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.
Posted in JAINA 2017, Talks, Vegan Booth
Pravin uncle of the JAINA education committee in the US gave compelling talks in the UK this Paryushan about the hinsa involved in dairy production, among many other topics. See the audio and video files put together by Rajesh and Jyoti, of the Kanji Swami Jain community in their encyclopedic site here
There are also YouTube videos:
Following Sagar and the Jain Vegans Working Group Vegan for Paryushan Campaign, there seems to be a growing awareness of veganism among Jains in the UK and the Jain Vegans blog chronicles encouraging recent developments!
Posted in Jain Philosophy, Paryushan, Talks, Vegan Booth
As part of the paryushan program at JCNC, Shilpa and Keyur discuss their journey to veganism during paryushan for reasons of nonviolence and elaborate the benefits to their health and those of their children. Keyur lost weight, Shilpa reversed an early tendency to diabetes, and the children have avoided ear infections. They’re clearly full of energy, growing and thriving on a fully vegan diet. Keyur makes the point that the very same approaches they use to explain to the children why they vegan are important for those parents raising their children vegan.
Posted in JCNC, Paryushan, Vegan Booth
Here are some recent videos in which I discuss how i became vegan and address concerns with Calcium, Protein and B12. My story is similar to other doctors raised in Jain families who have come to learn and now incorporate into our practices how healthy a vegan diet is. It is especially beneficial for those of us who are vegetarian Indians that have a high risk of heart disease, diabetes, hypertension and strokes due to our genetics to take the next step of eliminating dairy foods.
I asked Rabbi and physician (M.D., N.D. and diplomate in Ayurveda) Dr. Gabriel Cousens about Jainism and Veganism. He describes the violence to self in terms of adverse health effects from consuming animal products including dairy and connects veganism to our 5 anuvrats, also familar to yogis as the yamas.
I interviewed my parents’ physician who has been practicing internal medicine for 27 years. Raised Jain and having learned more about the hinsa of dairy, after his patient brought him Diet for a New America, he decided to become completely vegan. He has been observing and especially in the last 6-8 months, promoting the health benefits of a vegan diet including weight loss and decreased cholesterol. He has collected data on 50-60 patients showing that veganism has resulted in a 50% drop in LDL levels among omnivores and 10-30% drop among previous vegetarians, beating the effect of the widely prescribed statin drugs. Dr. Shrenik also shares his observations regarding patients’ willingness to change especially among young and prediabetic patients.
Posted in Profiles, Uncategorized, Vegan Booth
Mahersh and Nishma recorded a fellow UK based Jain Vegan group member, Keval, at the VegFest in Bristol, UK. Keval discusses his journey with brevity, sincerity and clarity, a winning combination.
Posted in Profiles, Vegan Booth
Mahersh and Nishma started the group Jain Vegans based in the UK. They invite us to their home in London for breakfast to discuss their reasons for going vegan and show us the variety of plant milks and other tasty foods they enjoy. To make the shrikhand that Nishma tastes in the video:
Use unflavoured soya yoghurt (400g) and place a muslin (“cheese”) cloth over double fold bath towels and spread the soya yoghurt (left it for appx 2hrs). When the water has been absorbed, remove the yoghurt solid from the muslin cloth and place the lumps in a bowl. Mix in sweetener (tradtionally sugar, but find a vegan kind) to taste, powdered cardamom and a generous pinch of saffron. And garnish with almonds and pistachios.
Serves 2 people.
Posted in Profiles, Recipes, Uncategorized, Vegan Booth
Professor Gary Francione is undertaking a fast from July 4-7, 2013 to express his conviction that consumption of dairy and is incompatible with our Jain ideal of ahimsa and distress that the JAINA convention will serve dairy products. He explains below:
I will not be attending the JAINA convention this year. But I will be fasting for the entire four days of the Convention to express my concern that the Convention will be serving food that involves himsa, such as milk, ghee, paneer, and ice cream. It is clear that the intentional infliction of suffering and death on mobile, multi-sensed beings is a violation of the principle of ahimsa, and it cannot be doubted that, as a matter of simple fact, there is a great deal of suffering and death involved in the production of these foods. Animal foods also involve stealing from animals and the rape of female animals.
Please understand that my fast is not an act of protest. It is an expression of profound sadness that at the largest gathering of Jains in North America, there will be himsa as part of the celebration. And for what? For nothing more compelling than palate pleasure.
I have spoken with the incoming leadership of JAINA and I have been assured that this issue will receive great scrutiny in the coming years. I look forward to that and I will assist in any way that I can.
I know that the Jain community loves Gurudev Chitrabhanu. It is my hope that Gurudev lives to see the organization he helped to create embrace a principle that he holds close to him as an integral and necessary part of ahimsa. During the fast, I will meditate for at least two hours per day on the wise words of Gurudev Chitrabhanu in his plea for Jains to reject all animal animal foods.
I invite any of you who are interested to read this short essay that I wrote several years ago on this topic and that was published in the Jain Digest. It can be found here: http://www.abolitionistapproach.com/media/pdf/Ahimsa.pdf
For more on Prof. Francione’s thoughts about Jainism and Veganism, you can hear an interview we did in his office in Newark, NJ in June 2013 for the Eco-Vegan Booth at the JAINA conference.
Vegan Jains 