Describe Baba's teaching that one should 'first tie bread to the waist' before engaging in spiritual matters. What was the reasoning behind this?

The teaching to 'first tie bread to the waist' encapsulates Sai Baba's core philosophy on the primacy of physical sustenance for spiritual life, as explained in Chapter 32. The reasoning behind this was profoundly practical: Baba believed a hungry person's senses are weakened and incapable of true devotion. He questioned how, without the strength from food, the eyes could see God, the tongue could praise Him, or the ears could hear His glory. He taught that at the peak of hunger, food itself is realized as Brahman. Therefore, attaining a peaceful soul through nourishment was a prerequisite for realizing God. An empty stomach leads to an unpeaceful mind, making spiritual benefit impossible in his view.