Jain Veganism: Ancient Wisdom, New Opportunities

Christopher Jain Miller, Jonathan Dickstein

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This presentation considers the growing global phenomenon of Jain veganism as a contemporary expression of non-violence ( ahiṃsā ). First, Jonathan Dickstein will provide a working definition for “transnational veganism,” which we use to denote the abstention from animal-derived products whose adherents emphasize, in varying proportions according to regional and cultural context, the positive environmental, animal rights, and human health aspects of the practice. Next, Christopher Miller will discuss how historically, the Jain commitment to non-violence, with an elaborate Jain karma theory connected with a detailed taxonomy of life forms, inspired and continues to inspire almost all lay Jains to practice a vegetarian diet. At its foundation, the Jain concept of ahiṃsā , at least in its textual origins, assumes that pain is bad, and therefore harming sentient beings is wrong and should be avoided to the greatest extent possible. As Dickstein will then show, an increasing number of contemporary diasporic Jains share the concerns elevated by the transnational vegan movement regarding harms instrinsic to dairy production, and in doing have since adopted and advocate for the practice of veganism in lieu of vegetarianism. Christopher Miller will present three examples of this diasporic phenomenon as manifest in the Jain Center of Southern California, UK-based Jain Vegans, and Vegan Jains. In total, we demonstrate how diasporic Jains are finding new opportunities to apply and institutionalize non-violence ( ahiṃsā ), albeit while retaining uniquely Jain principles in the process.

Speaker Biography

Christopher Jain Miller completed his Ph.D. in the Study of Religion at the University of California, Davis. He currently serves as the Bhagwan Mallinath Assistant Professor of Jain and Yoga Studies at Loyola Marymount University. He lectures internationally on all things yoga, is a certified continuing education provider for Yoga Alliance, and is the co-founder of Hot Haus Yoga Education ( hothauseducation.com ).

Jonathan Dickstein
Jonathan Dickstein is a Ph.D. candidate in Religious Studies at the University of California-Santa Barbara. His dissertation, Animals in Hindu South Asia: From Cosmos to Slaughterhouse , explores Vedic and Hindu animal taxonomies and dietary ethics, and their influence on contemporary norms and politics. He has published on animals and diet in Philosophy East & West, Capitalism Nature Socialism, Food Ethics, and elsewhere.