Self-realization is the knowing – in body, mind, and soul – that we are one with the omnipresence of God; that we do not have to pray that it come to us, that we are not merely near it at all times, but that God’s omnipresence is our omnipresence; that we are just as much a part of Him now as we will ever be. All we have to do is improve our knowing. PARAMAHANSA YOGANANDA
When the vessel of the body-mind complex is strengthened and the body turns into a luminescent vehicle of Light, it serves as a doorway to open up the six koshas (layers of body-mind-I AM complex) to the witness consciousness of the presence and eventually the Divine Presence. This then leads to sankalpa and nirvakalpa samadhi (I AM THAT awareness), known in the Kabbalah as Deveikut. Eventually, we stabilize these experiences of I AM THAT into a consistent state of awareness. This is called Self-realization, or Liberation – I AM THAT awareness.
As we probe deeper, we understand that we are a human crystal functioning as a series of synchronous vibrations between the solid crystals and the liquid crystals of the human
body. This takes us to the understanding of bioenergetic assimilation. It ultimately helps us develop an insight into the chemistry of stress, alchemy, and meditation.
(Body as crystal: bioenergetic resonance and luminescent vehicle)
Veganism Is the Key From a Biblical perspective, veganism (a diet free of flesh, dairy, and eggs) was given as the dietary key to spiritual life right at the beginning of the Torah in Genesis 1:29: “Then God said, ‘I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole Earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food.’” Ten generations later, when Noah was leaving the ark after the great flood and there was no plant food that Noah could find immediately to eat, God said, “Every swarming creature that lives shall be yours to eat; like grass vegetation I have given you all” (Genesis 9:3). This was not a command to eat meat, but a dispensation for the immediate situation. In Leviticus 3:17, the commandment is given that “it is a statute to time indefinite for your generations, in all your dwelling places; you must not eat any fat or any blood at all.” This is particularly good advice today, since fat from flesh foods has been implicated in so many degenerative diseases and is a major storage site for pesticides, herbicides, and other environmental toxins that enter the food chain. Before Noah, the first ten patriarchs lived an average of 912 years. In the ten generations between Shem (Noah’s son) and Abraham, the average life span dropped to 317 years. Eating flesh cut their life spans by two-thirds.
Although certain secular Yoga teachers are now saying one does not need to be vegetarian to practice Yoga, the Buddha expressed a clear opinion on this in the Shurangama Sutra: “After my parinirvana (Enlightenment) in the final kalpa (time era), different kinds of ghosts will be encountered everywhere, deceiving people and teaching them that they can eat meat and still attain Enlightenment…. How can a bhikshu (seeker) who hopes to become a deliverer of others, himself be living on the flesh of other sentient beings?”1 Buddhism was originally vegetarian and, according to the Dalai Lama, it should go back to it. It is interesting to note that the Dalai Lama has publicly declared that he is a vegetarian and suggests vegetarianism to his people. This declaration was broadcast on BBC radio as part of the Dalai Lama’s efforts to prevent a fast-food chain from opening restaurants in Tibet. The Ahaparinirvana Sutra sums it up: “The eating of meat extinguishes the seed of great com-passion.”2 The science of Ayurveda also teaches that food is the basis of the physical body, which in turn is the support of the mind. Right diet, therefore, is the basis of both physical and mental health and an important foundation for spiritual practice. That is why almost all ashrams, temples, and Yoga centers in India serve only vegetarian food. The key element to the Spiritual Nutrition approach is veganism. Flesh food (meat, fish, and poultry) increases the animal frequency in the body and it brings into operation more animal-like tendencies such as the vibrations of anger, lust, fear, aggressiveness, 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 and suffering at their time of death.
Flesh food creates a tamasic (dull and heavy) effect on the physical body and mind. It clogs the channels of the subtle body, the 72,000 nadis through which the Kundalini needs to move freely to do its spiritualizing work, and tends to make the mind insensitive.
(The case for veganism across scripture, tradition, and vibration)
A vegan way of life (no flesh foods, eggs, dairy, leather, or other animal by-products) actively creates six aspects of ahimsa: (1) compassion and non-cruelty toward animals; (2) preserving the Earth and its ecology; (3) feeding the hungry; (4) preserving human life; (5) preservation of personal health; (6) inspiring peace.
Flesh food, being at the top of the food chain, has about fifteen times more pesticides and herbicides than vegetable food. Dairy products have about five times more pesticides and herbicides than vegetarian food.