THE GIFT  by Osho.

The body should function rightly, perfectly. It is an art, it is not austerity. It is not an austerity; you are not to fight with it, you are simply to understand it. The body is so wise...wiser than your mind, remember, because the body has existed longer than the mind. The mind is a very new arrival, just a child.

The body is very ancient, very very ancient...because you moved once as a rock; the body was there, the mind was fast asleep. Then you became a tree; the body was there, with all its greenery and flowers. The mind was fast asleep still; not as asleep as in the rock but still asleep. You became an animal, a tiger; the body was so alive with energy but the mind was not functioning. You became a bird, you became a man.... The body has been functioning for millions of years.

The body has accumulated much wisdom, the body is very wise. So if you eat too much the body says, "Stop!" The mind is not so wise. The mind says, "The taste is beautiful — a little more." If you listen to the mind, then the mind becomes destructive of the body, this way or that. If you listen to the mind, first it will say, "Go on eating," because the mind is foolish, a child. He does not know what he is saying. He is a new arrival; he has no learning in him. He is not wise; he is still a fool. Listen to the body. When the body says, "Hungry," eat. When the body says, "Stop," stop.

If you listen to the mind, it is as if a small child is leading an old man — they both will fall in a pit. If you listen to the mind then first you will be too much in the senses, and then you will get fed up. Every sense will bring you misery and every sense will bring you more anxiety, conflict, pain.

If you eat too much there will be pain and there will be vomiting; the whole body is disturbed. Then the mind says, "Eating is bad, so go on a fast." And a fast is also dangerous. If you listen to the body it will never overeat, it will never under eat; it will simply follow the Tao.

A few scientists have been working on this problem and they have discovered a very beautiful phenomenon: small children, they eat whenever they feel hungry, they go to sleep whenever they feel that sleep is coming. They listen to their bodies. But parents, they disturb them, they go on forcing: "It is dinner time, or lunchtime, or this and that, or sleeping time — go!" They don't allow their bodies....

So one experimenter tried leaving children on their own. He was working with twenty-five children. They were not forced to go to sleep, they were not forced to get up. They were not forced at all for six months. And a very deep understanding came.

They slept well. They had less dreams, no nightmares, because nightmares were coming through the parents who were forcing them. They ate well, but never too much — never less than necessary, never more than necessary. They enjoyed eating and sometimes they would not eat at all. When the body was not feeling to, they would not eat, and they never fell ill because of eating.

One more thing which no one ever suspected came to be understood, and that was miraculous. Only Sosan can understand, or Lao Tzu or Chuang Tzu, because they are the masters of Tao. This was such a discovery! They came to understand that if a child was ill, then he would not eat particular foods. Then they tried to understand why he was not eating those foods. The foods were analyzed and it was found that for that disease, those foods were dangerous. How did the child decide? Just the body....

When the child was growing, whatsoever was needed for his growth he would eat more of. Then they analyzed the food and they found that these ingredients are helpful. The food would change because the needs changed. One day a child would eat something and the same child the next day would not eat it. And the scientists felt that there is a body wisdom.

If you allow the body to have its say, you are moving on the right path, the great way. And this is so not only with food, this is so with the whole life. Your sex goes wrong because of the mind, your stomach goes wrong because of your mind. You interfere with the body. Don't interfere! Even if you can do it for three months, don't interfere. Suddenly you will become so healthy, and a well-being descends on you. Everything feels okay, the shoe fits. But the mind is the problem.

If you listen to the senses you become simple. Of course nobody is going to pay you respect because they will say, "This man is a sensual man." A sensual man is more alive than a non-sensual man.

Listen to the body! Because you are here to enjoy this moment that has been given to you, this graceful moment, this beatitude that has happened to you. You are alive, conscious, and in such a vast world!