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.
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About the Author
Abbot George Burke (Swami Nirmalananda Giri) is the founder and director of Light of the Spirit Monastery (Atma Jyoti Ashram) in Cedar Crest, New Mexico, USA. He is the author of numerous books on meditation and practical spiritual life. He writes at OCOY.org.
