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Thread: Garlic and onions

  1. #1

    Unhappy Garlic and onions

    Is it necessary to refrain from eating garlic, and onions?
    Do some devotees think it is wrong and some don't. Or is this a scriptural mandate from the Vedas/Upanishads?
    I have been a vegetarian for a while but I still eat garlic and all
    manner of onions; regular onions, long green onions, leeks and chives.
    Are all of these supposed to be avoided? And what about carrots? Someone told me that carrots should also not be eaten. I can do without garlic and without carrots. But I especially like to eat leeks and sometimes onions. However, I want to please Krishna and I want all my food to be offerable to Him. Though I am not yet convinced that onions shouldn't be eaten. If I want the food I eat to be completely acceptable and offerable to Krishna, do I have to give up leeks and onions too?

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    Re: Garlic and onions

    Dear Peshalah,

    Quote Originally Posted by Peshalah View Post
    Is it necessary to refrain from eating garlic, and onions?
    Lord Krishna advises eating Saatvik food as far as practicable. I don't think he forbids eating garlic, onions etc. There are many Vaishnavas who refrain from eating meat, onions & garlic. This doesn't apply to all Vaishnavas. Let me clarify here that if you are part of some religious Sampradaya like ISKCON then you should find out their beliefs on this issue. However, if you are Vaishnava just due to your natural inclination without being affiliated to any particular sect, there are no strict guidelines for eating or not-eating. Vaishnavas generally are vegetarian (though this is also not mandatory) but it is ok to eat garlic & onions.

    In Bhagwad Gita, different types of food are explained thus :

    a) Food which promote longevity, intelligence, strength, health, happiness, and delight are Saatvik food.
    b) Very hot, very salty or spicy ... food which cause various diseases, grief & anxiety etc. are called Rajasik food.
    c) Not well cooked, stale food, filthy etc. food which cause excessive sleep, disturbance of mind, laziness are Tamsik food.

    You may judge the food on the above criteria & decide what is good for you to eat. Lord is interested in your Bhakti ... other things are secondary. How much you love God is what is important. Onions & garlic have good medicinal value & it promotes better health if eaten in right proportion.

    OM
    "Om Namo Bhagvate Vaasudevaye"

  3. #3

    Question Re: Garlic and onions

    Thanks for your reply devotee. You said, "There are many Vaishnavas who refrain from eating meat, onions & garlic. This doesn't apply to all Vaishnavas. Let me clarify here that if you are part of some religious Sampradaya like ISKCON then you should find out their beliefs on this issue."


    Krishna said in Bg. 18.66- "Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrenderunto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reaction. Do not fear."
    However, followers of ISKCON read the Veda's and Upanisads. If someone from ISKCON can give me Scriptural support for why they don't eat garlic and onions; and it makes good plain sense, I will not eat it. I am knew to Yoga and don't yet know a lot of Scripture.
    Is their anyone out their from ISKCON reading this? What is ISKCON's take on why onions and garlic should not be eaten?

  4. Re: Garlic and onions

    What is your goal? Are you seeking enlightenment? If so, then I don't think that such questions can be answered by any religious organization. My impression is that one has to see in one's own experience whether something is effective or not. So, if you feel the inclination to cut garlic and onions out of your diet, try it out and see what happens. If you do not, then that is fine as well.

    Nisargadatta Maharaj said (and I am paraphrasing) with regards to such practices that anything one does in seeking to realize the truth will be helpful, and anything one does in forgetfulness of enlightenment will be harmful. The question you have to ask yourself is whether you have any inclination to do so. Personally, I don't see how garlic and onions in moderation could do any harm, but that is up to each individual to decide.

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    Re: Garlic and onions

    Quote Originally Posted by Nondogmatic Nondualist View Post
    What is your goal? Are you seeking enlightenment? If so, then I don't think that such questions can be answered by any religious organization. My impression is that one has to see in one's own experience whether something is effective or not. So, if you feel the inclination to cut garlic and onions out of your diet, try it out and see what happens. If you do not, then that is fine as well.

