(hindus)What is the effect of Non-veg food on our Meditation?

Question

Can non-veggies attain Moksha

Answer 1

Swami Vivekananda used to support consumption of non-vegetarian food, so I guess he consumed it himself and he attained samadhi.

I personally believe that eating meat while trying to meditate is like participating in a race with a handicap (like leg injury). It is preferaby avoidable if possible. I personally consume, but am not too attached to it.

Answer 2

The energy of slaughter remains in the meat and that increases Rajas (aggression) and Tamas (darkness) in the person who eats it. Vegetarian food (especially milk and rice) increase Sattva (goodness) which is also conductive to good results in meditation.
Some very special people can eat meat and still remain pure because they do it for the right reasons. (For example, there are some Shaivite babas who eat meat on purpose and I guess they can attain moksa, why not.)
But the ordinary meditator would get much better results (and be healthier and happier) if he or she would stick to a vegetarian diet.

Answer 3

Non-veg is the food in the mode of rajasic and tamasic category, i.e., modes of passion and ignorance or darkness.

Whereas, for spiritual practice, one should be in the mode of sattva (goodness) to attain the state of suddha sattva (moksha or liberation).

Four vices destroy four pillars of dharma (relgion) which are:
1. Meat eating destroys tapasya (austerity)
2. Intoxication destroys daya (mercy)
3. Illicit sex destroys sauca (cleanliness)
4. Gambling destroys satya (truthfulness).

Thus by eating non-veg one cannot even conduct relgious life which is pre-requisite to practice spiritual life. So what to speak moksha, bhakti which are the fourth and fifth goal of life without following the first which are in the following order.
1. Dharma
2. Artha
3. Kama
4. Moksha
5. Bhakti.

Answer 4

Food affects our thought to a great extent. Bagawat Gita directs those who pursue spirituality to avoid the prohibited food, since it will obstruct our progress in spirituality. When we consume hot and spicy food, we will suffer from restlessness of the mind. When you consume stale and contaminated food it will lead to depression besides disease.Thirdly when an animal or any living thing (barring vegetables and leaves) is killed and consumed, the suffering the animal underwent surrounds the meat in a subtle way which can not be seen by the eyes. When you consume such food, the sufferings it underwent while dying naturally will affect your thoughts. These can be felt by those who consume meat or fish or birds. Even scientific research has revealed the advantage of being vegetarians. Hence to meditate you should consume only 'sathvic' foods. viz., vegetables, fruits, pulses, a little milk, buttermilk, porridge etc. It would be better if they avoid non.veg items. nagarajan.

Answer 5

The first limb of Eight-fold (Ashtanga) Yoga is Yama (5 rules) and the first Yama itself is "Ahimsa". We cannot move to the 8th floor of Samadhi stage without respecting the first step at the ground floor.

In Geeta when Bhagwan mentions about food - the word used is "Anna" means food grains or cereals.

In Vibhuti Yog (10-5) Bhagwan says, "Ahimsa (and other good attributes) arise from me".

Buddha or Mahavir, Meera or Kabeer, all these spiritual champions have one thing in common - Bhoot Daya - which means being kind hearted towards all creatures. You cannot be kindhearted towards a creature and kill it for one meal of yours.

Many contributors have already mentions why non-veg needs to be avoided so I won't repeat that. I would like to point out the other side - If we are even planning to move towards being tadroop, we should be free from any doubt in the concept of refraing completely from inflicting unnecessary violence on any creature.

Vinoba Bhave avoided eating vegetables, fruits and cereals too because eating them would mean killing a seed which may be a source of future life. Even at the age of 70, he survived only on a litre of milk (He travelled 300 kilometers a day on foot everyday throughout India even after he crossed 70).

Getting close to Vinoba's selfless state of tadroop is not easy for most of us but we can at least put our foot at the first step which is non-violence.

God bless you all!

Answer 6

in everything there is subtle n gross aspect to it. gross is what u see, subtle is what u don't see. an example, u listen to music. u listen to classical music, then u feel very soothing n calm. gross is the sound, subtle is the feeling of calmness. u listen to heavy metal, then u feel agitated. gross is sound, subtle is the agitation. likewise, our food too carry subtle vibrations. non veg carries very negative vibration, the sufferin n the pain of the animal when it was killed is all passed on to the consumer. if he meditates, he would not be able to calm his mind. of course non veg can attain moksha but they must suffer the consequence of eating non veg.

Answer 7

I don't believe that going meat would affect meditation. Meditation is in the mind while foods go to the stomach. Whether one attains Moksha or not has not be proven.

Answer 8

Meditation
Prescribes only light food,just about necessary.
Proscribes hard food.

Answer 9

Probably it does not affect the meditation, since many Hindus (almost all shudras - 50% Hindus) eat beef (cow) regularly.