Yes he does, according to his partner Kim Eng.
It’s such a curious question isn’t it: “Are spiritual people, truly enlightened people, vegetarians?” And the answer is clearly “not necessarily.”
If you look at the great spiritual masters, there’s no common theme with regards to meat eating. Buddha wasn’t rigid about it and said it was okay if you were offered it, the Dalai Lama follows this path and is vegetarian at home but will eat meat if away.
Jesus fed the 5000 fish and loaves which he magically produced. Jesus said “What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them.” Matthew 15:11. And “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear.” Luke 12:22
And enlightened master Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, of “I AM THAT” fame, had no issue with meat eating or even smoking. Here’s an excerpt from I AM THAT…
Q: My body influences me deeply. In more than one way my body is my destiny. My character, my moods, the nature of my reactions, my desires and fears — inborn or acquired — they are all based on the body. A little alcohol, some drug or other and all changes. Until the drug wears off I become another man.
M: All this happens because you think yourself to be the body. realise your real self and even drugs will have no power over you.
Q: You smoke?
M: My body kept a few habits which may as well continue till it dies. There is no harm in them.
Q: You eat meat?
M: I was born among meat-eating people and my children are eating meat. I eat very little — and make no fuss.
Q: Meat-eating implies killing.
M: Obviously. I make no claims of consistency. You think absolute consistency is possible; prove it by example. Don’t preach what you do not practise.
Similarly, here’s what Ramana Maharshi had to say on the subject:
M: Habit is only adjustment to the environment. It is the mind that matters. The fact is that the mind has been trained to think certain foods tasty and good. The food material is to be had both in vegetarian and non-vegetarian diet equally well. But the mind desires such food as it is accustomed to and considers tasty.
D: Are there restrictions for the realised man in a similar manner?
M: No. He is steady and not influenced by the food he takes.
Eckhart Tolle sees life as one dynamic whole; an inter-connectedness, an inter-action, oneness. Life eats life, everywhere…
I saw on TV the other day, whales hunting. They pincered a shoal of fish and then came from underneath to catch thousands in one mouthful. Does that make a whale evil?
Having had my head into nutrition for over 20 years, I’m uncomfortable from a health point of view with pure vegetarianism (and the dairy industry is crueler than the meat industry so I’m told by vegans).
Interestingly, I’ve seen Eckhart Tolle dodge this question many times in seminars and TV interviews. He just advises to…
Be present with whatever your food choices are and then the right food choice will happen for you… it needs to come from within rather than as something from without.
This view is perfectly echoed by non-physical beings Abraham, channeled by Esther Hicks…
Imagine if you could let being aligned be your first priority — a lot of vegans would be inspired to a lot of eating that their veganism would not allow, but the source within them would call them toward.
— Abraham-Hicks
Yet another echo of the same perspective from Adyashanti:
Safransky: Could killing animals to eat them come from wholeness?
Adyashanti: Sure. Life is killing. If we eat a vegetable, we’ve killed it. If we eat an animal, we’ve killed it. To be a living organism is to kill. There is no life without death. When we die, we’re going to be nutrients for something else.
I don’t see life as “anything goes,” but I have seen wholeness move through different people in different ways. That’s why I’m always talking about action that comes from wholeness, not from division, nor rejection, nor grasping, nor pushing away. What motivates us when we’re not pushing or grasping, not relying on conditioned concepts of right and wrong, good and bad? Is there something else that can move us? And what is that? Action that is an expression of a clear and undivided state of consciousness is what the Buddha meant by “right action.” To exercise right action we must be functioning from a place outside of all egoic self-interest. We must be awake within the dream and be able to express that perspective.
The take-home message…
…from these spiritual masters is clear: Be whole, then see what you do.
People’s pre-judgement on the basis of this issue would be detrimental to their own enlightenment. Because if you saw as Eckhart does, life as oneness, then you would probably also not be overly concerned about any particular FORM, as all the forms are continuously morphing and changing. In fact, there is only life and it is ONE life, there is no death anywhere to be seen! And… life eats life, everywhere. My cat isn’t evil for eating mice.
What do you think? Do you think vegetarians are more spiritual? Please let us know by leaving a comment below.
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If I ever decide to become a murderer of mankind for sport, I will echo Abraham’s lion contention to justify my vile deeds. Life eats life. If you accept her words as true, embrace the logical conclusion that no life is precious as one only destroys the forms at the end of the day, so get into that vortex and start indiscriminately killing any life that suits you. If you feel bad for killing other humans you’re making the mistake of taking life and all the forms in it far too personally. Thankfully, no one need kill humans anymore as processed foods and animal products serve as critical population control devices and anyone like abrahm is doing their duty to protect the planet by telling others to consume the poison for the good of the planet. These enlightened beings know more and understand more than the rest of us can comprehend or accept so be weary and abundantly cautious anytime you find yourself in a flock that follows enlightened beings. They are doing and saying what they must, it’s nothing personal.
