Can Jainism be radical? In this special live-recorded episode of the Engaged Jain Studies Podcast, Arihanta Institute professor and lead organizer of the Vegan Studies Initiative, Jonathan Dickstein, PhD sits down with three emerging voices in the Jain community—Anjli Shah, Sahana Mehta, and Mohit Mookim—for an honest and thought-provoking dialogue about the intersections of Jain identity, social justice, and civic engagement.

Together, they explore questions: What does it mean to be a young Indian American Jain in the U.S. today? How are Jain values like non-violence, non-possession, and pluralism applied—or challenged—when confronting systemic inequality, racism, gender oppression, and climate collapse? Can Jainism, a tradition rooted in spiritual restraint, inspire the kind of structural change radical politics demands?

Tune in for a bold conversation on the future of Jain ethics, the role of intergenerational dialogue, and what it means to imagine a Jainism responsive to the moral urgencies of the 21st century.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES & LINKS

• Arihanta Institute | Ancient Wisdom for Modern Living
• Vegan Studies Initiative @ Arihanta Institute | Courses, Speaker Series, Research & More!

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ABOUT OUR PODCAST GUESTS

Anjli Shah (she/her) is Relationships & Grants Manager at One Project, a nonprofit committed to nurturing a just transition to an regenerative democratic economy, where she helps develop grantee cohort programming and organize donors interested in shifting wealth and power to communities. Her work at the International Rescue Committee, Prevention Research Center, and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation have shaped her commitment to philanthropy that is accountable to social movements, and to a world beyond philanthropy. Grounded in the Jain axiom “Parasparopagraho jivanam” (“All life is bound together by mutual support & interdependence”), Anjli co-founded and led Jains for Justice, an informal collective that organized the Jain community around racial justice, gender justice, and civic engagement between 2019-2020. She is a former board member of the South Asian American Digital Archive. Anjli holds a BA in Neurobiology from UC Berkeley and a Masters in Nutrition from Case Western Reserve University, and is currently based in Los Angeles.

Sahana Mehta (she/her) is a South Asian organizer living in NYC. She is the High Net Wealth Program Manager at Resource Generation, a network of young people with wealth & class privilege working towards the equitable redistribution of land, wealth, and power. Politicized in 2013 through racial justice movements in the US and educational equity initiatives in India, Sahana has engaged with a number of intersecting social justice movements. Her work in South Asian communities has focused on challenging the rise of Hindu Nationalism, advocating for caste equity, and supporting diasporic gender justice infrastructure like South Asian SOAR. Sahana has worked with transnational gender justice organizations including MADRE, Urgent Action Fund for Feminist Activism, and Grassroots Global Justice Alliance to resource movements and challenge dominant philanthropic paradigms. Sahana is one of the creators of the archives for Andolan Organizing South Asian Workers, a domestic worker-led organization in NYC.

Mohit Mookim (they/them) is a land and housing justice lawyer at the Sustainable Economies Law Center, a nonprofit collective based in Oakland, California. Moh is also a member-leader with Resource Generation, organizing with other young people with class privilege redistributing wealth and power to social...

In this episode of the Engaged Jain Studies Podcast, Professor Christopher Jain Miller interviews Dr. Nitin Shah about his humanitarian work grounded in Jain principles of ahimsa (non-violence), anekantavad (multiplicity of views), and aparigraha (non-possessiveness). Learn how Dr. Shah's early life experiences shaped his current work in compassionate humanitarianism through which he provides medical missions, natural disaster relief, and food service to the poor both in his local setting in Southern California and globally. Listen to how Dr. Shah explains the unique contributions other dharma traditions (Buddhism, Sikhism, and Hinduism) and world religions (Christianity, Islam, and Judaism) to the practice of compassion. Finally, learn how to put compassion into action in your own life as Dr. Shah walks you through his upcoming Compassion Studies Initiative course, 2019 | Interreligious Approaches to Compassion in Action.

