Charles Fillmore and Spiritual Vegetarianism

[For over forty years, from the late nineteenth century into the 1930's, Charles Fillmore, co-founder of the Unity School of Christianity, wrote passionately about the physical, mental, social, and spiritual harmfulness of eating animal foods, and the necessity of a plant-based diet for anyone serious about developing spiritual maturity and contributing to world peace. He and his wife Myrtle, the other cofounder of Unity, were conscientious vegetarians and encouraged their students to be so. Charles's writings on this subject have been rather neglected, but in the hope that they may be of benefit to sincere spiritual aspirants, a small sampling of them is reproduced here following. They are excerpted from the original sources which are in the library at Unity Village in Missouri.]

“Every animal will fight for its life. What then can be the mental condition of the animal that has been cruelly forced into contracted pens and cars, and finally deprived of its body amid the most terrifying surroundings? Can it be otherwise than that its entire consciousness is permeated by violent vibrations of terror that act and react upon all planes of animal life with which they come into contact. You think that you eat a material thing called meat, but the fact is there is no such thing in reality. The flesh may seem to your outer sense to be a dead, inert mass, but, could your soul eye be opened, you would behold mental currents pervading its every atom, acting and reacting upon each other in a wild, bewildered manner, like the animal of whose body it formed a part. You are taking into your temple elements that will unsettle it, elements that you will have difficulty in harmonizing.”

– “Flesh-Eating Metaphysically”

“We need never look for universal peace on this earth until men stop killing animals for food. The lust for blood has permeated the race and the destruction of life will continue to repeat its psychology, the world round, until men willingly observe the law in all phases of life, ‘Thou shalt not kill.’”

- “The Vegetarian”

(Quotations compiled by Dr. Will Tuttle/ Read the full series here: www.compassionatespirit.com)

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