The Spiritual Path to Plant-Based Living: Why Conscious Eating Elevates Human Consciousness

We live in a world of relentless change, huge migrations of people to new mega-cities filling soaring skyscrapers and vast slums, ravenous appetites for fuel and food, unpredictable climate change, and all this in a world where the population is still growing. Should we be worried? Should we be scared? How do we make sense of it all?

"What is the meaning of human life, or for that matter, of the life of any creature? To know an answer to this question means to be religious. You ask: Does it make any sense, then, to pose this question? I answer: The man who regards his life and that of his fellow creatures as meaningless is not merely unhappy but hardly fit for life." — Albert Einstein, Mein Weltbild, Amsterdam: Querido Verlag, 1934.

"A human being is a part of the whole we call the 'Universe,' a part limited in time and space. Humans experience themselves, their thoughts and feelings, as something separate from the rest — a kind of optical delusion of their consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison, restricting the scope of interaction to personal desires and affection for only a few close people. The task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty. Nobody can achieve this completely, but the striving for such achievement is in itself a part of the liberation and a foundation for inner security." — Albert Einstein, New York Post, 28 November 1972

Protecting the Temple

"Whatever affects the body has a corresponding effect on the mind and soul." — E.G. White

In most cultures in the East, a plant-based diet is part of the ethical principles of spiritual traditions. Hinduism, Jainism, and Buddhism follow ahimsa (non-violence) and prema (universal love).

A question: Are you a non-violent person? Let's examine this. Every creature on this planet depends directly or indirectly for its survival on another form of life. Ahimsa (non-violence) as commonly interpreted is inaccurate. When we look at the history of existence of any species on earth, every one of them has to live by taking another form of life. With few exceptions, members of the plant kingdom directly transform water and sun energy into nutrients for their survival. At the same time, more highly evolved animals depend on other forms of life to sustain themselves.

Does being loving and non-violent mean you are spiritual? If you answer "yes" to this question, look again. When breathing air, we kill millions of bacteria. Isn't that violent? When we walk on grass, we unknowingly kill insects and bugs — isn't that violent? When we clean our homes with chemical sprays and kill bugs, isn't that violent? In fact, our bodies contain more bacteria than cells, some beneficial and some harmful. When they proliferate excessively, they can cause havoc and become violent within our system. Living itself involves violence, and violence is part of our present existence.

Ahimsa in its accurate interpretation can be described as "the use of benevolent force."

Now we as human beings have a choice which most animals don't possess. As we evolve to the highest state of awareness of ourselves and the environment around us, we become the most intelligent predators, with no creature above us on the food chain to hunt or kill us. Yet we are destroying our habitat through the way we live. No other creature destroys its home due to greed, power, and the capacity to accumulate unnecessarily.

"You have just dined, and however scrupulously the slaughterhouse is concealed in the graceful distance of miles, there is complicity." — Ralph Waldo Emerson, "Fate," The Conduct of Life, 1860

Our Higher Purpose

Our reason for existing is to recognize our responsibility for being on earth. We did not come to this earth merely to eat, sleep, experience fear, procreate and die, but to understand and experience love and happiness perpetually. That cannot happen by immersing ourselves in static pleasure. Abraham Maslow said, "Only one percent of humans on this earth are living, and the rest are existing."

Animals simply exist. Plants exist. Why then do we need such a massive brain? We could live just like rabbits, cats, and dogs — their brain size is sufficient to manage bodily survival.

Professor David Attwell of University College London, who researches the mechanisms by which the brain is powered, says the human brain consumes twenty percent of all energy produced, more than any other organ in the body. The brain weighs about 1.6 kilograms, representing two percent of an average human being's body weight. It's the most super of supercomputers on earth.

Why then do we have this amazing, unusual organ? We don't need such an enormous brain for mere survival. There is a higher purpose for our existence. We did not come to earth to merely subsist. As the most evolved species, we must respect a superior standard to discover our full mental potential.

The Force

Look around you — a very subtle force guides everything. There is a natural law in operation: "Life depends on another life." Every creature on this planet depends directly or indirectly for its survival upon another form of life. As the most evolved being on earth, we don't need to eat flesh to sustain this body.