    Nisargadatta Maharaj said (and I am paraphrasing) with regards to such practices that anything one does in seeking to realize the truth will be helpful, and anything one does in forgetfulness of enlightenment will be harmful. The question you have to ask yourself is whether you have any inclination to do so. Personally, I don't see how garlic and onions in moderation could do any harm, but that is up to each individual to decide.
    You are bringing the wisdom that it is all in the personal experience to these forums. Thank you. Looking forward to many more wise posts.

    Aum Namasivaya

  6. #6

    Re: Garlic and onions

    Thanks for your sound advice.

  7. #7

    Re: Garlic and onions

    Radhe Peshalan

    The poster "devotee" gave good information from B. Gita about types of foods and what they can do to our body.

    In the Gaudiya Sampradaya is it advised that we dont eat garlic and onion. I think it is mentioned in Hari Bhakti Vilas that onion can disturbed our mind, with garlic I dont know if it has some undesirable effect.

    However based on the Gita g & o are rasajik because they are very spicy.

    I think we can go on without them.

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    Re: Garlic and onions

    Quote Originally Posted by Peshalah View Post
    What is ISKCON's take on why onions and garlic should not be eaten?

    Dear,

    I think your question is very genuine but after reading all the replies, i believe i should give this information which is actually not just ISKCON practice but many spritual seekers wisdom on their diet. Excerpt from Kurma book....

    "

    You may know that onions and garlic are botanical members of the alliaceous family (alliums) - along with leeks, chives and shallots.
    According to Ayurveda, India's classic medical science, foods are grouped into three categories - sattvic, rajasic and tamasic - foods in the modes of goodness, passion and ignorance. Onions and garlic, and the other alliaceous plants are classified as rajasic and tamasic, which means that they increase passion and ignorance.
    Those that subscribe to pure brahmana-style cooking of India, including myself, and Vaishnavas - followers of Lord Vishnu, Rama and Krishna - like to only cook with foods from the sattvic category. These foods include fresh fruits, vegetables and herbs, dairy products, grains and legumes, and so on. Specifically, Vaisnavas do not like to cook with rajasic or tamasic foods because they are unfit to offer to the Deity.
    Rajasic and tamasic foods are also not used because they are detrimental to meditation and devotions. "Garlic and onions are both rajasic and tamasic, and are forbidden to yogis because they root the consciousness more firmly in the body", says well-known authority on Ayurveda, Dr.Robert E.Svoboda.
    Some branches of western medicine say that the Alliums have specific health benefits; garlic is respected, at least in allopathic medical circles, as a natural antibiotic. In recent years, while the apparent cardiovascular implications of vegetable Alliums has been studied in some detail, the clinical implications of onion and garlic consumption from this point of view are still not well understood.
    Nevertheless, there are still many adverse things to say about garlic and onions. Not so well known is the fact that garlic in the raw state can carry harmful (potentially fatal) botulism bacteria. Perhaps it is with an awareness of this that the Roman poet Horace wrote of garlic that it is “more harmful than hemlock".
    It should be pointed out that Garlic and onion are avoided by spiritual adherents because they stimulate the central nervous system, and can disturb vows of celibacy. Garlic is a natural aphrodisiac. Ayurveda suggests that it is a tonic for loss of sexual power from any cause, sexual debility, impotency from over-indulgence in sex and nervous exhaustion from dissipating sexual habits. It is said to be especially useful to old men of high nervous tension and diminishing sexual power.
    The Taoists realized thousands of years ago that plants of the alliaceous family were detrimental to humans in their healthy state. In his writings, one sage Tsang-Tsze described the Alliums as the "five fragrant or spicy scented vegetables" - that each have a detrimental effect on one of the following five organs - liver, spleen, lungs, kidneys, and heart. Specifically, onions are harmful to the lungs, garlic to the heart, leeks to the spleen, chives to the liver and spring onions to the kidneys.
    Tsang-Tsze said that these pungent vegetables contain five different kinds of enzymes which cause "reactions of repulsive breath, extra-foul odour from perspiration and bowel movements, and lead to lewd indulgences, enhance agitations, anxieties and aggressiveness," especially when eaten raw.
    Similar things are described in Ayurveda. 'As well as producing offensive breath and body odour, these (alliaceous) plants induce aggravation, agitation, anxiety and aggression. Thus they are harmful physically, emotionally, mentally nd spiritually'.
    Back in the 1980's, in his research on human brain function, Dr Robert [Bob] C. Beck, DSc. found that garlic has a detrimental effect on the brain. He found that in fact garlic is toxic to humans because its sulphone hydroxyl ions penetrate the blood-brain barrier and are poisonous to brain cells.
    Dr Beck explained that as far back as the 1950s it was known that garlic reduced reaction time by two to three times when consumed by pilots taking flight tests. This is because the toxic effects of garlic desynchronize brain waves. "The flight surgeon would come around every month and remind all of us: "Don't you dare touch any garlic 72 hours before you fly one of our airplanes, because it'll double or triple your reaction time. You're three times slower than you would be if you'd [not] had a few drops of garlic."
    For precisely the same reason the garlic family of plants has been widely recognized as being harmful to dogs.
    Even when garlic is used as food in Chinese culture it is considered harmful to the stomach, liver and eyes, and a cause of dizziness and scattered energy when consumed in immoderate amounts.
    Nor is garlic always seen as having entirely beneficial properties in Western cooking and medicine. It is widely accepted among health care professionals that, as well as killing harmful bacteria, garlic also destroys beneficial bacteria, which are essential to the proper functioning of the digestive system.
    Reiki practitioners explain that garlic and onions are among the first substances to be expelled from a person’s system – along with tobacco, alcohol and pharmaceutical medications. This makes it apparent that alliaceous plants have a negative effect on the human body and should be avoided for health reasons.
    Homeopathic medicine comes to the same conclusion when it recognizes that red onion produces a dry cough, watery eyes, sneezing, runny nose and other familiar cold-related symptoms when consumed.
    These are just some of the reasons I avoid leeks, chives, shallots, garlic and onions.

