Customer Reviews

Spiritual Nutrition and the Rainbow Diet

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First off I would like to point out that any reviews older than late 2004 are reviewing the old version which was called "Spiritual Nutrition and the Rainbow Diet" which was much less comprehensive and written back in 1986.
I worked for Dr. Gabriel Cousens for almost 3 years and have recently stopped working and moved away. I did a lot of transcribing for this book last summer and fall ('04) and it had a huge impact on me. Although I learned a lot working for Dr. Cousens and being a part of the Tree of Life community, his schedule is so busy that it isn't possible just to have lots of leisurely time to sit around and pick his brain. He puts all the nitty gritty details of his knowledge and wisdom into books.
I didn't think that transcribing a book was the greatest fun, but I immensely enjoyed learning all the information. Dr. Cousens is always researching and learning and always putting out the latest and greatest information.

In this new version of Spiritual Nutrition, much of the old material was kept, but revised to go into newer, better, and more detail. But most of the book is new material, with newer information than has been discovered since the last book was written. Although I am not nuts about reading technical material and this book really goes into detail, I found also that it was readable and understandable. There were good editors working on the book too to make sure that it was as clear and concise as possible. Gabriel does not gloss over topics, he definitely is willing to explain in great detail and provide resources for the information provided, along with anecdotes of his own personal experiences.

If you are like me, you will walk away from this book with an understanding of nutrition and the body that far exceeds your expectations, or what you would believe is possible. The same goes for spiritual understandings.

My hat is off to Gabriel, not only for the incredible level of information provided in this book, but also on a personal level for helping my son get well when no one else could, and for having the insight to be so patient and flexible with me when I needed it most while under his employ.

Gabriel is truly not in this whole thing (book-writing, lecturing, developing and running the Tree of Life Center) to get rich. Everything is non-profit and he lives very modestly and simply. In my experience, it became obvious to me that Gabriel does what he does because he truly wants to spread great health, wellness, and peace throughout the world.

Thank you Gabriel, for your contribution to our lives. I've seen you help so many people (who were willing) to turn their lives around and experience a level of wellness they never thought possible. My son was one of those people.

Everyone else, if you want some really great information that is hard to find from other sources, get this book. Whether you are interested in physical health and nutrition, or spiritual health and nutrition, or both.

Spiritual Nutrition: The Six Foundations for Spiritual Life and the Awakening of Kundalini is, by far, the most practical manual for modern spiritual living this avid reader has encountered. The author's in-depth understanding and application of more than one spiritual tradition makes this book accessible to those who understand that Ultimately All is One. Far beyond "New Age" or "Traditional," this book combines the best of spiritual wisdom as it has been handed down by generations of "Enlightened Ones," as well as invaluable illumination and practical applications offered by a modern Awakened One (the author) to other spiritual seekers both novice and seasoned. Whether you are ready to adopt a 100% live-food diet (which from my experience really does boost one's spiritual energy) or you simply wish to steadily improve and strengthen your diet and spiritual life, this book is a priceless tool. It is compassionate, universal, humble, and more profoundly, the process of reading it activates and stimulates the vast spiritual potential within. Properly understood, Spiritual Nutrition supports the reader in going beyond words-to the Self. It is an invaluable guide on the journey to the "Nothing."

In a culture obsessed with food, for better or worse, this is a classic on diet and health that trumps them all. Dr. Cousens presents a comprehensive overview of the true role of nutrition as it supports an evolving humanity. With exhaustive scientific analogs and references, he explains exactly what food is, what it is supposed to be for, and how to use it intelligently to lay the foundation for a full and complete life. Bring your heart, your thinking cap, and a good sense of humor. This is the real stuff.

Having lived and breathed Gabriel's teachings at his community in Arizona since 2001 I can truly say that there is so much depth, wisdom and beauty to be found within these pages that you will keep coming back to it again & again.

This book cannot be taken in one sitting, nor can personal spiritual transformation. The knowledge in this book is a summary of 35 years of the author actually living this way. How many books can you find where the teachings are actually lived by the author.