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I did not read all the comments but wanted to chime in that I am 58, committed vegan for 20 years, same weight for past 30 years (123 lbs , 5’4″ female), no medications, no health issues, active mountain lifestyle (hiking, skiing, kayaking, etc…). I have a network of longtime vegan friends, all in their 50s and 60s in excellent health. So, again, if one can be healthy and happy without harming others, why wouldn’t one do that?
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I would agree. The question is whether a vegan diet is healthy for everyone. For example, some people are poor converters of plant forms of vitamin A into retinol, ALA is poorly converted to DHA, etc. Maybe it depends on ancestry/genetics. A lot of vegan problems may be B12 which has many spin-off effects, high homocysteine, myelin sheath problems and so on. Vitamin D status I think could also be a big issue. I definitely agree with your general statement though, if we CAN be happy and healthy without harming others, I would choose that. The spiritual masters all seem to advise eating what the body calls for, that there is wisdom is feeling for what you need in the moment, rather than having a preset philosophy. Pregnant women seem to often experience very strong callings to all sorts of strange foods that I imagine is the result of the body’s wisdom to make a healthy baby. For me, it has to start with belief, I struggle with the idea that a vegan diet could work for everyone. I would feel happier about it if there was an affordable way to do nutrient testing periodically to put my mind at rest that I was getting everything I need.
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After 18 years vegan, I had my B12, D and calcium levels tested. Normal, normal, and normal. And I am blood type O — the type is that is supposed to eat meat. According to medical professionals and nutrition researchers, plant based diets are healthier (Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn, Dr. John McDougall, Dr. Joel Fuhrman, T. Colin Campbell, Ph.D., and more than I can list here). The major killers in the developed world are diseases of excess, not diseases of deficiency. As for spiritual masters, here’s a response to that: http://www.ecorazzi.com/2016/05/30/spirituality-speciesism-and-the-ethical-symmetry-gap/
I know that there are plenty of people who argue against veganism because they are unwilling to change, to be inconvenienced, to give up their comforts foods and addictions (cheese is literally an addictive substance similar to morphine). I can recognize them pretty quickly and don’t expend a lot of energy trying to convince them. Over and out.
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Hmmm the question is whether everyone can be healthy being vegan and your personal B12, D and calcium levels aren’t convincing :-) B12 will be fine if you supplement and most vegans do I imagine. Vitamin D will be fine if you get enough sunshine. Calcium wasn’t an issue.
The docs you mentioned there are all in the same camp, no surprises. Fuhrman doesn’t recommend veganism. I could list hundred of low carb doctors for example, and this wouldn’t prove anything. Every diet out there has doctors supporting it as well as scientific evidence.
Dietary excesses are problematic. So is deficiency. This is not a rational argument.
There’s lots I can say about the article you linked to as the ethical rebuttal but this is only a blog comment. His main argument is that we stop our cars rather than run over dogs, deer or raccoons so therefore animals do matter. This is a palm slap to me because running a dog or deer over is not the same as eating animals for food. The former clearly has no reason, purpose or instinct. I believe that Adyashanti trusts wholeness because in our limited perspective we cannot know, cannot see all the causes and interactions. Is a vegan diet really least harm anyway… what of the billions of acres cleared to grow grains? What life was killed? What life is killed in the growing? What life cannot be because those acres are not left to nature? And what about people who live on land only suited to grazing?
Is a dolphin evil because it eats fish? They co-evolved. Life exists as ecology and nature maintains perfect balance and health.
I don’t fit into any of your four categories of people. I’ve actually been pondering this issue for decades.
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Me too.
I am 52 and since 30 years vegetarian and vegan and never had any problems with health through my vegan life stile. I am feeling very young and everywhere I go people ask me how it comes that my skin looks so clear and smooth. I am working full time and the functioning of my body is simply perfect.
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The non defendable aspect of meat-eating is how animals are treated before beeing killed and eaten…
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Yes, no argument there.
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so you say if I grab you on the street and beat you,rape you,kill you is bad,but if I first invite you to my home, cook a nice dinner for you ,put a nice music on, then I say I love you, I kiss you and then I cut your throat is ok?
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Are you able to watch a cow in the eys, and then kill her? if you can, you have the right to eat meat, if you cannot, like 90% of people, that’s mean you want to eat meat without the bad part. You want someone else do the dirty job cause it would deeply disturbing for you. It’s normal, you know it’s not fair, deep in your soul. But buying at supermarket it’s so easy!
Eating animal is not a need, is just a desire. Fulfilling a desire basing on pain, is not acceptable.
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I agree with you Aldo. I find the article above nothing but justification for animal abuse and violence. Any truly spiritual being, with heart chakra intact, could not possibly condone the atrocities that are inflicted on animals in factory farms. I used to have great respect for Tolle, but he needs to wake up to this issue.
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Was vegetarian with my first child…to weak to contract…had to have emergency c- section. Was meat eater with my second child and gave birth at home. Which birth was more spiritual? Genetics program the physical body…they don’t determine the spirit that resides in them.
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I agree. Even the great masters succumb to physical disease, it’s cause and effect.
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