Here we need to follow fundamental universal laws called "Yama" and "Niyama" for psycho-spiritual development. These principles allow us to further enhance the mind's intuitive faculties, which is our most powerful tool to understand our purpose on earth. Animals and other living forms follow the natural law of survival through their instincts. As humans, we interpret and decide through intellectual or rational methods, yet we are unable to fully explain our intuitive insights. We receive flashes of knowing without logic or rationality.

Einstein, Mendeleev, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Darwin, Edgar Cayce, and many others discovered solutions intuitively. They proved their hypotheses, which totally changed how we perceive science today. That makes humans different. We have the power of choice — to be guided by intellect and rationality, or guided by our intuition that has led to significant discoveries. What do we choose?

There must be a much higher purpose for us to have evolved to this stage with our premier mental faculties. Here we find the spiritual reason for adhering to a plant-based diet.

Respecting All Life

Each living entity wants to thrive, live, and express itself. No animal wants to die or be prematurely killed. When we look beyond race, religion, and culture, we all want to be happy, healthy, and prosperous. How we achieve that depends on our purpose in life and how we attain happiness.

We cannot find peace within ourselves if we are not willing to respect nature and be at peace with the world around us. The slaughter of animals is violent — full stop. There cannot be such a thing as "humane slaughter of animals." The Vedas say, "Meat can never be obtained without injury to living creatures."

Many spiritual teachers have promoted plant-based diets as an integral part of the spiritual path for thousands of years, because not killing animals is part of ahimsa or non-violence — as a general precept, but also because participating in the wholesale slaughter of animals, or killing animals as entertainment or sport, creates adversarial karma.

The Universe as Vibration

Our entire universe is vibration. If we accept that our universe began 13.8 billion years ago with a big bang, then from where did you and I come into being? All scientific processes and discoveries have proven that evolution brought us to this stage. Since initially everything was vibration, you, I, and all created life forms are likewise vibration, frequencies, energy. The presence of elements in the universe carries their intrinsic vibration. The hydrogen molecule oscillates at 1420 MHz. Carbon molecule: 492.162 GHz. Nitrogen molecule: 3.56 MHz. The basic building blocks of all living forms have come from chemical combinations. The very force of life begins by the transmutation of pure consciousness into living matter by the presence of a subtle vital force that gives life its pulsation. Natural vibration has been present in all matter since the Big Bang.

Spirituality is about elevating your natural vibration. According to the ancient spiritual philosophy of Tantra, which was first propounded by Lord Shiva 7000 years ago, there are three kinds of vibration all around us: sentient (sattvic), mutative (rajasic), and static (tamasic). These waves permeate all creation. That is why you feel great sometimes, agitated or static at different times of the day. The same vibrations that emanate around us also pass through all the food we consume. In Tantra philosophy, these vibrations also categorize food as sentient, mutative, and static.

"Spiritualism and spirituality are not the same. 'Spiritualism' concerns ghosts, while 'spirituality' concerns the Supreme Cognitive Principle. There is a heaven-and-hell difference between the terms. We are concerned with spirituality." — Shrii Shrii Anandamurti, The Cult of Spirituality — the Cult of Pinnacled Order

Food Affects Consciousness

There is clear proof that what we eat affects our minds. To expand our consciousness, we need to keep our minds healthy by controlling what we eat. Imagine you are a car running on gasoline fuel — if you fill up with diesel fuel, will your car start? No. If the driver of the car is drunk, will it be safe to drive on the streets? There is a controller of the body, which is the mind, acting as the driver. We are not just this body, but possess a mind which skillfully guides and channels it toward a greater purpose.

Here is the conscious reason why a plant-based diet is significantly more suitable for our physical and mental well-being. Our goal is not mere existence — it's to expand our consciousness and share the experience as one human family. When we look at life through the knowledge of the empowered mind, we begin to live in a gentler, awakened manner and start respecting all forms of life. This is one reason many people who are in touch with their deeper selves turn to a plant-based diet.

When our consciousness expands, we transform. This personal transformation will inevitably renovate our society, just like moonshine sparkles on each raindrop. There is the cosmic soul, the supreme consciousness within each entity of creation.