This book is to be savored, Meditated On, Lived & Experienced one bite at a time.

The shallow reviews on this page from people who have never actually met Gabriel, Lived the Six Foundations or even read the whole book seem really odd to me.

Regarding nutrition this book covers: Living Water, Minerals, Enzymes, B12, Fasting, Low Glycemic, Organic, Veganism, Ayurveda, and yes Undereating.... and if you have ever eaten at the Tree of Life Cafe you will realize the food is amazing, packed with nutrition, satifying and alive... people go home feeling like they have certainly feasted.

On a daily basis at the center/ community we meditate for world peace, share with like minded people, practice yoga, teach food prep classes, eat organic live foods... and teach people to go out and live their own dharma (life purpose)that helps bring peace into their own communities.

The teachings are there for us to take what works for us.... like Gabriels other book Conscious Eating focussed on Individualizing the Diet... This book focusses clearly on Individualizing the Spiritual Life. The six foundations are simple... and contain levels & depths of knowledge and flexibility for each unique beautiful soul walking the planet.

I invite you to take a taste of this book, experience & live some of the wisdom & teachings and share it with family & friends.

Gabriel Cousens wrote this masterpiece back in 1986, but everything within the book still applies 100% to today's world, and will likely go on for years and years, never needing a revision.

Cousens writes from the heart, and tells how his journey into living foods has openened up a new world of love, spirituality, and peace that he never though possible. This book covers all the bases, from how long we could possibly life, to religion, to the best diet, and so on.

An excellent read for anyone, and an amazing amount of information for anyone who seeks to take themselves to the next level of consciousness.

I'm extremely interested in working with and moving energy, and the spiritual and mental implications of energy (I'm a Reiki Master), so I'm not unamenable to the subjects addressed in this book. (That's why I bought it.) However, your ability to stomach this book will depend on the extent you buy into Cousens himself as a personality. He saturates the entire tome with his own presence, and the central irony is that while he brazenly refers to himself as "a Liberated spiritual teacher" who "no longer identifies himself with the body-mind-I AM complex" and has "realized the innate perfection" (real saints, by the way, are always convinced they aren't, but are acutely aware of what they perceive as their own imperfection), he writes about himself relentlessly, offering long descriptions of his supposedly amazing experiences and awakenings of cosmic consciousness during his practice. Rarely have I read the outpourings of such an egotist, and to compound this he employs the literary stratagem of never referring to himself as "I" (because he's so selfless), but always as "this one" or "Gabriel". This pretentious device makes for trying reading after a while. It's very distracting. Readers should be forwarned that Cousens makes the fatal error of mistaking strange, overwhelming physical sensations and surreal visions for spirituality and spiritual practice. They are not. They're phenomena of the mundane level and not to be given credence as genuine spiritual experience, which is subtle and rarified and borne out only by the emergence of real virtues in the aspirant's personality. Read St. John of the Cross to find out what REAL spiritual elevation entails. As a guide to nutrition, the book is virtually useless. The writing is so dense, disorganized, rambling and loaded with specialized scientific language it's a labor to read, and extracting actually useful information is a chore at best. In a nutshell: Cousens advocates a completely vegan, raw food diet. There you have it. (No need to buy the book.) This, of course, isn't doable for most people. And since we are all born for the specific purpose of achieving spritual realization, this can't be the only dietary regimen that supports this goal. Countless fully enlightened, God-realized beings throughout the ages have achieved their illumination while eating a more varied diet. Skip this one.

To start with a story, in 2002, life seemed to unravel and re-ravel. Old perceptions seemed no longer tenable; ideas and ways of life that had seemed ridiculous (if I even knew about them) came to been seen as desireable and appropriate. Emotions that were buried to the point of callousness, alternating with explosive outbursts, began to pour out with overwhelming feelings, tears, and what I can only describe as awakenings. Where chance and chaos had been my mottos in the past, purpose and harmony came to the forefront. What happened?

