American Buddhist Perspectives
Members of the Jain Education Committee (www.jainelibrary.org) have suggested the following list as a guide to life, well, mainly eating, in 2014.
For those who don’t know, Jainism (pronounced Jane-ism or more often Jine-ism or something like Ja-een-ism) is something of a brother-religion to Buddhism, the major founder (or re-founder) being an older contemporary of the Buddha himself. Both religions branched off from Brahmanism (or proto-Hinduism), becoming separate chapters in our contemporary books on world religions, as opposed to the countless movements and submovements within Hinduism’s very very long history.
While there are around 40,000 Jains in America today and a bit over 4 million (perhaps up to 6 million) in the world, we have yet to get a Jain blogger here at Patheos (though there is a section in our library). Given those low numbers, that’s not a great surprise, but Jainism did play a great role in several of the kingdoms of India, shaping Indian, and thus World, history in its pacifistic direction.
As with anything, read and watch all of this with a skeptical mind. While little fault could be found with a vegan diet in the world today, it is easy to seek out a ‘silver bullet’ to solve all of one’s own or the world’s problems and veganism, like any diet, is not a silver bullet. A vegan can still be wildly harmful to the world around him/her. That said, it is pretty obvious that taking up a vegan diet, or moving toward it in any way possible, will generally reduce the harm one creates in the world and in most cases will have personal health benefits.
The descriptions are from the Jain Education Committee (learn more about Jainism at www.jainelibrary.org):
Some Educational and Motivational UTube Videos on Health, Diet, Environment, and Ahimsa
1. Ellen interview to President Bill Clinton
President Bill Clinton on Going Vegan – 01 min
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9N6SbPolnd4&NR=1
2. Dr. Sanjay Gupta of CNN
Fruit vs. sugary drinks, CBS News April 1, 2012 – 01 min
http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/
3. Dr. Michael Klaper
Milk & Dairy Detrimental Health Effects – 02 min
4. President Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton became a vegan, lost 24 pounds, healing himself by not ingesting any cholesterol – 02 min
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3ied_AD4iE&feature=related
5. Annette Larkins
Raw Vegan Diet Makes 70 Year Old Woman Look 40 Year old – 04 min
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-q-0o7eAi50
6. Dr Sanjay Gupta of CNN
Sugar and kids: The toxic truth – 04 min
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/
7. Ellen on CBS News
CBS News – Vegan Sense: Ellen talks about going Vegan. February 2, 2010 – 04 min
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-4j6vSyDu0
8. Kris Carr
Kris Carr speaks about her journey from cancer diagnosis to vibrant health and her transition to a plant based diet. – 05 min
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACtCqcRrIyc
9. Canadian Girl Speech
Speech by a Canadian Girl delivered in Brazil on Environment from Environmental Children Org – 07 min
10. Opra’s Interview of Alicia Silvertone
Opra – Vegan Diet.mov – The Kind Diet by Alicia Silverstone – 09 min
11. Dr. T. Collin Campbell, Robert Cohen, and Bill Clinton
The China Study – Veganist Not Milk – Bill Clinton Vegan iterview – 10 Min
12. Russ Curran is a Health and Wellness Expert, Coach and Author.
Why Drinking Milk Is Rocket Fuel for Cancer – 10 min
13. Phillip Wollen on Animal Rights
BEST SPEECH EVER! Former CEO Citibank Phillip Wollen owns the stage – 10 min
14. Dr Sanjay Gupta of CNN
Is sugar toxic? CBS 60 min News August 5, 2012 – 13 min
http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/
15. Dr. Neal Barnard – TedTalks
Currently 100 million Americans are pre-diabetic or diabetic, and one in three kids born after the year 2000 will develop diabetes. Neal Barnard, clinical researcher and founder of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), identifies the causes of this serious issue and advises us how we can fight these statistics. – 18 min
16. Professor Gary L. Francione Interview – Why Be Vegan?
Gary L. Francione is Board of Governors Professor, Distinguished Professor of Law & Nicholas deB. Katzenbach Scholar of Law and Philosophy at Rutgers School of Law – Newark. He is one of the most well-known figures in the modern animal rights movement. He is the author/co-author of seven books, most recently with Anna Charlton — Eat Like You Care: An Examination of the Morality of Eating Animal Foods such as meat and dairy. – 19 Min
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