👉🏽✨ Pre-register now and unlock unlimited access to 50+ courses with a 14-day free trial to Arihanta's Institute's Course Membership! Join a global community of lifelong learners dedicated to positive change and a more compassionate, purposeful life.

Start your free trial!

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES & LINKS

• 2019 | Interreligious Approaches to Compassion in Action
• The Compassion Studies Initiative is supported by a grant from the Uberoi Foundation.
• Course Membership - Start Your 14-Day Free Trial
• Arihanta Institute | Ancient Wisdom for Modern Living

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ABOUT OUR PODCAST GUEST

Dr. Nitin Shah is Professor of Anesthesiology and Critical Care at Loma Linda University Health and a prominent leader of the Jain community. Dr. Shah has devoted his life to serving the underprivileged worldwide. Over the past 32 years, he has organized and led hundreds of humanitarian missions across 27 countries, personally traveling to 19 of them. His work has focused on providing essential medical care to underserved populations, driven by a deep commitment to global health equity.

ABOUT OUR PODCAST HOST

Christopher Jain Miller is the co-founder, Vice President of Academic Affairs, and Professor of Jain and Yoga Studies at Arihanta Institute. He completed his PhD in the study of Religion at the University of California, Davis and is also a Visiting Researcher at the University of Zürich's Asien-Orient-Institut and Visiting Professor at Claremont School of Theology where he co-developed and co-runs a remotely available Masters Degree Program focusing on Engaged Jain Studies. His current research focuses on Engaged Jainism and Modern Yoga, and he is the author of a number of articles and book chapters concerned with Jainism and the practice of modern yoga. Christopher is the author of

In this episode of the Engaged Jain Studies Podcast, Professor Christopher Jain Miller interviews Dr. Melanie Barbato, Senior Lecturer in History of Christianity at the Pacifika Communities University, Suva, Fiji. Listen in as Dr. Barbato explains Jain approaches to human security including the topics of Personal Security, Health Security, Food Security, Environmental Security, Economic Security, Political Security, and Community Security. Appreciate the particular Jain responses to these global challenges, and leave inspired to contribute to making the world a more secure place for all.

🎧 Don’t forget to subscribe to the Engaged Jain Studies Podcast for more insightful discussions on Jain philosophy, ethics, and engaged spirituality!

Course Announcement

📖 This EJS podcast episode offers a preview of Professor Barbato's upcoming course for the 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐒𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐈𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞, 2018 | Human Security as Compassion: Jain Perspectives on Global Challenges.

In this course you will learn how Jain thought and practice can speak to each of the seven areas of human security: 1) Personal Security, 2) Health Security, 3) Food Security, 4) Environmental Security, 5) Economic Security, 6) Political Security, 7) Community Security. Human security is not merely a matter of technology and logistics and a task for states and big organizations. It can also be approached as value-based: helping others to feel and be safe as an act of compassion. Underlying the concept of human security is the desire to understand what each individual human being needs to be able to flourish and live a meaningful life. In the course we will discuss different ways of answering this question, from the United Nations sustainable development goals to the wisdom of the Jain scriptures, and how they can inform each other to address today’s global challenges.

👉🏽✨ Pre-register for Human Security as Compassion and unlock access to 50+ courses with Arihanta's Institute's Course Membership! Along with this course, gain access to courses covering engaged Jain studies, Yoga philosophy, compassion studies, vegan studies, and more.

Start your 14-day Course Membership free trial today and join a global community of lifelong learners dedicated to positive change. Embrace knowledge for a more compassionate, purposeful life.

The 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐒𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐈𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 is supported by a grant from the Uberoi Foundation.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES & LINKS

• Course Membership - Start Your 14-Day Free Trial
• 2018 | Human Security as Compassion: Jain Perspectives on Global Challenges
• Compassion Studies Initiative @Arihanta Institute

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ABOUT OUR PODCAST GUEST

Melanie Barbato is the author of Jain Approaches to Plurality: Identity as Dialogue (Brill) and the editor of Interreligious Dialogue and Diplomacy, a special issue of Cross Currents (UNC Press). She is a Senior Lecturer in History of Christianity at the Pacifika Communities University in Suva, Fiji, and coordinates the Network of Hinduism in Dialogue at the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies, UK.

