Spiritual Benefits of a Vegetarian Diet
5/5
()
About this ebook
The health benefits of a vegetarian diet are well known, as are the ethical aspects. But the spiritual advantages should be studied by anyone involved in meditation, yoga, or any type of spiritual practice.
Although diet is commonly considered a matter of physical health alone, since the Hermetic principle “as above, so below” is a fundamental truth of the cosmos, diet is a crucial aspect of emotional, intellectual, and spiritual development. For diet and consciousness are interrelated, and purity of diet is an effective aid to purity and clarity of consciousness.
The purification of our subtler levels depends upon the purification of our physical entity. This makes sense when we realize that all that goes to constitute a human being is formed of energies of various types, and the only source of energy is that which is brought into the body through sunlight, air, and food. And it is material food that provides by far the greatest amount of the energy from which our multilevel complex is shaped.
When we realize that any physical object has all the levels which we do, namely, the physical, biomagnetic, sensory, intellectual and will bodies, we can understand the importance of the kind and quality of food we eat. For not only does the physical substance of the food become assimilated into our physical body, so also do the subtler energies become united to our inner levels.
The Spiritual Benefits of a Vegetarian Diet explains in detail about how diet affects not only the body, but the mind, the will, higher perceptions, and conscious evolution, all of which are so important for an effective spiritual life.
The next section, Christian Vegetarianism, continues with a consideration of the esoteric side of diet, as well as the vegetarian roots of early Christianity, as well as an insightful exploration of vegetarianism in the Old and New Testaments.
The Spiritual Value of Vegetarianism
The major thing to keep in mind when considering the subject of vegetarianism is its relevancy in relation to our explorations of consciousness. We need only ask: Does it facilitate my spiritual growth–the development and expansion of my consciousness? The answer is Yes.
For anyone interested in exploring the spiritual advantages of a vegetarian diet, this book is essential reading.
Read more from Abbot George Burke (Swami Nirmalananda Giri)
Foundations of Yoga: Ten Important Principles Every Meditator Should Know Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Brief Sanskrit Glossary: A Spiritual Student's Guide to Essential Sanskrit Terms Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Om Yoga Meditation: Its Theory and Practice Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Upanishads for Awakening: A Practical Commentary on India’s Classical Scriptures Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLight of Soham: The Life and Teachings of Sri Gajanana Maharaj of Nashik Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Christ of India: The Story of Original Christianity Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMay a Christian Believe in Reincarnation? Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Bio-Magnetic Therapy: Healing In Your Hands Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Inspired Wisdom of Lalla Yogeshwari: A Commentary on the Mystical Poetry of the Great Yogini of Kashmir Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Gospel of Thomas for Awakening: A Commentary on Jesus' Sayings as Recorded by the Apostle Thomas Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRobe of Light: An Esoteric Christian Cosmology Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Wandering With The Cherubim: A Commentary on the Mystical Verse of Angelus Silesius–The Cherubinic Wanderer Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Unknown Lives of Jesus and Mary Compiled from Ancient Records and Mystical Revelations Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Bhagavad Gita: The Song of God Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Odes of Solomon for Awakening Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHow to Read the Tarot: A Practical Method Using the Rider-Waite Deck Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPerspectives on Yoga Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAll Is One: A Commentary On Sri Vaiyai R. Subramanian’s Ellam Ondre Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Inspired Wisdom of Sri Gajanana Maharaj: A Practical Commentary on Leading an Effectual Spiritual Life Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Tao Teh King for Awakening Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDwelling In The Mirror: A Study of Illusions Produced by Delusive Meditation and How to Be Free from Them Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Dhammapada for Awakening: A Commentary on Buddha's Practical Wisdom Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Gospel of Thomas for Awakening: A Commentary on Jesus’ Sayings as Recorded by the Apostle Thomas Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to Spiritual Benefits of a Vegetarian Diet
Related ebooks
The Open Door Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Art Of Meditation Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Art of Ayurvedic Nutrition: Ancient Wisdom for Health, Balance, and Dietary Freedom Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsKundalini: Questions and Answers Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Transform Yourself Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Avoid Clashes (In English) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsReal Secrets of Life!: Divine Guidance and Higher Spiritual Techniques for the Next Century Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsIn Search of God: The God of Spirituality Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Escape From Space And Time: The Resurgence of Raj Yoga Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Soham Yoga: A Simple Daily Practice Leading Towards The Peace And Happiness Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsKrishna’s 4 Paths to Ultimate Happiness: Complete Yogic Science of the Bhagavad Gita Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMemoirs Of Aum. The Romance Of The Gods. The Beginning. Book 1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFault is of the Sufferer: Gnani Purush Dadashri Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsYoga and the Spiritual Life Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWhy Bad Things Happen to Good People: Busting the Myths of Karma, Hell and Punishment Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Miracle by Friday: 36 Ways to Raise Your Vibration and Bring Your Heaven to Earth Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Universe Within: Essence of Hinduism Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSimple Steps to Better Health Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Autobiography of a Yogi Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5In Search of God: Health & Spiritual Series Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Whatever has Happened is Justice: Gnani Purush Dadashri Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Inner Consciousness How to awaken and direct it Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThought power Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5How to Meditate: A Step-by-Step Guide to the Art and Science of Meditation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Science of Pranayama Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Brilliance of Hinduism Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAmazing Yoga Diet Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAdjust Everywhere: Gnani Purush Dadashri Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
