different ways of thinking and of being.  When we live on the physical level, we are animals — obeying our instincts, appetites, urges and lusts, and following the law of the jungle.  When we live on the mental level, we are rational, decision-making human beings — analyzing, making conscious choices based on what we think is good and what we think makes sense, and following the laws of logic and of men. When we live on the spiritual level, we are children of God — seeking His will, taping His power, striving to do what is right and what is His will, and living by His law.

Even if you know that you exist on all three planes, physical, mental, and spiritual, it is not easy to elevate yourself up to the higher levels. When you look at another person, what do you see, what do you perceive, what are you interested in?  Are you inclined to see a person's body and appearance, or his mind, or his spirit?

Oh that we could see the spirit more easily. 

In India, the standard greeting (instead of hello or how are you) is "Namistay" which, literally translated, means "I see the divine spark within you."  Oh that we really could see that part of each person we meet.

Appetites can be identified and classified (and potentially controlled) on these same three levels. Physical appetites such as food and sex, when they are left to the physical, become gluttony and perversion.  When they are bridled by the mental they both provide us with and allow us to express nourishment and love and joy. 

Mental/emotional/social appetites (such as those for power, control, popularity, and wealth), if they are given their head, can run away to selfish obsessions for dominion, materialism, and fame — or, they can be bridled and transformed to the spiritual desire for stewardship, wisdom, contribution and discipleship.

So here is the secret:  Spiritual appetites are all good.  True spiritual desires are all for aspects and dimensions of the Lord's will. Spiritual appetites are for truth, wisdom, faith, insight, righteousness, and for eternal awareness, perspective, and connections. 

Unlike physical appetites (which, unchecked, will always harm us) and mental appetites (which can result in bad or good depending on our skill with the bridle), spiritual appetites — the urges and longings and desires of our spirits — all draw us to Home and to God.  The trick (and the ultimate goal of the Bridell diet) is first to put the physical under the control of the mental bridle, and then to transform our mental appetites into spiritual ones (where the bridle becomes the will of God's mind rather than of our own.)

Now, during the course of the next several weeks, we will progress and elevate to the Spiritual diet.  But as we do, remember that the benefits and dividends are still physical and mental as well.  The better you get at the mental and spiritual diets, the more you will control your physical weight. The principles remain the same on all levels.  And the techniques and control methods you have learned and continue to practice for the food diet are good training as well as good metaphors for the mental and spiritual diets. 

Actually, developing and honing your positive and beneficial Spiritual appetites gives you the ultimate control of your negative and potentially harmful physical and mental appetites.  Remember this as we shift paradigms in the next several columns: The Spiritual diet is more than a better bridle, it is a shift of horses.  And the Spiritual horse, you see, does not need a bridle at all.  It is a horse you can trust, a horse that knows the way Home. It is a horse that was sent to you, and that can transform its rider to resemble its Sender.

Remember that Dr. Bridell appreciates feedback and comments as well as questions, all of which you can send directly to him/her by clicking here.