meat eating

[Guest guest]

the biggest spiritual connection in not eating meat lies in the first limb

of Yoga, the Yamas. the first rule of the first limb of Yoga is Ahimsa,

non-violence. obviously to eat an animal it must first be killed, so eating

it would violate this basic observance. also since most animals in the

western world are slaughtered very cruelly and so this puts very negative

energy into the food produced from them.

 

Ahimsa is definitely a cornerstone of Yoga, it's the very first step on the

Path, so some say if you do not practice this one, why even bother with the

others? Gandhi said Ahimsa is all you need, you don't need anything else,

this is the core principle of all spirituality, of all Paths, of all of

Life.

 

please don't think i'm preaching here, just telling you what i've been

taught. during my many years of striving to be vegetarian there were a

couple times which doctors and psychics warned me i wasn't getting enough

protein -- and not digesting well what vegetable protein i was consuming,

which i thought was more than adequate -- and they advised me to just eat

meat. i decided that i should supplement my diet with meat in the spirit of

Ahimsa, so as not to harm MYSELF! i took care to bless my food and have good

intentions. but after some time, i decided that my beliefs wouldn't allow me

to contribute to the unethical, unhealthy modern farming of animals. so i do

take enzyme supplements, herbs, etc... whatever i need to do to stay on the

veggie path. the book i recommended earlier "Diet for a New America" tells

you how to get enough protein through a veggie diet. there are many other

good books also.

 

cheers!

ranjit k.

 

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[Guest guest]

Sat Nam Sangeet-

 

I didn't stop eating out of ahimsa or anything spiritual. I've just

always listened to my body. If I craved chocolate, I ate it. If I

craved liver, I ate it. And, like you, I never thought I'd go

vegetarian. And didn't even think about it consciously. I just

quickly grew tired of eating meat and in the matter of a few days,

just stopped cold-turkey (no pun intended).

 

But I can tell you I feel a lot better now. And the weird thing is,

like what SIR posted earlier, the cravings aren't so much for the

food (although sometimes its the spices) but rather the memories

assocaited with them. In fact I was just having this exact same

conversation with my sister and made the same comment. So it's

interesting to hear SIR mention it as well.

 

Another intersting note along these lines. I don't drink alcohol very

often (occasionally I'll have a glass of wine with dinner). But now

I'm even hesitating on that (and that happens once every 4 months or

so). I like the taste of some wines, but could do without the

alcohol. But now I begin feeling very slight pangs of guilt when I

consider having even 1 glass of wine. What's with that?!

 

I think you need to do what you feel is right for you on all levels.

 

Hope that helps!

 

Christa

[Guest guest]

I would like to provide a bit of clarification

regarding AshtAnga (EightLimbed) Yoga.

Observe that it is not called "EightStepped" Yoga,

because "Steps" would imply a sequence.

The name "EightLimbed" implies a collection or group

and not necessarily a list.

 

The written order is Yama, Niyama, Asana, Pranayama,

Pratyahara, Dharana, Dhyana, Samadhi.

It is clearly possible, desirable and even necessary that

some of the "Limbs" are practiced in parallel.

For example, you can start the basics of Asana and Pranayama,

while in the process of working on the Yama and Niyama.

 

I would be very careful about thinking that any one particular

part of Yoga (such as Ahimsa) is "all you need".

Ahimsa (and Satya) is important but not to

the exclusion of other aspects.

 

Bhavin.

 

-------------------------

"~ranjit kaur~" <ranjitk

Re: meat eating

 

the biggest spiritual connection in not eating meat lies in the first limb

of Yoga, the Yamas. the first rule of the first limb of Yoga is Ahimsa,

non-violence.

<<<snip>>>

Ahimsa is definitely a cornerstone of Yoga, it's the very first step on the

 

Path, so some say if you do not practice this one, why even bother with the

 

others? Gandhi said Ahimsa is all you need, you don't need anything else,

this is the core principle of all spirituality, of all Paths, of all of

Life.

<<<snip>>>

-------------------------

[Guest guest]

Sat Nam Bhavin,

 

Thank you for clarifying this about the 8 limbs! I just meant to share what

Gandhi himself taught to provide one viewpoint on the meat-eating issue in

my email, not cause any misunderstandings about the Ashtanga Yoga path!!

 

Cheers,

Ranjit

 

 

>I would be very careful about thinking that any one particular

> part of Yoga (such as Ahimsa) is "all you need".

>Ahimsa (and Satya) is important but not to

> the exclusion of other aspects.

>

>Bhavin.

>

>-------------------------

>"~ranjit kaur~" <ranjitk

>Re: meat eating

>

>the biggest spiritual connection in not eating meat lies in the first limb

>of Yoga, the Yamas. the first rule of the first limb of Yoga is Ahimsa,

>non-violence.

><<<snip>>>

>Ahimsa is definitely a cornerstone of Yoga, it's the very first step on the

>

>Path, so some say if you do not practice this one, why even bother with the

>

>others? Gandhi said Ahimsa is all you need, you don't need anything else,

>this is the core principle of all spirituality, of all Paths, of all of

>Life.

><<<snip>>>

>-------------------------

 

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