ABOUT OUR PODCAST HOST

Christopher Jain Miller is the co-founder, Vice President of Academic...

In this episode of the Engaged Jain Studies Podcast, Assistant Professor Cogen Bohanec, MA, PhD interviews Anil Mundra, PhD, Assistant Professor in the Department of Religious Studies and holder of the Bhagvan Vimalnath Endowed Chair in Jain Studies and South Asian Religions at the University of California Santa Barbara. During their conversation, the professors delve into the significant contributions of Haribhadrasūri, a polymath and influential figure in the Jain tradition. They discuss his works, including commentaries on the Śvetāmbara āgamas, and his role in promoting cosmopolitanism and interfaith acceptance. The conversation also explores the concept of anekānta-vāda, a philosophy of non-one-sidedness that acknowledges the complexity and multifaceted nature of truth. Dr. Mundra clarifies the distinction between anekānta-vāda and relativism, highlighting the importance of recognizing the objective truth by considering various aspects and perspectives. This episode offers a fascinating glimpse into the rich intellectual history of Jainism and the relevance of anekānta-vāda in today's polarized discourse.

EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS

• Introduction to Haribhadrasūri's life and works (5:00)
• Discussion of anekānta-vāda and its significance (15:00)
• Clarifying the distinction between anekānta-vāda and relativism (30:00)
• Exploring the relevance of anekānta-vāda in contemporary issues (40:00)

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES & LINKS

• Cal State Uni. Northridge Online Jain Symposium, Dept. of Religious Studies - Jain Non-One-Sidedness (Anekāntavāda): Religious Pluralism and Learning Across Differences
• Arihanta Institute | Ancient Wisdom for Modern Living
• Subscribe to the Arihanta Institute Newsletter

ABOUT OUR PODCAST GUEST

Anil Mundra is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Religious Studies and holder of the Bhagvan Vimalnath Endowed Chair in Jain Studies and South Asian Religions at the University of California Santa Barbara. He completed his PhD at the University of Chicago in 2022 and after that held the Alka Siddhartha Dalal Postdoctoral Fellowship for the study of Jainism in the Department of Religion at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey. His research looks at how religious diversity is confronted and navigated in classical Jain philosophy, especially in anekantavada, the theory of non-one-sidedness. His dissertation was on the writing attributed to the great Shvetambar polymath Haribhadrasūri. Some of his recent work has brought this research to bear on questions of religious pluralism, comparison, toleration, and universalism.

ABOUT OUR PODCAST HOST

Cogen Bohanec, MA, PhD, Assistant Professor at Arihanta Institute

Cogen Bohanec currently holds the position of Assistant Professor in Sanskrit and Jain Studies at Arihanta Institute where he teaches various courses on Jain philosophy and its applications. In addition, he is a Visiting Assistant Professor at Claremont School of Theology (CST) where he teaches Sanskrit and Gujarati, and he has taught numerous classes on South Asian Culture & Religions and Sanskrit language at the Graduate Theological Union (GTU) in Berkeley. Dr. Bohanec specializes in the Jain and Hindu traditions, comparative dharma traditions, philosophy of religion, theo-ethics (virtue ethics, and environmental and animal ethics in particular), and Sanskrit language and literature, and has numerous publications in those areas,...

In this episode of the Engaged Jain Studies Podcast, Professor Christopher Jain Miller interviews Shivani Bothra, Assistant Professor of Religious Studies and the Bhagwan Suvidhinath Endowed Chair in Jain Studies at California State University, Long Beach. Professor Bothra shares her remarkable journey from India to the diaspora and how she re-discovered her Jain tradition later in life through a compassionate Jain nun. This transformative experience shaped her deep commitment to teaching compassion-in-action.

