On my journey that took me to New York, I was seated in a restaurant with some friends who were students and teachers of yoga. They had all learned yoga from differen
t teachers, and so their practices differed considerably. When one of friends ordered for his lunch, two others pounced on him.
" How can you eat meat?" they demanded. " We are yoga teachers. We are supposed to be vegetarians."
When I asked them to elaborate on this theory that all yoga teachers must be vegetarians, they argue heatedly, justifying their position based on the concept ahima ( non- violence).
After they had quieted down a bit, I asked them, " If ahimsa is truly your underlying reason for choosing to be a vegetarian, why are you being so violent towards this man? Is your behavior to him not contrary to ashima?" I pressed on. " If all yoga practitioners are supposed to be vegetarians, what about people who live in places where it is difficult to find vegetarian food all year round? Places like Northern Russia, north of Canada, north of Sweden, etc. Are the people who live in these places who live in these places not allowed to practice Yoga?" This got them thinking.
" How can you eat meat?" they demanded. " We are yoga teachers. We are supposed to be vegetarians."
When I asked them to elaborate on this theory that all yoga teachers must be vegetarians, they argue heatedly, justifying their position based on the concept ahima ( non- violence).
After they had quieted down a bit, I asked them, " If ahimsa is truly your underlying reason for choosing to be a vegetarian, why are you being so violent towards this man? Is your behavior to him not contrary to ashima?" I pressed on. " If all yoga practitioners are supposed to be vegetarians, what about people who live in places where it is difficult to find vegetarian food all year round? Places like Northern Russia, north of Canada, north of Sweden, etc. Are the people who live in these places who live in these places not allowed to practice Yoga?" This got them thinking.
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