    "

    Hare Krshna

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    Re: Garlic and onions

    Here is another homeopathic view, for garlic.

    http://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-the...-of-garlic.htm

    So if you do research on the topic, as with many other foods, herbs etc., you will find a variety of points of view.

    Tobacco was once considered healthy. Sugar is still considered healthy in some places. Science evolves. Ideas evolve. It is up to the individual to determine what they themselves think.

    Aum Namasivaya

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    Re: Garlic and onions

    Quote Originally Posted by Eastern Mind View Post
    Here is another homeopathic view, for garlic.

    http://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-the...-of-garlic.htm

    So if you do research on the topic, as with many other foods, herbs etc., you will find a variety of points of view.

    Tobacco was once considered healthy. Sugar is still considered healthy in some places. Science evolves. Ideas evolve. It is up to the individual to determine what they themselves think.

    Aum Namasivaya
    Namaste EM,

    I do not take Garlic or Onion. But there is an interesting view on Garlic.

    When Vishnu cut the head of the serpent, it had already drunk a few drops of the Nectar. So after beheading, these drops fell to earth and some of it became Garlic, along with other poisonous things. However, having imbibed nectar, these products also retain that original abrasive trait of Rahu along with immortality of Nectar. And I think it is true that poison can be medicine or medicine can be poison.


    Om Namah Shivaya
    That which is without letters (parts) is the Fourth, beyond apprehension through ordinary means, the cessation of the phenomenal world, the auspicious and the non-dual. Thus Om is certainly the Self. He who knows thus enters the Self by the Self.

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