Yogic Science

Since the aim of a yogic spiritual path is the liberation of the self from the cycle of life and death, partaking in the slaughter of animals means prolonging our suffering by supporting the plight of others and binding us to the world. Yoga is a liberating path of inner peace and self-awareness, a journey of union between the individual self and the cosmic self.

According to Ayurveda and Tantra yoga, nature consists of three qualities or forces (gunas) known as sattva (sentient), rajas (mutative), and tamas (static). Sattva is purity, peace, light, right action, and spiritual purpose. Rajas is the principle of movement, transformation, and excitability. Tamas is inertia, darkness, decay, and confusion.

From rajas comes the notion that the external world is real, which makes us lose focus on the world within and seek happiness outside ourselves. Rajas creates desire, ambition, mental activity, emotional imbalance, and upsets. Tamas veils our true nature and weakens our power of discrimination. Sattva gives clarity, concentration, love, joy, and devotion. Sattva, as a state of balance, is responsible for health and healing.

The energy in meat is decaying and dead — as such, it is tamasic, promoting that manner of mind frame, while a vegetarian diet promotes a sattvic mind, which is more peaceful and bright. Think about a lion as opposed to a deer, a cow, or a swan, and consider the type of energy you would rather embody.

The Path of Wisdom

There are two paths in life: one is the path of ignorance and the other the path of wisdom. The choices we make determine the quality of our life and that of others. We need to realize the truth within ourselves rather than rely on false propaganda fed to us by profit-mongering multinational corporations. These companies have been providing disinformation through unscrupulous pseudo-scientific evidence and research carried out by unethical scientists whose primary interest is financial gain at the expense of the general public.

Until you examine what it truly means to be physically fit and healthy, mentally strong and stable, emotionally balanced, and spiritually elevated, how you manage your level of energy will determine your personality. What you do to maintain your physical body and mental state determines the quality of your life. How you direct your mind and use your knowledge depends on the type of food you select, which determines the level of energy you have to manage your day, every day of your entire life.

Let's be clear: "You are what you eat." What goes through your mouth controls the quality of your life.

The Science of Vibration

Physicist Dr. Max Planck, who received the Nobel Prize in 1918 and is sometimes called "The Father of Quantum Physics," said during his award ceremony speech:

"As a man who has devoted his whole life to the most clear-headed science, to the study of matter, I can tell you as a result of my research about atoms this much: There is no matter as such. All matter originates and exists only under a force that brings the particle of an atom to vibration and holds this most minute solar system of the atom together. We must assume behind this force the existence of a conscious and intelligent mind. This mind is the matrix of all matter."

Scientists, including Einstein and Linus Pauling (the only person to receive two unshared Nobel Prizes), needed hard evidence to prove their theories. They required factual data to corroborate their hypotheses, and yet such a renowned scientist as Max Planck asserted that there is no such thing as matter.

We live in this material world — we hear, see, touch, taste, and smell. How can we perceive other dimensions where there exists no such thing as matter? This proves that you, I, and all creation in this physical world are expressions of consciousness itself.

"I regard consciousness as fundamental. I regard matter as derivative from consciousness. We cannot get behind consciousness. Everything that we talk about, everything that we regard as existing, postulates consciousness." — Max Planck, The Observer, January 25, 1931

Everything is Vibration

Everything we do, feel, hear, see, touch, taste, and smell are vibrations of different frequencies. According to the big bang theory, all creation gradually condensed over billions of years into this physical matter that you and I can perceive. We came from the stars, and everything around us — including what we eat — has vibrations. These vibrations can be subtle, mutative, or static.

Just as you may feel great in the morning, less energetic in the late afternoon, and tired in the evening, these three forces are always around us. Ancient yogis called these three powers:

Sattvic (sentient) principle: This binding quality is the most subtle. Associated with conscious awareness, simplicity, purity in thought and deed, happiness, cheerfulness, sensitivity, constant energy, lightness — soft and gentle.

Rajasic (mutative) principle: This binding quality is less subtle and agitative. Related to constant transformation, change, growth, dynamism, restlessness, dissatisfaction, and activity.

