For those who pursue spirituality, vegetarianism is an extension of their spiritual practices. Vegetarianism is the most compassionate diet because it involves eating foods that contain the least amount of consciousness or life, such as plants. Spiritual teachers often state that vegetarianism is necessary for those who want to find God. For those who wish to follow the path that leads to self-knowledge and God-realization, a strict vegetarian diet is essential.
Why do so many spiritual Masters, founders of different religions, mystics, philosophers and thinkers from different eras all agree that a vegetarian diet is necessary for spiritual advancement? One of the reasons correlates to a law of science, called action and reaction. One of the laws of physics is that every action has a reaction. Most people think that this law only has to do with physical matter or energy. There is another component that science is beginning to discover. We are coming to learn of the mind-body-soul connection. We are discovering that our thoughts have an effect on our body. The law of action and reaction applies not only to physical matter, but also to the subtle level of thought. For example, we know that stress causes a release of hormones throughout our bodies that require us to take action. That action can be running and fleeing from danger, or shielding ourselves on defense. Adrenaline is sent to our muscles to prepare our hands to fight or our legs to run. Due to the stress of modern life, people have this reaction even when they are not in physical danger. We may also react as if we are in danger when faced with intellectual or emotional challenges. Therefore, even our thoughts can cause a physical reaction in which an enormous amount of stress hormones circulate through our body. The result of this excess stress is that prolonged circulation of these hormones can lead to the breakdown of our body tissue. Thus, we find that people under high levels of stress can experience physical illnesses such as heart disease, circulatory problems, digestive problems, skin problems, headaches, and other stress-related ailments. So we can see the power of our thoughts in our body.
Saints and mystics have taught that our thoughts are powerful. The thoughts we think and send also have an effect. Thoughts cause actions, which result in a reaction. There are many religions that speak of a law that establishes that everything good that we do is returned to us and everything bad or negative that we do, say or think also returns, but as a negative reaction. Most religions believe that we are responsible for everything we think, say, and do. Whether we call it the law of karma, or action and reaction, or simply believe that everything good we do comes back to us and everything bad we do must be paid for, there is an almost universal belief in some system of accountability.
People who have had NDEs or near-death experiences who have died clinically and were revived by doctors report similar experiences. According to a survey conducted in 1991, twelve million people reported having had an NDE. Early books by Dr. Raymond Moody, and later by Dr. Melvin Morse, who visited me at the Spiritual Science Center a few years ago, described these experiences that patients who were revived reported to them and other physicians. They described a repeated pattern of experiences. While her body had been clinically dead, they experienced rising above the body. They started by seeing her body below as people worked on her body. They then went through a tunnel and emerged into a world of light. There they saw a light brighter than any in this world, but it was not scorching. They were also welcomed and embraced by a being of light who showered on them more love than they had ever experienced from anyone on earth. This being of light often took them to a life review in which they saw all the good things they had done and all the bad things they had done. What was significant about this life review was that, seeing this three-dimensional replay of their life, they also experienced other people’s reactions to their own actions with great intensity. When a person who has an NDE witnesses in his or her past an occasion to be loving and kind to another person, he or she also experiences within himself or herself that love and kindness that the other person experienced. When a person who has an NDE witnesses in his or her past having hurt someone, he or she also experiences within himself all the damage that he or she has caused to that other person. The intensity of experiencing the pain they had done to others transformed them.
It made them realize that everything we do here matters. They also learned that what matters most in our mundane life is love. All the loving and kind things we do come back to us, and all the painful and hurtful things we do come back to us. When these people who had had an NDE were revived and their souls returned to their bodies, they changed dramatically. Most of them decided to become more loving people and not hurt others because they realized the effect of being negative.