An Ahimsa Crisis: You Decide: Vegan Thanks-Giving

On November 20, 2010, I attended a vegan Thanksgiving dinner organized by the Houston PEACE (People for the Earth, Animals, Compassion & Environment) Society. There were more than one hundred people, nearly all non-Indian, who came together to participate in a vegan Thanksgiving dinner celebration. The Houston PEACE Society is very active in teaching and promoting veganism, and thru their multi-pronged efforts, have been successful in helping many people choose a vegan and cruelty-free life.

There are, I am told, nearly six million vegans (equal to the total population of Jains in the world) in North America and this number is growing - all I can say is, “In my forty-nine years living in the West, I have seen that vegetarianism and veganism have become respectable and household words due to the efforts of movements such as the PEACE Society, Hare Rama Hare Krishna, Swami Narayan, and many pure vegan and vegetarian movements and restaurants throughout North America. Forty-nine years ago, when I came to the West, if I mentioned that I was a vegetarian, people thought that there was something wrong mentally with me, but not anymore. Nearly 20 million people practice vegetarian and vegan lifestyles here.

Many times, I wonder: where are the Jains in all this? It would not be easy to find many examples where Jains have been able to change the food habits of a substantial number of people, except a few.

I wish that Jains would join hands with such like-minded organizations to promote the ahimsak way of life (AWOL).