Tamasic (static) principle: This binding quality is the crudest of the three. Connected with lethargy, inertia, entropy, degeneration, ignorance, death, and decay.

According to Max Planck, "Science cannot solve the ultimate mystery of nature. And that is because, in the last analysis, we are part of the mystery that we are trying to solve."

The Body's Electrical System

Dr. Valerie Hunt, Professor Emeritus of Physiological Science at UCLA, research scientist, author, and lecturer known for her pioneering work in the field of bio-energy, has done groundbreaking research that led to the first scientific understanding of the relationship between energy field disturbances, disease, and emotional pathologies. All body functions rely on subtle electrical signals. Our muscles, nervous system, heart, and brain emit electrical signals. Dr. Hunt developed instruments that detect subtle frequencies from the different energy centers which ancient sages have described through cognitive prowess for thousands of years.

Most people believe the findings of renowned scientists, accepting as evidence and truth whatever these great scientists have proven with their instruments. Can we also accept as true what great yogis have determined through experiments conducted for thousands of years in their bodies and mental laboratories? The psychic and physical conclusions of these yogis are similar to the mechanical results of Dr. Hunt.

"A new scientific truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents and making them see the light, but rather because its opponents eventually die, and a new generation grows up that is familiar with it." — Max Planck, Scientific Autobiography, 1950

The Quality of Our Fuel

We all need energy in the form of air we breathe, water we drink, and foods we eat. To determine the energy level of your body, three prerequisites sustain the body:

1. Oxygen — the quality of air we breathe

2. Nutrition — vitamins, minerals, enzymes, carbohydrates, proteins, essential oils

3. Removal of toxins — waste products that accumulate due to insufficient water, lack of exercise, overeating, improper quality and quantity of food

All these determine the quality of your life.

If you have good timber, you can make quality furniture from the wood. If the quality of wood is inappropriate, obviously the furniture will be of low quality even if you were the best carpenter. For a good building to last 100 years, it requires quality raw materials. In our case, the food we eat makes our body cells. As we eat healthy food, we create healthy cells, organs, muscles, bones, and nerves. When you put junk into your body, you become a junkyard — isn't this obvious?

We cannot remain ignorant of what we eat. We are not to eat to fill the stomach but to feed the cells.

Measuring Food Vibrations

Robert O. Young, a microbiologist, has scientifically proven that all food has subtle vibrations. He measured vibrations of various foods and found they emit frequencies measured in megahertz (MHz):

Soaked almonds: 45 MHz
Avocado: 40 MHz
Rose: 320 MHz
Hamburger: 2 MHz
Coca-Cola: 10 MHz

Similarly, organs of our body transmit vibrations:

Brain: 75 MHz
Heart: 70 MHz
Lungs: 65 MHz
Stomach: 60 MHz
Liver: 60 MHz

Imagine your brain working at 75 MHz while your fuel supply is a 2-MHz hamburger. Will that make you super-energized or super-tired? Most processed foods, through their cleaning, polishing, and extraction processes, have lost all important nutritional value. White flour and sugar are toxins for the body, yet we consume them daily, unconsciously. Consumption of these foods provides minimal energy.

Everything, everywhere, is bundles of vibration. Take a moment to think deeply about what we eat. There is a force that guides everything, and that immense power will guide you to tap into universal power. We can make a difference in our world by choosing not to become socio-economic puppets dancing to the whims of multinational puppeteers.

The Tantric Understanding of Food

Shrii Shrii Anandamurti explains:

"If a person takes food of tamasic nature, then automatically his natural tendency will be toward crude thoughts because the food will stimulate the two lower chakras (muladhara and svadhisthana) that are static in nature."

"If one eats too much tamasic food, these two lowest chakras become strengthened, while eating rajasic food strengthens the manipura chakra which controls physical energy."

"Rajasic food supplies more energy for action at the physical level. Sentient food strengthens the anahata and vishuddha chakras — which helps very much in spiritual sadhana."

Through conscious eating and selecting sentient foods, we align ourselves with the higher vibrations of existence, supporting not only our physical health but our spiritual evolution. This is the profound reason for choosing a plant-based diet — not merely as a dietary preference, but as a conscious step toward our highest potential as human beings.