I didn't know what happened, and the mystery, I'm glad, continues. However, after reading Spiritual Nutrition, I enjoy a greater awareness, thanks to Gabriel's wide context and personal experience, of what my mind and body were and are going through. Take the idea of the chakras becoming activated. The sweeping, successive changes in my personal, social, emotional, intellectual, and professional life could be seen to correspond with the activation of energy working in different parts of my physical system. The same can be said for the layers of mind that become rolled back.

Since that time and continuing today, I have wanted, in fact vowed to myself, that the spiritual connection I am experiencing should be my first priority. I knew this had to mean being open to principles of right living, and creating conditions that support the process, but I had little idea how. Of course, this not knowing where to go from there made me rely on intuition, which was and is great. However, a grounded understanding, or map, of the terrain of supporting spiritual life was to come in handy. This map is what Spiritual Nutrition gifts to me. In Spiritual Nutrition, Dr. Cousens capably describes terrain and anatomy that are hard to dig up without help.

It is written with gentleness and confidence. It is strong and fiery at times, subtle and flowing at others. It is an inner adventure story through the flow-ways within each person, and an esoteric textbook. As a science text, if you are alert you can find where spiritual nutrition is tethered to materialistic nutrition, biology, and physics concepts. I appreciate being able to use current mainstream science as a springboard into the potential of consciousness that arises when we allow our very experience of life to realize that itself is the light.

I am a clinical Hypnotherapist that works with people focused on their Spiritual Growth and Development ([...]), I thought I was relatively knowledgeable in the realm of what healthy eating was all about. But I hadn't realized that I wasn't taking into account the nutrition of my Soul. This book absolutely raised my awareness and completely changed my consciousness around eating. It is one thing to nurture the tissues of the body, it is a completely different thing that takes on an expanded level of awareness and perception to nurture the nutrition of the soul.

This book brought my awareness (among many other things) to what Gabriel calls the Subtle Organizing Energy Feilds - SOEF's - I understand these to be the space between the cells. Who would have thought to nurture this?? It is no where to be known. But now that I know to bring these SOEF's into my awareness and to nurture this space with high Life Force rich foods, I have found a whole new level of energy and clarity that deserves so much more attention than we have been made privy too in the past.

Reading this book WILL alter your consciousness in a way that will mean you will never be able to eat the same again?! And even for me, who thought she used to eat in a very healthy way, this was a brilliant, if not somewhat challenging, thing to implement and maintain (a process that continues to unfold as my growth continues). But I can now listen to my body at a way deeper level than ever before. A whole new appreciation of our precious human body is born from the awareness gained by reading this book. It is my new Bible!

This has to be one of the most frustrating and dull spirituality and live food books I have ever read. There are pages and pages of 'the author' (he refers to himself in the third person) procrastinating on religion, history etc. Yup he's right, a live food diet will raise your kundalini. So does walking in the counrty, having a great love life, being positive and doing work you love. Which is basically what he is saying here.There, I've managed to say it in two sentances. If you're into personal growth, and spiritual development, try David Wolfe's books. Even though he plagurised Nature's First Law, the original is out of print, but it's a raw food philosophy masterpiece all the same. It's also the third of the length of Cousen's book. Or read Leonard Orr's Breaking The Death Habit, or the Indian classic 'Autobiography of a Yogi.' These three books will open your mind and soul to new and real possibilitesin an authentic heartfelt way, without the ego of the author getting in the way.

This is the guide on what to do to heal, retrain, then entrain and empower your physical body.. by eating better, more delicious and rewarding foods and making decisions that further increase your spiritual clout with yourself each and every day.

A wonderful book that lays out some of the misconceptions and pitfalls to some "holy" diets and health systems, and clearly draws the connection between the beginning of "Man" and his diet and the clearly instructed diet of Man who is to be co-creator.

Loved the book and its given reasoning behind and for each part of this overall recommended lifestyle.