Why Vegetarianism Is Preferred in Spirituality

There are many benefits to being vegetarian. If you run a search on Google, you will find plenty of research available on this topic. Otherwise, the world would not take to it so promptly. A few decades ago, vegetarian food was not available in Berlin and many parts of Europe. Today, Berlin is the vegan capital of Germany. Veganism has grown exponentially in Europe, America, and India.

If you look back, some of the greatest thinkers of this world, like Einstein, have been vegetarian. If you take a stock of how many great scientists and thinkers on this planet were vegetarian, you will find a large number of them were. So, somewhere, being vegetarian has a connection with the way the mind works.

A vegetarian diet enhances mental refinement

According to our ancients, vegetarian food is important, especially for people doing mental work. If you are doing only menial work, it is okay to be on a non-vegetarian diet. But if you are intellectual, and want to have a more refined thinking and a subtler experience, then you need to tweak your diet accordingly. And such a diet must not just be vegetarian, but it is also preferable to avoid pungent, stale, and old food. Such is a dietary prescription for someone who wants a heightened consciousness.

A vegetarian diet keeps your system attuned to nature

Even in the Bible, on one of the lost scrolls, there is a lot of talk about being vegetarian. But over time, for whatever reason, it has been shoved aside. So, the choice to be vegetarian or not is yours. I am not saying you cannot do meditation if you are not a vegetarian. But the most preferred diet is vegetarian, since it keeps your system attuned to your own nature.

The human body is made for a vegetarian diet

Our immediate ancestors, the monkeys, are vegetarians. There is a substance called Talvin in our saliva, which is only present in the saliva of herbivores. If you were meant to be carnivorous, your teeth and enzymes would be different. Talvin, which is only found in herbivorous animals, would not be in your saliva.
A horse is vegetarian; have you ever seen it eating meat? Elephant, the most powerful among animals, is vegetarian. Do you see, the most domesticated animals are all vegetarians – mostly! Yes, cats would eat rats, and dogs are different, but look at cows, sheep, etc.

You should look into the mechanics. Our human system is made for vegetarianism! Vegetarian animals have long intestines, which is not the case for carnivorous animals. Your intestine is taller than you; you have a 6-foot-long intestine, all coiled up. If you were meant to be carnivorous, your intestine would have been half the size, only 3 feet long. All this indicates somewhere that the diet most suited for you is vegetarian.

Observing Prana

You should sit and watch the breath; there are so many things about it. What you do on the Advanced Program is already very helpful and useful; the Hollow and Empty Meditations are about polishing and observing the breath.

The breath has been burnt down due to excess usage of our body externally; too much food, sex, sleep (even lack of it), too much watching; too much of anything burns down the Prana. And when the Prana is burnt, then you can’t find yourself; it is as though there is a crowd inside, and you feel you don’t exist there. The purpose of all these different meditations that you are doing is to help your Prana become healthier, stronger and tangible. How many of you feel that your Prana is more tangible? When you do a little bit of meditation, at least you can find it flowing in one line, otherwise it is all broken, and you can’t find it at all!

Sometimes, time can also do this. At some specific times, celestially, suddenly you feel a cloud of negative energy getting onto you. You feel a sense of heaviness, dullness, and the brain doesn’t seem to function. That heaviness, restriction, contraction, and the feelings of getting solidified and constrained are associated with such energy. Sometimes one would feel like getting it out, but you don’t know how to do it! How many of you have had such an experience?

A few minutes of chanting, pranayama, and I don’t think there is anything better than the Sudarshan Kriya can help you get it out. Sudarshan Kriya can quickly put you back on track. Ujjayi breathing, meditation and chanting also helps. And your connection to the Master helps; whomsoever you think of, that’s what your brain immediately catches on. You can think of a very negative person, immediately your whole psychology and brain cells start behaving like them. Hasn’t this happened to you? How many of you have experienced it? That is why enlightened masters are called pratah smarami in Sanskrit, which means they have to be remembered in the morning as soon as you wake up, so that your whole day, your whole system is tuned to them. Good or wise people are called pratah smarami, worth remembering in the morning. The reason one remembers them first thing in the morning is because the whole day goes with what you start with.