Podcast details
Why should not we eat eggs?
Eggs are not considered suitable for a pure, spiritual diet.
They are not vegetarian or a milk product, but a life form possessing tamas guṇa, the quality of inertia and impurity. What spoils quickly is considered impure, and eggs spoil even faster than fish. Consuming them affects one's consciousness; it is said eating one egg can disrupt proper meditation for ten days. Ethically, modern egg production causes suffering. Hens are confined, forced to overproduce eggs through chemical means. For a hen, an egg is a potential embryo. This industrial process violates ethical principles of non-harm and purity.
"I have heard that Paramahaṁsa Yogānanda... said if you eat one egg, you cannot meditate properly for ten days."
"For a hen, the egg is an embryo, and to force a hen to produce so many eggs... is contrary to ethical principles."
Filming location: Vép, Hungary
This text is transcribed and grammar corrected by AI. If in doubt what was actually said in the recording, use the transcript to double click the desired cue. This will position the recording in most cases just before the sentence is uttered.
The text contains hyperlinks in bold to three authoritative books on yoga, written by humans, to clarify the context of the lecture:
- Yoga in Daily Life - The System
Paramhans Swami Maheshwarananda. Ibera Verlag, Vienna, 2000. ISBN 978-3-85052-000-3 - The Hidden Power in Humans - Chakras and Kundalini
Paramhans Swami Maheshwarananda. Ibera Verlag, Vienna, 2004. ISBN 978-3-85052-197-0 - Lila Amrit - The Divine Life of Sri Mahaprabhuji
Paramhans Swami Madhavananda. Int. Sri Deep Madhavananda Ashram Fellowship, Vienna, 1998. ISBN 3-85052-104-4