Dr. Bothra also discusses the course she is leading as part of Arihanta Institute’s Compassion Studies Initiative, Compassion to Self and Others in Jain Householder Life. The course draws from Śrāvaka Saṃbodha, a handbook on lay practices compiled by Ācārya Tulasī, and explores the teachings of self-compassion and compassion to others. Tune in to hear Dr. Bothra's insights and leave inspired to integrate more compassion into your everyday life.

Course Announcement

📖 This EJS podcast episode offers a preview of Professor Bothra's upcoming course for the 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐒𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐈𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞, 2017 | Compassion to Self & Others in Jain Householder Life. This course delves into the formation of compassion within the Jain tradition, focusing on the principle of ahiṃsā (non-violence) as outlined in canonical Jain texts. While ahiṃsā is widely recognized for its emphasis on avoiding harm to all sentient beings, this course extends the concept to explore compassion toward oneself and others. Drawing from Śrāvaka Saṃbodha, a seminal text by Ācārya Tulasī, students will examine the practical guidance on how lay disciples can integrate Jain ethical principles into everyday life. Through an interdisciplinary approach, this course will explore how Jain teachings foster a compassionate presence in the world, empowering individuals to contribute to a more harmonious society. Rather than merely studying compassion, students will engage with the transformative process of cultivating compassion-in-action, deeply rooted in Jain spiritual practices.

👉🏽✨ Pre-register for the course by May 4 to receive 25% off using code: CSI2017.

The 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐒𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐈𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 is supported by a grant from the Uberoi Foundation.

🎧 Don’t forget to subscribe to the Engaged Jain Studies Podcast for more insightful discussions on Jain philosophy, ethics, and engaged spirituality!

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES & LINKS

• 2017 | Compassion to Self & Others in Jain Householder Life - Arihanta Institute
• Compassion Studies Initiative @Arihanta Institute
• Arihanta Institute YouTube Channel - For replays of our events, conferences, and Speaker Series, head to the Arihanta Institute Youtube Channel.

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ABOUT OUR PODCAST GUEST

Shivani Bothra is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Religious Studies at California State University, Long Beach. Before this, she worked as a postdoctoral researcher at Rice University in Houston, USA, and taught as a lecturer in Religious Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She earned her doctorate from the Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand. Her focus is South Asian traditions, Jainism, and Nonviolence. Shivani's primary research areas are transnational Jainism, emphasizing Contemporary Jains.

ABOUT OUR PODCAST HOST

In this episode of the Engaged Jain Studies Podcast, Arihanta Institute professor Jonathan Dickstein interviews Christopher Sebastian, a journalist, technical writer, and adjunct lecturer at Anglo-American University in Prague. Christopher, who writes about food, politics, media, pop culture, and animals, dives deep into the intersections of media, culture, and veganism.

In their conversation, Jonathan and Christopher discuss the role of media in shaping radical perspectives, drawing influence from thinkers like bell hooks, and the ways in which we consume media. Christopher reflects on how cultural identity is shaped through media narratives and explores connections between race, religion, politics, science, and consumerism. Together, they offer a fresh lens on how media influences our habits, choices, and the movements we support—especially in the realm of animal exploitation and speciesism.

Course Announcement

In the upcoming Arihanta Institute Vegan Studies Initiative course 𝟷𝟶𝟷𝟿 | 𝘝𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘮 𝘪𝘯 𝘗𝘰𝘱 𝘊𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦, Prof. Christopher Sebastian will guide you through fictional portrayals of animal advocacy, vegan practices like compassion and recognition, and the portrayal of farmed, free-living, and companion animals in Western media. Participants will explore how these representations have influenced our understanding of animals and ethics in modern society.

Unlike dense critical theory, popular culture is accessible and widely consumed, making it a powerful tool for education. Through TV shows, movies, and music, we can shape our collective understanding of empathy and social justice in ways that resonate with the masses.

