Real Food

"Feeding thousands of people with a handful of loaves and fish"—this is held to be a miracle of Christianity. But I have always looked for another dimension to it.

In my eyes, Jesus did not save people merely by feeding them bread and fish; rather, he fed thousands with words. At a time when they were imprisoned under the oppressive weight of religious authority, Jesus's words gave them the light of liberation from that darkness. He said—truth will set you free.

Once he said something even more striking: "Eat my flesh, drink my blood." Many, frightened or misunderstanding, abandoned him at those words. But what Jesus truly meant was this—his words cannot be merely heard in passing; they must be taken in at a deeper level, into the very life within. Words can sustain people; words can destroy them.

And like all great teachers, his yearning too was to flood humanity with the light of consciousness. He proclaimed that God is love itself, not some vengeful and terrifying being. "Fear of the Lord" does not mean trembling in dread, but rather standing overwhelmed, expressing wonder before God. The true aim was to strip away ego and false doctrine, to transcend the boundaries of intellect, and directly experience that love—"God's true nature is love."

In the experience of this love, a person is born anew—as if a wholly new being, dwelling in the presence of God.

This is the true food. This is the bread and fish, or any sustenance, that satiates hunger and thirst forever.