Food
Spiritual Vegetarianism: the Newest (and Oldest) Grounds for Eating Green
by Sarah Gallop
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
From our newspapers to our doctor's offices, we are surrounded by arguments that both support and denounce vegetarianism. Indeed, the varied physical, ecological, moral and economic contentions inundate us each day. Seldom are these arguments made in a spiritual context. Yet from Jesus and Buddha to Shakespeare and Socrates, history's most renowned religious and philosophical figures have toted the spiritual implications of eating flesh-free. These prophets and philosophers are not worried about shedding those extra pounds or saving a few dollars at the grocery store. They believe, as did their predecessors millenniums earlier, that meat has a tremendous effect on our spiritual well being.
The concept of ahimsa is the most ancient spiritual assertion for vegetarianism, and also perhaps the most straightforward. “Ahimsa is to harm nothing, and that would include animals,” says Gurmukh Kaur Khalsa, renowned kundalini yoga teacher and spiritual guide. Like Gurmukh, many yogis believe that all of the fear and pain of a slaughtered animal is taken into the body when we eat its meat, which makes our own emotions increasingly difficult to control. “I'm also a vegan because I don't believe in taking anything from the animal,” says Gurmukh. “I believe that it's the way of the future.”
While Gurmukh notes that ahimsa and the idea of spiritual vegetarianism comes from the teachings of Patanjali, one of history's most exonerated sages, expressions of this concept can be seen in all major religious texts. In the Holy Bible we read, "Be sure you do not eat the blood, because the blood is the life," and, "It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor anything whereby thy brother stumbles,” and perhaps most straightforwardly, “Thou shalt not kill.” The Qur'an's Surah forbids the eating of "dead meat, and blood, and the flesh of swine," while a common Vedic precept from the Manu-samhita reads, “Meat can never be obtained without injury to living creatures, and injury to sentient beings is detrimental to the attainment of heavenly bliss; let him therefore shun the use of meat … let him entirely abstain from eating flesh.”
Buddha's Mahaparinirvana Sutra also emphasizes the importance of eating vegetarian: "The eating of meat extinguishes the seed of great compassion." In the context of Judaeism, there are many connections between vegetarianism and Sukkot. While these examples may seem extreme in the face of a tuna melt or a chicken salad, it is clear that vegetarianism has deeply rooted religious and spiritual foundations. As Gurmukh sees it, “they'll look back at this period of time and they'll see it almost as we look at cannibalism.”
While the physical ramifications of eating meat and eggs may seem like they have little to do with a spiritual lifestyle, history's most renowned masters have taught that there is a strong correlation between the body, mind and spirit. “Anything that can't get out of your body in 18 hours will become toxic and putrefies your body, and meat can't get out in 18 hours,” Gurmukh affirms. “I've been a vegetarian for 40 years, so I'm pretty much a testimony that you can live well being a vegetarian. I believe that it's the way of the future.” The body must be pure if it is to be ready for meditation and enlightenment, and yet meat rots in our bodies, making us impure.
Spiritual implications aside, however, many of us find the idea of a vegetarian diet unhealthy. We have probably, at least once in our lives, used the phrase, “You don't eat meat? What do you eat?” And we have likely asked the most common question of them all, “But where do you get your protein?” Carmen Castanada Sceppa, M.D, Ph.D., a scientist at Tufts University School of Medicine, promotes the consumption of animal meat for protein. Yet for progressive thinkers considering going veggie, Cornell and Harvard University researchers have created a Vegetarian Diet Pyramid to help you, and suggest that a vegetarian diet is not only superior nutritionally, but is better equipped to ward off disease.
"This pyramid reflects the growing body of research that suggests that Americans will not reduce their rate of cancers, cardiovascular disease and other chronic, degenerative diseases until they shift their diets away from animal-based foods to plant-based foods," said T. Colin Campbell, Cornell professor of nutritional biochemistry.
Whether its burgers or broccoli that you serve at your dinner table, spiritual health has quickly become one of the most talked about arguments for eating green. The central texts of all major world religions endorse and demand adherence to a vegetarian lifestyle, and many modern yogis, philosophers, doctors and scientists have followed suit. “We have been taught to not eat anything that runs away from us, swims away from us or flies away from us,” Gurmukh reflects. “In other words, resistance: don't go for it.”
Sarah Gallop is a freelance writer based in Los Angeles. For more information about this and other articles, email s.m.gallop@gmail.com.