In this section on sāttvik living, through spiritual research, we have compared various types of popular beverages and their spiritual effect on people. The beverages in this summary table below have been listed in order (from top to bottom) from spiritual impurity to spiritual purity and accordingly the possibility of us being affected by negative energies from the spiritual dimension when we consume such drinks.
| Type of drink | Sattva1 | Raja1 | Tama1 | Effect of negative energies2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alcohol (including wine) | 18 | 31 | 51 | High |
| Tea without milk3 | 18 | 31 | 51 | High |
| Soft drinks such as colas4 | 21 | 46 | 33 | Medium |
| Coffee without milk | 18 | 51 | 31 | Medium |
| Tea with milk | 20 | 49 | 31 | Medium |
| Coffee with milk | 21 | 48 | 31 | Medium |
| Herbal tea | 21 | 48 | 31 | Medium |
| Fruit juice | 31 | 44 | 25 | Less |
| Coconut water | 31 | 48 | 21 | Less |
| Water5 | 31 | 51 | 18 | Less |
| Butter milk | 31 | 52 | 17 | Less |
| Indian cow’s milk | 33 | 54 | 13 | Minimal |
Source: Spiritual research conducted by SSRF on 21 Jul 2013
Please click on the hyperlinked text in the first column to read further details about the beverage from a spiritual perspective.
Footnotes to the table:
- According to the science of Spirituality, the entire universe is made up of 3 basic subtle components – Sattva, Raja and Tama. Sattva is the component that represents spiritual purity and knowledge; Raja represents action and passion, while Tama represents ignorance and inertia. The subtle vibrations emanating from anything and everything are dependent on the predominant subtle basic component they are comprised of.
- With regard to the influence of negative energies and our spiritual practice,
- When we drink beverages that are high in the subtle Tama component such as alcohol and black tea, negative energies from the spiritual dimension are more likely try and affect one through that drink as it increases the spiritual impurity within us.
- The more the quantity consumed the more the effect on the person. As a result people addicted to black tea and alcohol will be adversely affected to a greater extent.
- For seekers who are practising Spirituality and are making efforts to become more sāttvik or spiritually pure, ingesting Tama predominant drinks will negatively affect their spiritual growth. Moreover they leave themselves vulnerable to negative energies trying to obstruct their spiritual practice.
- For Saints beyond the spiritual level of 80%, even if they ingest alcohol, it will not have an adverse effect on them as they are able to alter the constitution of the drink. For example alcohol can be changed to become water.
- This refers to black tea and does not include herbal tea.
- Colas are Raja-Tama predominant and one of the main contributing factors is due to the chemical additives in them. Any beverage that contains chemicals will be prone to have a higher Tama proportion.
- Water is basically neutral; however its property is that it can easily absorb both positive and negative vibrations.
Using a bio-feedback machine known as the DDFAO, SSRF also studied the effect of alcohol and fruit juice on people’s Kunḍalini chakras. We tested the effect of the two types of drinks i.e., alcohol (whisky) and fruit juice (orange) on people who were known to be possessed by negative energies and people who were not possessed. We also tested it on people doing spiritual practice versus those not doing spiritual practice.
Below is an SSRF video that presents some of the DDFAO research on alcohol.
