Jain Vegans
UK event:
Panel discussion:
Gandhi: the Sanctity of Life & the Ethics of Diet,
Sat 30th Jan, 2pm,
London, UK
by: Mahersh Shah
I was able to attend the above event (London, UK), so thought I'd report back...
Well, I thought this was a superb event, at a venue of special historic significance (Kingsley Hall). Over the course of the session, there happened to be plenty of references during the various speeches to the importance of a vegan lifestyle. And I got to meet some very interesting people (so for me, it was a good vegan networking event too).
Refreshments were vegan, and there was an all-vegan popup cafe serving various vegan treats during the break.
The audience was treated to short speeches from representatives of the following faiths:
- - Jain
- - Buddhist
- - Islamic
- - Jewish
- - Christian (Anglican)
- - Unitarian
Ketan Varia from the UK Jain community (and board member of Animal Interfaith Alliance, and vegan advocate) delivered an inspiring short speech as the Jain representative.
At the end, we had a guided tour up to the small room in which Gandhiji stayed during his visit to London in 1931. The room was located on the roof of the building, and accessible via a long spiral staircase. On the way up the stairs, historic black-and-white photos were on display depicting various events/moments involving Mahatma Gandhi. And of course, there was also the view from the top of the building - perhaps not a beautiful view in that part of London, but impressive none-the-less!
All in all, this event was a wonderfully productive partnership between two organisations with a compassionate lifestyle at their heart:
Animal Interfaith Alliance
and
The Gandhi Foundation.
Finally, here's a nice 3-minute musical video summarising the event:
Thomas Bonneville, director of the Animal Interfaith Alliance, joins with the Gandhi Foundation to host a conference called "Gandhi: the sanctity of life & the ethics of diet." Thomas shares more about the day...