There is much on the web, in temples and on YouTube about non-dualism. It has become the trendy idea for the hip Ameridu people (American Hindu Community.) The idea of non-dualism is very foreign to American culture and is difficult for many to process correctly even though it has been here in America for over one hundred years.

Buddhism, Vedanta Hinduism and the Jain tradition are mostly composed of non-dual philosophy and spiritual practice. There is no religion that is completely non-dual in nature, every school of religion is composed of some dual and some non-dual teachings.

So what is non-dualism and how can it be vegan?

Non-dualism is the ideology that claims one can or is already united with a spiritual principal and that this is the goal of all spiritual endeavors. So for instance, a follower of Shiva who practices non-dualism, very common to Nepal for example, does not just worship Shiva as an external God, but realizes that Shiva is pure consciousness. The worshiper is also ultimately composed of pure consciousness. One simply yields to this singular monad of universal consciousness by stating Shivo Ham or I am Shiva.

Likewise, the Buddhist who meditates by yielding to emptiness ultimately becomes one with emptiness and this complete experience of oneness, of universal emptiness, of finding the truth beyond all physical and mental formations is a non-dual experience of emptiness whereby the one meditating becomes empty.

This discovery of being Shiva, or yielding to emptiness and being a Buddha, or practicing the Jain Dharma to ultimate purification and the final status of Tirthankara, all exists already and is the active process of life. We all have Buddha natures, we all are Shiva and we all are purifying already, it is just that through conscious awareness of these processes we can foster greater strides to the final result of Moksha, Nirvana, Buddhahood, Deva Loka or Tirthankara.

More simply stated for the Western minds, we are all one with God already. Most people are not consciously aware of what this means. To know this, one can practice this oneness better. One can then always be Godful and therefore be more apt at reaching heaven.

The way that Vegan Consciousness then integrates into this way of practice is simple. If we feel separated from our Oneness with the divine or the emptiness, it is probably due to our own Karma or in other words, it is our own doing. Eating meat and animal products separates from the unitive experience of life, love, emptiness and God. To be vegan reduces this spiritual conflict with life, love, emptiness and God. In the oneness of the non-dual experience of blissful reunion with the emptiness, or the Atman or the Deva, all is known. If all is known, then all of the unnecessary animal suffering for food production is known as the greatest mass of suffering upon Earth. Therefore if one truly experiences that incredible moment of non-dualism, the Kensho, the Enlightenment, the Grace, then one should no longer consume any animal products. Vegan non-dualism is the only true non-dualism because it speaks of how life lives in a non-dual reality.