VEGETARIAN SPIRITUAL COMMUNITIES, A WARNING

by Dr. Lawrence Wilson

All information in this article is for educational purposes only. It is not for the diagnosis, treatment, prescription or cure of any disease or health condition.

Throughout America and around the world are a number of vegetarian communities that sound very loving and humanitarian. Some are run by Eastern gurus, while others are led by Western teachers.

One of our nutrition consultants just returned from spending a week at a meditation retreat at one of these communities. This article is not meant to judge, but to explain why these communities are extremely hazardous to your physical and emotional health.

PROBLEMS NOTED AT A PROMINENT VEGETARIAN SPIRITUAL COMMUNITY

1. The vegetarian diet. Some of the communities are vegan, while others are lacto-vegetarian or perhaps lacto-ovo vegetarian.

I wish I could say that our clients who are on these diets are in excellent health, but they are not. As explained in other articles on this website such as Vegetarianism, vegetarian diets are all deficient in certain nutrients such as zinc, taurine, carnitine, sulfur amino acids and others. They are also very yin in Chinese medical terms.

As a result, they weaken the body and the mind, and shorten the life span. They cause or contribute to yin disease, which affects every organ and system of the body. Because they are very yin and weaken the body, they also open the body to more entity attachment and other problems, as well. This is one of the main problems with these communities and with the seminars and retreats they sponsor. Meat is not an ideal food, but it is a necessary food today, in my experience, if you wish to have optimum health and energy.

2. Loose sexual behavior. While not always the case, rather loose sexual mores is often a feature of these intentional communities. This behavior weakens the body and mind due to sexual fluid loss and contributes to sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) that are often difficult to eradicate. It also can damage marriages and harm children. It also makes the bodies more yin and contributes to yin disease, as does the vegetarian diet.

3. Random meditations. Most of the vegetarian intentional and spiritual communities offer or even require various meditative practices. However, many of these move energy randomly or even upward through the body. This can be quite dangerous and lead to a kind of mindless and ungrounded, uncentered state of mind. I only recommend the Roy Masters meditation with my modification in which one moves energy downward only through the body. This is much safer and more powerful for healing, in my experience.

4. Yoga and acupuncture, in many cases. At many of these retreats and communities, yoga is widely practiced. We find yoga harmful today for a number of reasons that are explained in a separate article on this site, Yoga, Its Benefits And Problems.

One must also be careful with acupuncture, and the cautions are explained in the article entitled Acupuncture on this site.

5. Naturopathy. Also, at these communities, people practice or use many naturopathic techniques. Some are good, but some will worsen one’s nutritional state. These include taking random nutritional supplements, and the use of “cleansing” fasts, juice fasts, fruit diets, raw food diets, and other nutritionally deficient dietary methods. Please avoid all of these today. The reasons are explained in the articles entitled Raw Foods, Fruit-Eating, and Smoothies And Juices.

Other common therapies are the use of herbal medicines, homeopathy, and sometimes Chelation Therapy, all of which I find to be quite harmful, sadly.

They all make the body much more yin, and often unbalance it, even if they relieve symptoms.

6. Liberal politics. Some may object to my mentioning this, but many of the vegetarian communities teach liberal and socialistic thinking. In my experience, this will make a person much more yin, and much of it is questionable or absolutely incorrect and harmful for the mind. This website has a number of important articles on this subject such as Liberalism, Populism, Social Justice And Other Confusing Concepts and Liberals And Impaired Nutrition.

7. Drugs, notably marijuana. The use of marijuana, in particular, is common in many vegetarian communities. This fits with the overall attitude of the people, in many cases, and it occurs because many people just do not feel that well on their vegetarian diet.

The use of any drugs further weakens the body and mind, makes them more yin, once again, and does a lot of damage.

For all of these reasons, please stay clear of the these intentional or spiritual communities, no matter what they promise and no matter how happy or peaceful they appear.

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