Non-killing: Vegetarian Diet is popular in the Indian sub-continent where the idea of 'non-killing' is a moral principle that is deeply ingrained in all spiritual traditions. In practice, people often forget that the same spiritual texts extend the principle of 'non-killing' to an abstract, general concept called 'non-violence'.

Non-Violence: In modern times, the word 'non-violence' evokes images of Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948) in my mind. He was the most prominent Indian freedom fighter whose life and writings have influenced millions of people worldwide. Gandhi was the spirit behind the Non Violence Movement for Indian struggle for indepencence. Sitting at my laptop and typing this article, I cannot fathom what it must have felt like to be somebody like Gandhi or to follow the high principles that he advocated to lead over 300 million people towards the goal of securing independence. And I can't fathom how it must have been to be in the presence of Gandhi and other leaders either. I can get a glimpse via the movie Gandhi (1982) — see review by Roger Ebert who gave it a 4/4 rating.

During the Indian freedom struggle, the top leadership was a star cast of intellectuals who were also deeply spiritual! In addition to Gandhi, they included Aurobindo Ghosh (see his writings), Vinoba Bhave (see Moved by Love — memoirs of Vinoba Bhave - freely available online), S Radhakrishnan (2nd President of India; see his writings), and many more. Among these people, I find Vinoba Bhave particularly inspiring; read his biography at Wikipedia). He was a combination of great intellect, simple living and grassroot level work for the masses. How he walked hundreds of miles in India and founded the Bhoodan Movement is fascinating.

The Non-Violence Movement was aimed at changing the government; the Bhoodan Movement was aimed at transfer of land ownership from rich to poor. Such changes are herculean tasks and the adoption of non-violent means to bring about such social and political changes is a fascinating subject to study. We should also keep in mind that Gandhi and Vinoba Bhave were not perfect. For example, they are not bracketed with Adi Shankaracharya, Gautam the Buddha, Mahavira or Guru Nanak.

What is the relationship between the people mentioned above and a Vegetarian Diet? Actually, the principle of 'non-violence' includes not just 'non-killing' but also 'no mistreatment of other sentient beings' as well.

Let's imagine that Vinoba Bhave or Guru Nanak was born in 1980s. After learning about the tremendous suffering of animals today who are raised for milk and meat production, what thoughts, emotions and actions would have triggered in them? I imagine both Vinoba and Guru Nanak weeping in their hearts and struggling with thoughts like this:

"How can I drink this milk procured from an animal who has been so severely mistreated? What can I do to help these animals? Maybe I can stop drinking milk myself and spread awareness. Do I really need to drink this milk? Is it necessary for my physical well-being? If it is a necessity, God, would it be better that death come to me instead of me having to partake milk produced this way?"

Luckily, in 2019, we don't have to seek divine guidance or follow our intuition or do personal experiments with food to devise a food system without meat and dairy products (like Gandhi tried in 1910s — he recounts his experiences in the first few pages of The Moral Basis of Vegetarianism). Today, we have scientific evidence of a food system that eliminates dairy products altogether while ensuring robust health! In fact, the volume of scientific evidence is so large that in a country like USA (where only 4% to 6% of the population is vegetarian and only about 1% to 2% of the population is vegan), organizations like Kaiser Permanente (a major healthcare provider in USA), Whole Foods (the biggest health food company in USA) and Medicare (the US government health insurance program) advocate it! For more details, please browse through sections on WFPB below.

People in their teens and twenties often have a fire in them to bring about social change. I hope that many of you get to read this article and get inspired to adopt a meat-free and dairy-free lifestyle out of compassion for animals. Is there a better way to bring about a change in the world than to be a living example of the principles that we wish to see around us? :)

By foregoing animal products, we move to Vegan Diet. Healthier versions of Vegan Diet are WFPB Diet, the WFPB-SOS Diet and Nature Cure (Naturopathy) Diet.

The Jain community in India is known for espousing the principle of 'non-violence' far more seriously than any other community. In 2018, the Jain Center of Southern California turned vegan. A 41-min video explains. It is actually a collection of shorter videos stitched together. I found the animation movie from 2:35 to 7:58 very touching — highly recommended.

Various sections of the video:

• At offset 0:00, we have a talk by Dr Modi, JCSC President.
• At offset 2:35 in the video, we have an animation movie showcasing the life of a cow ← beautifully done! This part of the video may be watched for its artistic content alone. I wish they had carved it out as a short video of its own.
• At offset 7:58 in the video, a Jain monk speaks in Gujarati, a language I don't speak. I think he says something along these lines: "Mahavir has clearly stated that six substances (called 'vighai substances') cause 'vikaras' (make us gravitate towards negativity and cause hindrances in spiritual progress). These six substances are doodh (milk), dahi (yogurt), ghee (clarified butter), tel (oil), fried preparations and gud (jaggery, sweets). These substances may be used in rare circumstances for their healing properties, but not on a daily basis."
• At offset 10:13 in the video (which is identical to offset 4:17 of this video), Labdhisagar Maharaj Saheb references a text by Mahavir whose name I couldn't figure out from the audio — Which text is this? Can we find it online? He also talks about 'vighai' substances which hinder spiritual progress by creating negative tendencies in our mind.
• [Not from the 41-min video by JCSC but a different video] At offset 7m in this video by Jain Sadhvi Vaibhav Shree, she references Jain texts listed below for 'vighai substances':
  1. Uttaradhyay Sutra — 16th Adhyay, 17th Adhyay
  2. Sthananga Sutra — 9 types of vighai, 4 types of vighai

  Which sutras / stotras in the above texts explain Vighai substances? Do you know? Where can I find them?

• At offset 11:36 onwards, we have interviews with different people and misc information.