Peace to All Beings: Veggie Soup for the Chicken's Soul

This award winning book, Peace to All Beings, is about working to protect the environment, to promote world peace, to end world hunger and human rights abuses, to liberate animals from suffering, and to raise planetary consciousness. They are all deeply interconnected, and none can go very far forward without the others. All find their common ground in the ethics of nonviolence, compassion, and reverence for all life. Peace to All Beings reveals the root cause behind the violence and war now being waged against the earth, the animals, and people. 

Jain Society of Chicago Celebrates Mahavir Jayanti

The Jain Society of Metropolitan Chicago’s (JSMC) temple will be celebrating Mahavir Jayanti this month. Mahavir Janma Kalyanak (Jayanti) is celebrated across the world as birth anniversary of Bhagwan Mahavir, the 24th Tirthankar (enlightened one) of Jain philosophy.

He was born in 599 BC and this year marks the 2,614 years since the birth of the apostle of peace. His message of ahimsha (non-violence), aparigraha (non-possessiveness) and anekantvad (non-absolutism) are universal in nature and has been the guiding force for generations of Jains and many cultures in the Indus Valley Civilization. He was the son of King Siddhartha and Queen Trishala. On the night of conception his mother, Trishala, had a dream depicting 14 different auspicious things. The astrologers interpreted the auspicious dreams and predicted that the child would be either an emperor or a Tirthankar.

This year JSMC is celebrating its 20th anniversary and it being the first major event of the year, the chairman of JSMC, Arvind Shah, and Board of Trustees, presented the state of the JSMC. They also presented important information on the current and future initiatives undertaken by the managing team and shared the financial health of the society.

The JSMC president, Tejas Shah, said that the entire Jain community throughout the Chicagoland area, Indiana, and Wisconsin celebrated Mahavir Jayanti at the Bartlett Jain Temple. The facility was beautifully decorated including the Pratimaji (Idol) of Mahavir Swami. Mahavir Swami is the main deity at the Jain Temple of JSMC.

 

This is also an auspicious time of Ayambil Oli. Ayambil is a penance where the observer eats only once a day where a completely boiled Jain vegan menu is served. The Ayambil Oli is observed over a period of nine days and this year it runs parallel to the Mahavir Jayanti celebrations. About 65 members observed penance for the entire nine days and many more did it for a day or two.

 

For more information and how to register for the JSMC event, visit their website, at: www.jsmconline.org

Peace Pilgrim

Mildred Lisette Norman (July 18, 1908-July 7, 1981), known to all as Peace Pilgrim, was a U.S. pacifist, strict vegetarian, and peace activist. In 1952, she became the first woman to walk the entire length of the Appalachian Trail in one season. Starting on January 1, 1953. In Pasadena, California, she adopted the name "Peace Pilgrim" and walked across the United States for 28 years.

Peace Pilgrim said, "Our present lesson is to stop killing each other. The lesson of non-killing of creatures is a little bit into the future, though those of us who know better need to live up to the highest light. Now, I wouldn't kill any creature--I wouldn't even kill a chicken or a fish--and therefore I stopped immediately eating all flesh. I have learned since that it is bad for your health, but at that time, I just extended my love to include not only all my fellow human beings but also my fellow creatures, and so I stopped hurting them and I stopped eating them. Then I learned from a college professor...that it takes many times the land to raise the creatures we eat as it would to raise fruits or vegetables or grains. Since I want the maximum number of God's children to be fed, that also would make me a vegetarian. I enjoy my food, but I eat to live. I do not live to eat, as some people do, and I know when to stop eating. I am not enslaved by food."

As a strict vegetarian, Peace Pilgrim also did not use fur, feathers, leather or bone.

Peace Pilgrim was also an early advocate for tolerance for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people. She did not believe in discrimination against any being.