The first principle of yoga philosophy is ahimsa, which means non harming to self and others. Some people interpret this to include not eating animal products. There is debate about this in the yoga community—I believe that it is a personal decision that everyone has to make for themselves. If you are considering becoming a vegetarian, be sure to take into account your personal health issues as well how your choices will affect those with whom you live. Being a vegetarian should not be something that you impose on others—that kind of aggressive action in itself is not an expression of ahimsa.

It’s one of the most controversial topics in the yoga world: vegetarianism. Some say you’re not truly practicing yoga if you eat meat; others say that not all body types can thrive on purely vegetarian diets. Is there a definitive answer?

On any retreat, you’re bound to hear a lively discussion at the lunch table about whether or not yoga practitioners should eat meat. Neither side takes their position lightly. After all, yogis don’t do things without reason!

The vegetarians say that ahimsa, or the yogic practice of nonviolence, prevents them from eating animals because it’s violent to take the life of another living being. Vegetarians also say that meat-eating inhibits us from achieving deep states of meditation because it negatively affects the energy body. (Pranamaya teacher Dharma Mittra discusses this at length in the Cow’s exclusive Q&A this month).

The non-vegetarians are often practitioners who once tried to be vegetarian but didn’t feel healthy while on that diet. They say it made them feel ungrounded, and that it created conditions associated with vata imbalance (an ayurvedic term for too much wind and ether).

The Sanskrit term yoga is found in the Vedas, the most ancient of the Indian scriptures, prehistoric in origin. The Indian philosopher Patanjali did not invent yoga, but he did write an important manual, the Yoga Sutras, several thousand years ago. The word yoga is derived from the Sanskrit yuj, which means 'to yoke,' and describes the yoking of one's individual small self to the cosmic eternal Self, or God. Reaching this blissful state of union with the Divine is called enlightenment, liberation, Self-realization, super-consciousness, or samadhi. Jesus referred to this state when he reputedly said, 'I and my father are one.' In all probability, he didn't use the English word 'father.' Most likely he used the Aramaic word for the Divine, which is Alaha. Alaha means the interconnectedness of all beings and things: the oneness of being. A more apt biblical translation of that New Testament passage might be: 'I know myself as one with all that is.' Jesus was describing Yogic enlightenment.