Monday, September 28, 2009

Rudolf Steiner and the Necessity of a Vegetarian Diet


The founder of our premium organic way of farming, which we call biodynamic, stated that he owed his vigor to a vegetarian diet. “I myself known that I would have been unable to go through strenuous activities of the last 24 years without vegetarian nutrition” (Rudolf Steiner, Nutrition and Health: Lectures of the Workmen: Anthroposophical Press, NY, 1987). All of the energizing exposure to the cosmos, including sunlight, starlight, and moonlight, experienced by plants in a garden that can be passed directly to the human being is negated when we eat meat. When the human being eats animal protein, she or he has to break it down into amino acids, urea, and glucose. However, this cosmic energy, so vital to our health and stamina, which we find as a direct source from plants, has been absorbed by the animal that is consumed. How this animal energy is used by the human being then becomes a question. What it boils down to is that, if you want to eat meat, you should hunt it in the wild. The Native Americans, who ate the flesh of animals, maintained a state of health and alertness greater than commonly seen today. Why? According to Steiner, there entered a pact between hunter and prey regarding the transformation of the hunted animal into a level of higher existence through ritual and respect. Going to a grocery store to eat a package of meat from a cow slaughtered in a disrespectful carnage houses could lead to big problems in the realm of aggression, etc. I shall simply ask: could a lot of inner city violence be a result of fast food meat consumption? One anthropologist has suggested the warfare in prehistoric Europe became permanent only after livestock breeding became common in rural communities. And Rudolf Steiner says that, if we look at the physical processes which result from meat-eating: “...we find that red blood corpuscles become darker and heavier and the blood has a greater tendency to clot. Connection with the plant world strengthens the human inwardly. Meat introduces something which gradually becomes something of a ‘foreign substance’ in humans, and goes its own independent way in him. Because the nervous system is thus influenced from the outside it may become susceptible to various nervous diseases. So, we see that in a certain sense, ‘we are what we eat.’ Can you imagine the madness we would see in a herd of cows fed on pigeons? Despite the calm, peaceful nature of a dove, the cow would be simply mad.” Why? The dove has eaten the life energy of the plant directly and the cow would only eat the flesh of a dove that has been denuded of this energy (Rudolf Steiner, Nutrition and Health: Lectures of the Workmen: Anthroposophical Press, NY, 1987).

13 comments:

  1. There are so many valid and new studies to show that meat is a necessity in a human diet. Wild game is best. That 80% of veg. India is dangerously deficient in Vit B12, that supplemental B12 is only absorbed in part and of that only a part of the B12 is absorbed. Grains and breads cause high insulin. A diet free of them would be best. I always find it ironically funny that I was sickest while eating vegetarian, but am healthiest, never sick, content and slim with just a little meat, lots of vegies and salads - but meat. And so many vegetarians I see have that sallow skin, moody tempers (probably due to lack of minerals) and that often the most violence are caused by animal rights vegetarians! Rudolf Steiner was a very brilliant man but that does not make him infallible. And I'm afraid too many people see him as this infallible God. Just as the new science is moving towards Waldorf Education. New science is moving towards eating meat and away from the vegetarian diet. Perhaps the problem for meat eaters is not eating meat, but eating more than they need.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. well, I don't eat any meat for years, dont eat fish, I dont take any substitutes, supplementaryprovvision of vitamins or minerals, yet ironically in best health and never sick....

      Delete
    2. The brainwashing and propaganda that suggests humans should eat meat in it's current format would explain a lot about human health & dis-ease. Bigger health facilities are on the way unfortunately....

      Delete
    3. Well, that is relative because eating meat is good if killing also is good...thinking...

      Delete
    4. I have been a healthy eating Vegetarian for 12 years. It takes many years for the mineral and vitamin deficiencies to show up in a Vegetarian or vegan diet. The tests, by health professionals, I believe may be fallible. It is hard to know if you are less energetic, or having memory issues when you are a vegetarian, as the decline in health from this diet is so very gradual. By the way, I am only a person wishing to expose the truth on this subject. I am not a person with a set against Vegetarian people, indeed, some of my best friends are Vegetarian. Mabe the Vegetarian diet makes you more spiritual, for a limited time, but it is a diet that certainly makes some people physically and mentally sick, that is for certain.

      Delete
    5. I am glad to learn that Steiner was vegetarian! I have been strict vegan for nearly twenty years, and my nine and six year old daughters, who has been vegan since birth, have enrolled in Waldorf for the first time this year. I can tell there are going to be some moments of discomfort due to the use of animal skins, beeswax, honey and other such things. And in response to someone who wrote their comment like 10 years ago, no we are not moving towards a heavier meat-eating society. The world is more vegan today than it was yesterday, and will be much more so tomorrow than today. Compassion is, and has always has been, on the right side of history. And THEIRstory.

      Delete
  2. Look at organic eating,vegetarian,balanced life,mind soul,meditation,healthy cooking and blessing!The vegetarian is best for a soul interested in healthy living and also considering the spiritual path!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Steiner always states his truth attempting to leave it up to the reader to decide for his or herself. it's people who take his word to be truth. He believed in freedom. Freedom to choose as humans. He truly wanted to offer his version, but wanted the individual to decide for him or herself.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Freedom to choose as humans...what does it suppose to mean? Humans are intelligent and able to do many things even if it is not humane. Being human, I believe, is to avoid unnecessary pain. I'm a healthy and happy vegan, killing is unnecessary I can assure everyone.

      Delete
  4. As an ethical vegan for many years, with no health issues (as one would expect from the pronouncements of the American Association of Dieticians, who have repeadtedly said that well-planned vegan diets are adequate from cradle to grave), I would like to point out that vegans frequently have to listen to nonsense about them being pale or sad: obviously it doesn't occur to these commentators that trying to communicate with people who have no ethical interests in their daily lives and who don't care about animals, starving humans or the planet itself is enough to make anyone look a bit down in the mouth.

    ReplyDelete
  5. We can assume that commonly eaten animals like cows, pigs, chickens etc have the same needs and feelings as do other animals such as cats and dogs. Would we not be horrified if our beloved 'pet' animals had to endure the horrors of today's factory farms? The hypocrisy here and dare I say, madness, is quite astonishing!

    ReplyDelete
  6. When so many were mindlessly eating animal products, Rudolf Steiner was advocating for a vegetarian diet against the currents of his culture and his times. Kudos to a truly free thinker!

    ReplyDelete