The Inner Art of Vegetarianism : Spiritual Practices for Body [Paperback]

Carol J. Adams (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 2000

In her beautifully composed and thoughtful new book, author and activist Carol Adams explores the inner life of spiritual growth with the outer life of practical compassion. She shows how the reasons for becoming a vegetarian (to promote health, care for other animals, and express concern for the environment) are deeply wedded to spiritual practice.

Adams reveals how the practice of creating mindfulness and disciplining the midn meshes with becoming an activist for nonviolence, and shows how in our busy and stressed-out world it is essential to sustain and replenish the soul through spiritual discipline. Adams discusses breath awareness, meditation, yoga, journaling, and dreamwork as examples of how to keep true to yourself and your beliefs, maintain your mental equilibrium, and prepare truly delicious meals with thoughfulness and care. This is an essential book for all those who wish to have their soul nourished and follow the spiritual path of vegetarianism.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Adams, who has written on domestic violence and animal rights (e.g., The Sexual Politics of Meat: A Feminist-Vegetarian Critical Theory), intends to demonstrate that vegetarian consciousness is inseparable from spiritual practiceDeven though people frequently practice vegetarianism without mystical or religious grounding and engage in spiritual seeking without following a vegetarian diet. In the end, she fails to prove anything except how these practices work for her. The author describes the experiences that led her to vegetarianism, yoga, meditation, breath awareness, and keeping a journal and then explores each practice, offering exercises and further reading. She also lists the obstacles that vegetarians and spiritual seekers face when they "cross over." Although she offers thoughtful discussions of such generic topics as resistance to change, the imprecision of the writing reveals faulty thinking and the structure lacks coherence. Not recommended.DElizabeth C. Stewart, Portland, ME
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

Carol J. Adams is the author of the groundbreaking "The Sexual Politics of Meat: A Feminist-Vegetarian Critical Theory", now in its 10th anniversary edition, and "Neither Man nor Beast: Feminism and the Defense of Animals". She is an activist, yoga practitioner, and cook, and is finishing a book on living among meat eaters.

Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Booklight (August 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1930051131
• ISBN-13: 978-1930051133
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,222,574 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I'm the author of The Sexual Politics of Meat: A Feminist-Vegetarian Critical Theory. It's been called "ground-breaking" and "pioneering" (interesting how our description of books draws from our invasive relationship to the land). Many say it is an underground classic, which I guess means that lots of people know and love it, but it goes unnoticed by the dominant media. Of course, when it first came out, that was slightly different. Then, right-wing reviewers held it up as the latest example of academic excess and political correctness, which was funny to me, because I am not an academic. I used to teach a course I developed at Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University on "Sexual and Domestic Violence: Theological and Pastoral Issues" -- but very infrequently. Basically, for as long as I have been an adult, I have been an advocate, an activist, someone trying to figure out how do we transform this d*#! world that is built on inequality.

I have published more than 100 articles in journals, books, and magazines on the issues of vegetarianism and veganism, animal advocacy, domestic violence and sexual abuse. I am particularly interested in the interconnections among forms of violence against human and nonhuman animals, writing, for instance, about why woman-batterers harm animals and the implications of this (it's in my book Animals and Women). Besides advancing scholarship and developing theory in the area of interlocking oppressions, I have created a series of books that address the vegetarian/vegan experience: Living Among Meat Eaters: The Vegetarian Survival Guide, Help! My Child Stopped Eating Meat! and The Inner Art of Vegetarianism.

I've worked to bring back into print Howard Williams's nineteenth-century classic text on vegetarianism, The Ethics of Diet. I have contributed prefaces to important vegetarian, vegan, and animal defense books and discovered an eighteenth-century vegetarian work that had never entered the vegetarian tradition.

Because I am so deeply moved by my relationship with animals, I have authored books of prayers for animals for both adults and children.

I am excited that the 20th anniversary edition of The Sexual Politics of Meat will be published next February.

I also write about literary topics, including two "Bedside" books: one on Frankenstein and one on Jane Austen. I am finishing a memoir on caregiving and reading.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More than just a veg book, November 30, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Inner Art of Vegetarianism : Spiritual Practices for Body (Paperback)

I'm really not given to new-age books, so I started reading this one without much enthusiasm -- was I ever won over! I admire Carol Adams so much after reading this. She has struggled with living in a fully conscious way that overcomes mental and emotional obstacles and opens the way for both productivity and inner peace, and her story is inspiring and instructive. I just bought the companion Meditations book and am now working my way through it. I really can't say enough about this book. It's truly fortifying and worth a read.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Useful book!, January 2, 2009

By 

P. Strindlund (Sweden) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Inner Art of Vegetarianism : Spiritual Practices for Body (Paperback)

This is a beautiful, useful and insightful book.
"Vegetarianism is not so much a diet as an acknowledgement of relationships," Adams writes, "between your choice of food and your body's health; between yourself and your sisters and brothers, the animals; and between your actions and the earth's health."

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Inner Art of Vegetarianism: Spiritual Practices for Body and Soul, May 11, 2010

By 

jensing rivercat (Nashville, y'all) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Inner Art of Vegetarianism : Spiritual Practices for Body (Paperback)

The title alone, The Inner Art of Vegetarianism: Spiritual Practices for Body and Soul, was enough to pique my interest and I have not been disappointed. While I did not read this book in the customary beginning to end fashion, I enjoyed ambling through this multi-faceted book following appealing topics until I had read it in its entirety. With only a few pages that failed to capture my complete attention, I must say I really love this book.

I am a person who underlines and makes notations in my books (don't shoot me!) to serve as breadcrumbs to follow later and such breadcrumbs litter most of the pages of this book. From small to significant; from spiritual to political; from the practical and mundane to the compelling, these tidbits are easily found throughout. Carol J. Adams brings a wholehearted approach to the titled topics and, most interestingly, she comes to her subjects from many levels and directions. She reveals a solid harmonious foundation for her beliefs and her personal systems of behaviour and at the same time gives enticing challenge to the wholeness of the reader's conceptions. The Inner Art of Vegetarianism is an admirable and inspiring work.