🔹 4 hours of recorded lectures

🔹 4 live Q&A sessions (April 4, 11, 18, and 25 from 9 AM to 10 AM PT)

🔹 Course materials available starting March 31, 2025

🔹 Enroll now for only $25!

🎧 Don’t forget to subscribe to the Engaged Jain Studies Podcast for more insightful discussions on Jain philosophy, ethics, and engaged spirituality!

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES & LINKS

• Course 1019 | Veganism in Pop Culture with Christopher Sebastian
• Vegan Studies Initiative @ Arihanta Institute | Courses, Speaker Series, Research & More!

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ABOUT OUR PODCAST GUEST

Christopher Sebastian is a journalist, technical writer, and adjunct lecturer. He teaches in the School of Journalism, Media, and Visual Arts at Anglo-American University in Prague. He writes about food, politics, media, pop culture, and (of course) animals.

ABOUT OUR PODCAST HOST

Dr. Jonathan Dickstein specializes in South Asian Religions, Religion and Ecology, and Comparative Religious Ethics. He received his doctoral degree in Religious Studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he wrote his dissertation on ancient Indian animal taxonomies and their relevance for religious ritual and dietary practice. Jonathan’s current work focuses on Jainism and contemporary ecological issues, and accordingly extends into Critical Animal Studies, Food Studies, and Diaspora Studies.

Jonathan has published in a wide array of interdisciplinary journals on topics such as veganism and politics, yoga and diet, Jain veganism, and the ethic of nonviolence (ahiṃsa). Jonathan considers himself a scholar-practitioner, having spent many years not only in libraries but also in public advocating for justice for both humans and nonhumans alike.

Copyright 2025 Arihanta Institute

This episode of the Engaged Jain Studies Podcast features Professor Christopher Jain Miller in conversation with Professor Frank Rogers Jr., the Muriel Bernice Roberts Professor of Spiritual Formation & Narrative Pedagogy and Co-Founder & Co-Director of the Center for Engaged Compassion at Claremont School of Theology. Professor Rogers explores the concept of compassion within Western monotheistic traditions—Christianity, Judaism, and Islam—and examines how connection to a Sacred compassionate source fosters deeper human compassion. Drawing from his extensive work in Compassion Studies, Professor Rogers offers insights on cultivating self-compassion and extending it to the world.

Course Announcement

📖 This EJS podcast episode offers a preview of Professor Roger's upcoming course for the 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐒𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐈𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞, 2016 | Spiritual Approaches to Cultivating Compassion. This course explores compassion formation processes that are grounded in Western monotheistic spiritual traditions. These formation processes promote a spiritual path of radical compassion rooted in contemplative encounters with an all-inclusive sacred Source and embodied in compassionate action that extends toward all—one's self, one's neighbor, even one's enemies. This course does not so much study compassion; it explores how to cultivate a compassionate presence in the world through these spiritual traditions.

The 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐒𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐈𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 is supported by a grant from the Uberoi Foundation.

🎧 Don’t forget to subscribe to the Engaged Jain Studies Podcast for more insightful discussions on Jain philosophy, ethics, and engaged spirituality!

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES & LINKS

• 2016 | Spiritual Approaches to Cultivating Compassion
• Compassion Studies Initiative @Arihanta Institute
• Arihanta Institute | Ancient Wisdom for Modern Living

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ABOUT OUR PODCAST GUEST

Dr. Frank Rogers Jr. is the Muriel Bernice Roberts Professor of Spiritual Formation and Narrative Pedagogy and the co-director of the Center for Engaged Compassion at the Claremont School of Theology. A trained spiritual director and experienced retreat leader, his work focuses on spiritual formation that is contemplative grounded, personally empowering, and socially liberative. He is the author of several books including Cradled in the Arms of Compassion: A Spiritual Journey from Trauma to Recovery; Practicing Compassion; Compassion in Practice: The Way of Jesus (and its supplemental curriculum, The Way of Radical Compassion, and The God of Shattered Glass, A Novel. He lives in southern California with his wife, Dr. Alane Daugherty, with whom he shares three young adult sons, Justin, Michael, and Sammy. With his wife, he loves to run, hike, snorkel, and follow baseball.