New Age & Spirituality For You
The Screwtape Letters Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Secret History of the World Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Don't Believe Everything You Think: Why Your Thinking Is The Beginning & End Of Suffering Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Four Loves Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Alchemist: A Graphic Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Journey of Souls: Case Studies of Life Between Lives Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Grief Observed Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mere Christianity Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Mastery of Self: A Toltec Guide to Personal Freedom Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Workbook & Summary of Becoming Supernatural How Common People Are Doing the Uncommon by Joe Dispenza: Workbooks Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Calendar of Wisdom: Daily Thoughts to Nourish the Soul, Written and Se Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Surprised by Joy: The Shape of My Early Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Course in Miracles: Text, Workbook for Students, Manual for Teachers Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Celebration of Discipline, Special Anniversary Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5As A Man Thinketh: Three Perspectives Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Falling Upward: A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5As a Man Thinketh Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Reflections on the Psalms Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Abolition of Man Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Conversations With God, Book 3: Embracing the Love of the Universe Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Three Questions: How to Discover and Master the Power Within You Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Outrageous Openness: Letting the Divine Take the Lead Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5No Man Is an Island Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Writing to Wake the Soul: Opening the Sacred Conversation Within Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Soul Numbers: Decipher the Messages from Your Inner Self to Successfully Navigate Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Spiritual Benefits of a Vegetarian Diet
1 rating1 review
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Excellent book! Succinct and to-the-point, Swami presents the best arguments for adopting a vegetarian diet, based on the manifold spiritual benefits. From energy bodies to meditation to Saints, the author illustrates the WHY of the vegetarian diet. This is important for anyone on a spiritual path. Do your body, mind, and soul a favor, and read this book! Your spiritual practice will benefit.
Book preview
Spiritual Benefits of a Vegetarian Diet - Abbot George Burke (Swami Nirmalananda Giri)
Spiritual Benefits of a Vegetarian Diet
and
Christian Vegetarianism
Abbot George Burke
(Swami Nirmalananda Giri)
Light of the Spirit Press
Cedar Crest, New Mexico
Published by
Light of the Spirit Press
lightofthespiritpress.com
Light of the Spirit Monastery
P. O. Box 1370
Cedar Crest, New Mexico 87008
www.OCOY.org
Copyright © 2017 Light of the Spirit Monastery.
All rights reserved.
Contents
Spiritual Benefits of a Vegetarian Diet
Christian Vegetarianism
Did you enjoy reading this book?
About the Author
Light of the Spirit Monastery
Get your FREE Meditation Guide
Reading for Awakening
Spiritual Benefits of a Vegetarian Diet
The mind
Bondage and liberation are states of mind. The mind, as a mass of vibrating energy, is limited by the constitution or condition of that energy. If the energy is heavy or inert, little can be done with it to produce the state of silence and clarity needed to reflect the truth of spirit. Certain elements darken the mind and make it thick or heavy, vibrating very slowly–sometimes seemingly not at all. On the other hand, some elements lighten the mind, making it fluid and subtle, vibrating at a very high level. It is this latter condition that is needed for attaining the state of liberation–or rather, the state that liberates the spirit from the illusion of bondage and suffering. It is really the mind that becomes liberated, but that liberation also affects the essentially ever-free spirit and sets it free. To attain such liberation the mind must be purified and refined, vegetarian diet being one of the best and strongest means for its purification.
Diet and consciousness
Although diet is commonly considered a matter of physical health alone, since the Hermetic principle as above, so below
is a fundamental truth of the cosmos, diet is a crucial aspect of emotional, intellectual, and spiritual development. For diet and consciousness are interrelated, and purity of diet is an effective aid to purity and clarity of consciousness.
The purification of our subtler levels depends upon the purification of our physical entity. This makes sense when we realize that all that goes to constitute a human being is formed of energies of various types, and the only source of energy is that which is brought into the body through sunlight, air, and food. And it is material food that provides by far the greatest amount of the energy from which our multilevel complex is shaped.
When we realize that any physical object has all the levels which we do, namely, the physical, biomagnetic, sensory, intellectual and will bodies, we can understand the importance of the kind and quality of food we eat. For not only does the physical substance of the food become assimilated into our physical body, so also do the subtler energies become united to our inner levels. This is the teaching of the Chandogya Upanishad: Mind consists of food. That which is the subtle part of milk moves upward when the milk is churned and becomes butter. In the same manner, the subtle part of the food that is eaten moves upward and becomes mind. Thus, mind consists of food
(Chandogya Upanishad 6.5.4, 6.6.1,2,5).
We cannot get a marble statue from clay, nor can we get wheat bread from barley meal–the end product is still going to consist of the nature of the material started with. So it is with all our bodies, gross and subtle. They will reflect the character of the food which has gone into their formation.
The esoteric side
Nothing that exists is solid matter.
All physical objects are formed of molecules that are formed of atoms that are formed of particles that in the ultimate analysis are vibrating energy–not things
at all. The only difference between gold, wood, water, and living human flesh is the pattern or behavior of the energy of which they are composed. If we go through the whole range of relative existence from the bottom–where we are–right up to the top, to (but not including) the realm of pure spirit, it is all energy of varying kinds, though one in essence.
The same is true of our individual, private universe we call me.
It is composed of successive layers of energy from very subtle to very gross. All the levels of energy that exist in creation exist in us as well. We are actually