- Apr 30, 2013
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Abstaining from meat is fairly common in many cultures as an ascetic practice, from Hindu brahmins, Jains, and Buddhists, Chinese Taoists, animistic cultures, to eastern Christians, so I'm guessing there's something universal about it being spiritually beneficial that is understood intuitively. Anecdontally, some people who have gone vegan or vegetarian sometimes mention having spiritual intuitions or interest, despite previously having no interest.
Living on a diet of only plants isn't inherently unhealthy, the main risk is that in modern agricultural practices, there's a complete deficiency in B-12 (cobalamin), which means with prolonged abstinence from meat (usually measured in years, not days, depending on body stores) there's a risk of serious anemia and nerve damage, however this can be solved by taking a simple supplement, or eating exotic foods like chlorella or duckweed (which is actually consumed by poor Thai peasants as a traditional food in Thailand).
Monastics and vegetarianism
(posting in fellowship) I did not want to go off topic in another thread, but I was wondering, why Orthodox monks and nuns tend to be vegetarian and only eat fish? Are they also not allowed to eat cheese, dairy, yogurt, wine, oil et al? What other foods do they avoid? I remember reading...
www.christianforums.com
Abstaining from meat is fairly common in many cultures as an ascetic practice, from Hindu brahmins, Jains, and Buddhists, Chinese Taoists, animistic cultures, to eastern Christians, so I'm guessing there's something universal about it being spiritually beneficial that is understood intuitively. Anecdontally, some people who have gone vegan or vegetarian sometimes mention having spiritual intuitions or interest, despite previously having no interest.
Living on a diet of only plants isn't inherently unhealthy, the main risk is that in modern agricultural practices, there's a complete deficiency in B-12 (cobalamin), which means with prolonged abstinence from meat (usually measured in years, not days, depending on body stores) there's a risk of serious anemia and nerve damage, however this can be solved by taking a simple supplement, or eating exotic foods like chlorella or duckweed (which is actually consumed by poor Thai peasants as a traditional food in Thailand).
