Guruji, Are eggs and other non Veg items are bad for Nadis…my doctor said to me to eat eggs on daily basis in breakfast and non veg often…sir plz guide me for the effects of these on my brain and Nadis… Shivoham…
– Rajan Raman
Shivoham!
Rajan,
You have shown concerns about Nadis etc. but not indicated if you are actually engaging in any sort of Yoga practices. Such questions about food generally don’t come to us while we are imparting the discipline of Tattva Shakti Vigyaan for almost every student knows the effect of such tamasic foods on their overall health. Further we are lucky to have so many practitioners that are Yoga Teachers themselves and therefore no confusions. Nevertheless sometimes priorities are different. Those who are struggling to restore and recover their physical body and it’s strength would listen to the doctors and why not? Rather they must stick to what their learned healers suggest them to but the when someone already have a functional body they notice the illness of mind. It is for that reason we engage in the practice of Nadi Sodhana. The purpose behind purification of Nadis is to have an alert and stable mind. Also purification of Nadis is essential to get established in the practice of pranayama. practice for the purpose of purifying our Nadis. Yet this does not mean your question is not matter. In fact you have kind of answered it in your question itself but seems you need my opinion. Alright, Lets understand what is the role of food on our overall health.
If we consider the take of modern medical science then meat and eggs are controversial food. There are varied opinions about whether meat is really cause of cancer or egg causes cardiac issues. And the funny thing is that every couple of years their opinion changes about a particular food and its overall impact on our health. So what should a commoner (yogi) do? Well, I would say go by your common sense. One fact Carnivores (meat eating species) typically have only one stomach chamber and much simpler digestive system. Many Herbivores (plant eating species) animals on the other side have been seen to possess several stomach chambers and a much longer digestive tract. Now by this definition humans are closer to Herbivores as we have a longer digestive tract. Anyways that was just a general knowledge but ask yourself – “Is there no chance of survival or recovery for people who are strictly vegetarian?” And the answer is “NO!” even they have equal chances of regaining health and that too without becoming omnivorous. This was as far as survival at the level of body is concerned.
Humans are animals. Yes, but we are thinking animals and our being on the highest point of evolution is not because we have huge and powerful bodies but we are animals having the most sophisticated brain whose function is called mind. So, as humans our topmost concern is “Mind” because only through this evolved mind our ancestors have created so huge reservoir of knowledge for us. They have also given us rules and principles to follow and enhance the capacity of mind to such a level that we know the subtlest – The Brahmn, God or Shiva. Having seen the merits of keeping our ‘mind’ in brightest of health and it’s supremacy over body we should now try to see what our scriptures say about food and mind.
In Chhandogya Upanishad it is clearly told that energy and brilliance of the mind is derived from the physical body. It means we have to keep our physical body healthy, strong and pure. Just to clarify by ‘pure’ we mean ‘Sattvic‘. We should also keep in mind that this physical body is made up of food. Food is made up of Tattvas and major potion of our composition comes from – food, water and air. So, if we want to keep our body strong and Sattvic we should take utmost care in choosing what we consume.
It is further said in Chhandogya Upanishad about Food that “Food, when consumed, gets divided into three parts. The grossest portion or ingredient of this food becomes feces (excreta). The intermediate or middle part becomes flesh and whatever is the subtlest ingredient derived from that food becomes the mind”. Now let us see what is the role of water, Jala or for that matter any liquid that we consume. It says “Water, when consumed, gets divided into three parts. The grossest part (or we can say un-utilizable part) becomes urine. The middle or subtler part of it becomes blood and the the subtlest ingredient, becomes the Prana“. It is definitely oversimplified but it is a way to say “Juicy diet directly becomes available for the body to draw it’s energy (prana) from. In fact you know that without proper water intake our body can not draw any nutrients from the food (solid). It must be added here that the quality of prana that we derive from our food (be it solid or liquid) would decide the health of our mind and Nadis because tamasic prana will not be supported by the Nadi system.
From this you clearly see how important is what we eat because the very building block of the mind is the essence of food. It is not only about the quality and purity of material that we consume but also about its vibrational constitution. This is the reason, if we are interested in our vibrational (pranic) health we should avoid consuming meat, eggs, fish, alcohol, and drugs that alter mind conditions. These things are important for the yoga practitioners. It does not stop here, in fact we must also be cautious about the vibration of the people involved in handling the food for if there are people with negative vibrations involved in it’s chain the food will almost turn into pranic-poison. Such food may still cater to the physical functions but surely its poisonous to the mind.
There is whole science of how the food should be sowed, cultivated, harvested, stored, processed, cooked and served for each of these links can contribute to the pranic contamination. In general these processes are not taken seriously as far as conserving, purifying and boosting food’s pranic quality and value. Here I would like to mention that one of our disciple, Shri Pankaj Juyal after having been exposed to this knowledge has started a sincere and honest effort to change the status quo on how the food should be handled. Guided by the wisdom of Gurumandala he is engaged in serving people by making high energy sattvic food available to the prana-conscious practitioners worldwide. Nevertheless even if we have received high prana uncooked food items it is so very important how it is handled by the people who cook and serve it. It is advised that if one is mentally disturbed he/she should voluntarily stay away from cooking the food.
During the process of cooking and afterwards the cooked food is highly susceptible to all sorts of energies. Usual recommendation is to offer prayer or blessing the food to neutralize any negative energies attached to it. But it may not suffice always, especially if the person who prepared the food or the handler were irritated, suffocated, jealous, angry, depressed or so on. Next best way to highten the pranic vibrations of the food is to make it a prasadam. It means offer the food to God and receive it as grace. Although it may offend some women but the exact reason why in earlier times (when people knew and cared about pranic vibrations of food) mensturating women chose not to engage in cooking or serving the food.
Rajan, my response to the question may not sound like a clear advice but the fact is Nadis are to be kept clean and pure not only for the purpose of spiritual enlightenment but also for staying healthy and mentally alert. Today some food may be serving the purpose of accumulating as fat, muscle, blood or bone in your body but in later times as the accumulation of associated subtle pranic vibrations will reach a threshold it would start creating diseases for you. Blockages in the nadis may manifest in your body in different ways. You may feel symptoms such as headaches, anger, depression, too much lust, edema, constipation, nasal passages getting blocked, anxiety etc. So take an informed call.
It is true that nadis get clogged by tamasic food and when purified you feel lighter, Ojas increased, your digestion improves, you also get stability and clarity of mind. It is said that when one succeeds (although too difficult in modern times) in making Nadis to get to zero impurity one starts achieving various Siddhis.
Finally till the time you follow doctor’s advice of consuming meat and eggs just to offload some of its negative impact on Nadis, I would recommend that you observe Rasaahaara (Have fruits and juices only that day) Fasting twice a month to get rid of your accumulated gross negative aspect of food. This is kind of cleansing fast and shall clear the toxins. Learn NadiShodhan and keep practising it regularly so that you are able to minimize the effect of diet on your Energy Body (Pranamaya Kosha) and Mind body (Manomaya Kosha). Gradually, when your physical recovery is over and you feel its time to drop this ‘non-vegetarian advice’ switch to a sattvic discipline and take up some Sadhana for purification of body, mind and energies.
-Acharya Agyaatadarshan Anad Nath
Its all about you! 