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| What do we mean by Purity? |
Swami Vishnudevananda, in his book The Complete Illustrated Book of Yoga, offers the argument
that consumption of meat leads to a buildup of undesirable wastes in the human body. Primarily
he is concerned with uric acid, telling us that the kidneys cannot excrete this substance fast
enough to keep up with the intake on a diet that includes meat.
Consider for a moment the difference, in a wild setting, between the eating behavior of the
vegetarian animal versus that of the carnivore. The herbivore fairly wallows in his food. Bovine
creatures such as cattle and buffalo live on plains and prairies carpeted with grass. Creatures like
deer live in forests and eat leaves, which are everywhere. Fish eat algae. Birds eat seeds. When
times are good, these animals eat whenever they feel like it.
Carnivores are different. When meat, in the form of a dead animal, is available, the wolf or the
cat will eat as much as it can. When it gets hungry again, it returns to the kill, if there is any left.
In between these meals the beast sleeps, plays, explores, fights and breeds. When the meat is gone
and the belly is empty, only then does the predator begin to hunt once more.
There is the catch. Before the cat, the fox or the eagle can eat again, it must first find suitable
prey. Then it must catch it, overpower it and kill it before it gets even a mouthful of venison,
rabbit or quail. Depending on the condition of the prey population, this can take hours, days or
weeks. This delay affords the animal’s system plenty of time to excrete excess acids and minerals,
and to burn any overabundance of fat that may have accumulated. Carnivores frequently fast.
Fasting leads to Purity.
that consumption of meat leads to a buildup of undesirable wastes in the human body. Primarily
he is concerned with uric acid, telling us that the kidneys cannot excrete this substance fast
enough to keep up with the intake on a diet that includes meat.
Consider for a moment the difference, in a wild setting, between the eating behavior of the
vegetarian animal versus that of the carnivore. The herbivore fairly wallows in his food. Bovine
creatures such as cattle and buffalo live on plains and prairies carpeted with grass. Creatures like
deer live in forests and eat leaves, which are everywhere. Fish eat algae. Birds eat seeds. When
times are good, these animals eat whenever they feel like it.
Carnivores are different. When meat, in the form of a dead animal, is available, the wolf or the
cat will eat as much as it can. When it gets hungry again, it returns to the kill, if there is any left.
In between these meals the beast sleeps, plays, explores, fights and breeds. When the meat is gone
and the belly is empty, only then does the predator begin to hunt once more.
There is the catch. Before the cat, the fox or the eagle can eat again, it must first find suitable
prey. Then it must catch it, overpower it and kill it before it gets even a mouthful of venison,
rabbit or quail. Depending on the condition of the prey population, this can take hours, days or
weeks. This delay affords the animal’s system plenty of time to excrete excess acids and minerals,
and to burn any overabundance of fat that may have accumulated. Carnivores frequently fast.
Fasting leads to Purity.
| Yoga for Carnivores by Jay Dyck |