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the role of vegetarianism in yoga
By Dr. Gabriel Cousens, MD, MD(H)

The life that produces an inward quiet sattvic state of mind is well defined in yogic texts as a life based on meditation, chanting, service, devotion, austerity, the practice of non-violence, pranayama and asana practice, and a sattvic (vegetarian) diet. These are regarded as the preliminary practices for the creation and sustaining ourselves in sattva and which is the foundation necessary for Self-Realization.

The key element to the sattvic diet is vegetarianism. Flesh food (meat, fish and poultry) increases the animal frequency in the body and brings more animal-like tendencies into operation such as the vibrations of anger, lust, fear and murderous impulses. The energy of a flesh food diet adds to the impurities of the mind and the nervous system. It communicates the energy of destruction to the cells and brings the energy of death into our auric fields reducing the flow of higher prana into the body. The lives of the creatures we've eaten weigh down our astral body with their negative feelings of fear at their time of death. Flesh food creates a tamasic (dull and heavy) effect on the physical body and mind.

A key component for creating a sattvic mind is the practice of Ahimsa. A vegetarian way of life actively creates six aspects of Ahimsa:

The equivalent of a traditional sattvic diet today consists of organic, whole, natural fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds and grains. A modern sattvic diet emphasizes foods grown in harmony with nature by organic farmers, on good soils, ripened naturally and prepared with an attitude of love. Such foods carry the highest prana and consciousness. It does not include junk food, excessively spicy or salty foods, fried food, white flour, white sugar, and other forms of food that unnaturally stimulate your blood sugar or your mind. It avoids meat, fish, eggs, alcohol, and often garlic, onions. It does not include genetically engineered foods, irradiated foods, microwaved foods, or stale foods. In India cow's milk was considered sattvic and as pure rasa dhatu or pure plasma. In the US it is pure ama or toxin because it is pasteurized, homogenized and filled with hormones, pesticides and herbicides. Such milk is a degenerated food filled with fear, the pain of death and enslavement. There is very little prana, little love and little true nourishment. It is more of a tamasic food, which reflects lack of consciousness.

The sattvic yogic diet is a special type of spiritual vegetarian diet aimed at helping us transcend body consciousness and calm the vrittis of the mind and increase the prana. For this reason, the yogic diet is more disciplined than a regular vegetarian diet, generally lighter, and includes fasting and the taking of live-foods (uncooked roots, leafy vegetables and fruit, which are called specifically the food of the rishis or the food of the yogis). Raw foods are rich in prana, which brings the prana force not only into the body, but also into the mind helping to purify the 72,000 nadis. Raw foods are the most powerful foods for enhancing the flow of Kundalini energy and cleansing the nadis through which the Kundalini flows on the subtle plane. A yogic sattvic diet helps us become superconductors of prana. As the prana in our body increases, these nadis naturally open, affording us deeper perceptions of truth, reality and universality.

Dr. Gabriel Cousens is one of the world's foremost authorities on living food nutrition, holistic lifestyle and complementary medicine. He graduated from Columbia Medical School in 1969 with a specialty in biochemistry. He is a holistic physician, psychiatrist, homeopath and family therapist. Not only has Dr. Cousens made major contributions in the field of natural health, he is also a shining example of health himself.

Dr. Cousens is the author of: