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Why Eating Is Not About Morality: Calling on Yoga to Embrace Your Innate Goodness
To eat it or not to eat it? How many times a day do you bump up against this question (or one like it) in your mind as you navigate what, how, and when to eat? You are not alone if you experience moments of confusion or turmoil about nutrition, for we find ourselves...
The Inner Art of Vegetarianism
In this article, author and activist Carol Adams explores the balance between the inner life of spiritual growth and the outer life of practical compassion. She shows reasons why becoming a complete vegetarian (i.e., no eggs or dairy), or vegan is deeply wedded to...
Vegetarianism & the Vedas
Once I was asked a question: “Do the Vedas teach vegetarianism?” The answer is, there is no Veda without the mention of ahimsa. “Ahimsa paramo dharmaha” means that the greatest dharma one can embrace is ahimsa. Saint Ramalinga Swamigal always said, “If you want the...
Enlightened Eating
The ancient yogis noted that the universe goes through cycles of potentiality and manifestation, similar to the speculations of modern-day physicists about an oscillating universe. During the process of creation, out of primordial matter known as undifferentiated...
Vegetarianism and the Yoga Sutras
In the Yoga Sutras, Patanjali lays out an eight-limbed plan for liberation called Raja Yoga. The first limb is called yama, which means restraint and includes five ethical restrictions: ahimsa (non-harming), satya (truthfulness), asteya (nonstealing), brahmacharya...
The Humble Vegetarian
In this article, Integral Yoga teacher April Gauri Hunziker (pictured here) explores the issue of how a yogi and vegetarian remains humble and avoids self-righteousness while remaining faithful to his or her principles. She poses some hard questions we may want to ask...
Questions and Answers with Swami Satchidananda: Yoga and Diet
In this article, Swami Satchidananda answers questions about Yoga and vegetarian diet. Q: Is it hypocritical to be a vegetarian for spiritual reasons and also to cook for others who insist on eating meat? A: Just because you have become a vegetarian, it doesn’t mean...
Food & Subtle Energy
Sage Uddalaka instructed his son Svetaketu: “Food when consumed, becomes threefold. The gross particles become the excrement, the middling ones flesh, and the fine ones the mind.” My child, when curd is churned, its fine particles which rise upwards form butter. Thus,...
Yogic Meal Prayer
In almost every culture there are different ways to say prayers before consuming food. Most of these prayers offer an opportunity to express the gratitude we feel to have the food we are about to eat. They sometimes give us pause to also reflect upon those who are...
Diet for Transcendence
In preparation for writing his book, Diet for Transcendence, Steven Rosen surveyed the world’s religions with the intention of proving that at their foundation—and as reflected in their scriptures—these faiths encouraged vegetarianism, nonviolence, love and compassion...