Category Archives: Talks

How to Talk with Non-vegans

Posted on August 21, 2017 by | Leave a comment

I recently participated in a very interesting conference call organized by a Buddhist organization, Dharma Voice for Animals, featuring Bruce Friedrich as a speaker on how to be an effective advocate for animals. For me the most valuable his points was that by being effective advocates, we multiply the effect we have in the world. As individual vegans, we save many animals, and the more we persuade others, the more we may influence policies and markets that have the potential to save many more animals. This is a link to his talk:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9HcKdrP4xcPZ1NSWWRLaGVxczg/view?ts=5999fb11

How to make the biggest impact in conversations? He recommended to have a truly interactive engagement by asking questions and staying empathetic when talking with non-vegans, using the Socratic method. Another participant shared this YouTube video by another activist on using the Socratic method.

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Posted in Activism, Interfaith, Talks

Fasting talk from JAINA 2017, just in time for Paryushan

Posted on August 18, 2017 by | Leave a comment

I gave a 50 minute talk at JAINA on scientific aspects of fasting and Jainism. Rather than have one long video, I’ve divided it into shorter segments below.

Here are the videos in order:






Here are the slides: Water fasting intermittent fasting and Jainism. For further reference, here are some additional links Continue reading →

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Posted in Health and Nutrition, JAINA 2017, Paryushan, Talks, Uncategorized

Vandhana Bala, Mercy For Animals attorney speaks powerfully at JAINA 2017

Posted on July 30, 2017 by | Leave a comment

Vandhana gave three thoroughly researched and well delivered talks at JAINA 2017,  of which we are posting two. The first talk  was regarding the suffering of farmed animals with an emphasis on dairy and egg production. The  second talk, for a Women’s Forum program, connected the exploitation of female animals in milk and egg production with the moral choices Jain women can make to avoid the violence.

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Posted in Activism, JAINA 2017, Talks

Sagar Shah from UK Jain Vegans at JAINA 2017

Posted on July 30, 2017 by | Leave a comment

Sagar Shah gave a number of presentations at JAINA 2017 in New Jersey. Here is one on environmental an ethical issues in modern food production that we recorded . In this talk Sagar presents a compelling comparison of the killing of dairy cows and male calves in meat, milk and cheese, namely that 6 pints of milk = 350 g cheese = 1/4 lb steak (the numbers in the talk below are slightly outdated).  A few people commented on how powerful this was, since Jains would never consider eating steak moral. Subsequent to the presentation, he has updated the slides ( 2017.07.03 – Environmental and ethical issues in modern food – how Jainism helps (11 Aug update)) and here are the detailed calculations (Data and methodology – equivalence of beef and dairy in killing cows ) and (Data and calcs on equivalence of eggs and chickens).

Here are some additional references Continue reading →

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Posted in Environmental, JAINA 2017, Talks

Ahimsak Eco-Vegan Committee Booth and Vegan Panel at JAINA convention 2017

Posted on July 30, 2017 by | Leave a comment

We had a panel on veganism for the youth program. Here is the video

Many people helped make our display boards for the convention during the holiday weekend and they served as a focal point for conversation.IMG_2379

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Posted in JAINA 2017, Talks, Vegan Booth

World Compassion, Vegan and Jivdaya Day Celebrated at Jain Centers Across US

Posted on November 5, 2014 by | 1 comment

On Sat Nov 1 and Sun Nov 2, seven Jain centers celebrated Compassion and Jivdaya on World Vegan Day. The Jain Centers of New York, New Jersey, Chicago, Detroit, Metropolitan Washington DC, Northern CA (JCNC) and Southern CA organized dynamic events including speakers, a film collage, and  a delicious lunch with additional food tastings at some centers.

Here’s the lunch that was served at JCNC:

IMG-20141101-WA0003

 

Dal pasta,  salad, fruit medley, bean,guacamole, and salsa nachos, all root-free (Jain) and vegan. Lunch was a big hit and attendees numbered from 40-100 throughout the JCNC event.

Below are the six video’s from the event:

Continue reading →

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Posted in General, JCNC, Talks

Jain Digambar Muni urges Jains to renounce milk

Posted on July 30, 2014 by | Leave a comment

Jain Muni Ji Shri Vihar Sagarji Maharaj explains that jivdaya is not consistent with consuming milk. He shows photos of the situation of dairy cows in India and explains that by participating in this violence, we invite negative karmic consequences and suffering to ourselves. He urges us to quit taking milk and milk products. The video is in Hindi but English subtitles are displayed.
This is revolutionary! This muni has taken a courageous stand, in contrast to others that simply defer to tradition and refuse to see and speak truth.

 

The back story of this video is also interesting. Fauna Police is a rescue organization in New Delhi and Abhinav took the video below. It seems that Jain friend Gaurav had introduced Abhinav to the muni. Now that I follow Abhinav’s facebook page, I see that an increasing number of munis have been exposed to the truth behind dairy and some have agreed to abstain from dairy products.  Fauna police’s blog and YouTube Channel are impressive.  It is tremendously hopeful that change is occurring in India!

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Posted in Jain ascetics, Jain Philosophy, Talks