ABOUT OUR PODCAST HOST

Christopher Jain Miller is the co-founder, Vice President of Academic Affairs, and Professor of Jain and Yoga Studies at Arihanta Institute. He completed his PhD in the study of Religion at the University of California, Davis and is also a Visiting Researcher at the University of Zürich's Asien-Orient-Institut and Visiting Professor at Claremont School of Theology...

In this episode of the Engaged Jain Studies Podcast, Jonathan Dickstein interviews Yamini Narayanan about her groundbreaking book, Mother Cow, Mother India: A Multispecies Politics of Dairy in India. This conversation, recorded from a live episode event, delves into Narayanan’s shift into animal studies and her extended analysis of Indian bovines.

During the discussion, Narayanan unpacks the complex symbolism of the “mother cow” in India, highlighting how it is weaponized against women, Muslims, and Dalits, and how “cow protectionism” serves as a thinly disguised tool of patriarchal ethnonationalism. Most critically, Narayanan draws attention to how mainstream narratives highlighting “beef” and “slaughter” distract from the core issue—the Indian dairy industry, which is directly responsible for the ongoing mistreatment and killing of millions of bovines each year.

Subscribe and stay tuned for more insightful episodes! This is just one of many live discussions we will be bringing to the podcast, featuring leading scholars and thinkers in Engaged Jain Studies.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES & LINKS

• Subscribe to the Arihanta Institute Newsletter
• Vegan Studies Initiative @ Arihanta Institute | Courses, Speaker Series, Research & More!

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ABOUT OUR PODCAST GUEST

Dr. Yamini Narayanan is an ARC Future Fellow at the Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation. Yamini's research intersects animal, political and environmental geography, multispecies ethnography, South Asian studies, and animals and geopolitics.

Yamini's book Mother Cow, Mother India (2023, Stanford/Navayana) won the Mid Career Researcher Book Prize 2024 from the Asian Studies Association of Australia, and has been shortlisted in the Non-Fiction category for the Crossword Book Award 2024, one of India's most prestigious national literary honours.

Yamini's substantive work focusses on the entanglement of animals in nationalist and developmental ideologies in India. She is currently researching animals in coercive labour in India’s brick kilns, exploring an anti-anthropocentric politics of poverty and development. Yamini's work is published in leading journals including Annals of the American Association of Geographers; Environment and Planning A, D and E; Urban Geography; Geoforum; Hypatia; and South Asia. Yamini's research is supported by three Australian Research Council grants, including the DECRA Fellowship.

Yamini is the founding Convenor of the Deakin Critical Animal Studies Network, and is a lifelong Fellow of the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics. Yamini serves as Special Issues Editor of Urban Geography, and Associate Editor of Environmental Humanities.

ABOUT OUR PODCAST HOST

Dr. Jonathan Dickstein specializes in South Asian Religions, Religion and Ecology, and Comparative Religious Ethics. He received his doctoral degree in Religious Studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he wrote his dissertation on ancient Indian animal taxonomies and their relevance for religious ritual and dietary practice. Jonathan’s current work focuses on Jainism and contemporary ecological issues, and accordingly extends into Critical Animal Studies, Food Studies, and Diaspora Studies.

Jonathan has published in a wide array of interdisciplinary journals on topics such as veganism and politics, yoga and diet, Jain veganism, and the ethic of nonviolence (ahiṃsa). Jonathan considers himself a scholar-practitioner, having spent many years not only in libraries but also in public advocating for justice for both humans and nonhumans alike.

Copyright 2025 Arihanta Institute