Many people over the years have stressed eating a vegetarian or even a vegan diet when on the spiritual path. Even if someone is not on the path, people urge others to always be vegetarian for the overall well being of life.
So what exactly is the relationship between vegetarianism and spirituality? Should you even care about it? Keep reading ahead to find out.
The Good and the Bad
Most people today see food in terms of taste. And among them, many see food through a moral lens of good and bad. Just because a relative of theirs told them that scripture they hadn’t read considers a food item bad, they won’t eat it.
People do not dig deep to properly understand why what is being said. To clarify your doubts, vegetarianism or non-vegetarianism is not about good or bad. It is also not that if you eat meat you will rot in hell or something.
The entire yogic approach to food is seen in terms of what the body needs and what is best for it. It has nothing to do with good or bad, heaven or hell, virtue or sin.
Why Vegetarian?
In the times of early men, people ate whatever they could, be it something from a tree or plant, or an animal’s meat. This happened because it was a question of their survival. They did not have a choice. Slowly as cultures and civilizations grew, people started getting knowledgeable and wise with the yogic sciences.
Then they realized that the ideal food for the body which provides a conducive environment for it to grow and sustain itself properly is a fruit and vegetable diet. They ideally preferred fruit over all other forms of food delicacies, but vegetables did the job too.
Why they chose this is because they found that fruit and veggies are easily digestible by the body and provide energy almost immediately. Furthermore, their life energies provided the body with an enhanced receptivity to life and spirit.
In the case of non-vegetarian food, the body takes a lot more time to digest it. And in the time period it lingers on inside the system, it drags the energy from the body, making it sleepy and lethargic.
This is why in modern times people prescribe sleeping for over 8 hours at least because the body needs time to extract the necessary energy from cooked meat.
The Contribution to Spirituality
People who are into yoga do not straight away order you to give up everything. They ask you to experiment with your system by slowly reducing the amount of non-vegetarian food and increase the consumption of fruit and veggies, ideally raw and uncooked.
If you also do this, let’s say for a few weeks, you will automatically notice the changes in your body and the effectiveness with which your spiritual practices happen. Your sleep quality, digestion, daily workflow, physical and mental activity, etc. will all be improved because the body is made in such a way that it functions excellently on a vegetarian fuel.
The energies that those live foods give your body will increase your receptivity to life and improve your spiritual practices. And the time taken to do so depends upon the individual person and his/her ingrained habits.
When it comes to food, do not listen to anyone outside. Listen to your body. It won’t lie.