In the early 1970s, I was in the dance department at the University of California, Berkeley, and right when I passed from my apartment to the campus, there was the Integral Yoga Institute. I went in there, long story short, to take a Yoga class. The postures were...
One the most furious debates we can witness on social media is between the vegetarians and vegans versus the meat-eaters. Of all the issues facing the world currently, this conversation can drive such strife on both sides. Recently, I read a post from a friend on...
Recently, Integral Yoga teacher Carole Kalyani Baral was interviewed on Unity Online Radio's "Main Street Vegan" program by its host Victoria Moran. In this excerpt from the show, Kalyani talks about her Integral Yoga journey, becoming a vegetarian (and, later,...
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...
To fully understand Swami Satchidananda’s teachings on the relationship between Yoga and diet, specifically, the psychological and spiritual benefits of a vegetarian/vegan diet, it’s important to know something about the three gunas, or the qualities of nature. The...
Diet plays a very important part in people’s lives. Food not only makes the body, it makes the mind. It has a direct connection to the attitudes of the mind. Today we do not think much about the different qualities of food and its effect on the mind. In Yogic...
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...
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...
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...
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...