[GhostUser]

Hey fellow vegs! Yippie yeah, I'm finally in the house!<br><br><br><br>
As a practicing Jain and all that, I am hoping to improve my eating habits and lifestyle with help from my fellow vegs. Born a veg and always been a veg for the past 28 glorious and not-so-glorious years.<br><br><br><br>
What I need the most is information, information, and information. Information is power, the power to improve my lifestyle to the point that maximum non-violence within the constraints of the Western society can be achieved.<br><br><br><br>
If there are any fellow Jains or even Buddhists on the board, please give me a holler. See y'all around the forums.

 

[Seadolphin]

<img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="/images/smilies/hi.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title=":hi:"> Welcome!

 

[magates]

I have studied janism and all that. You must be part of some modern jain sect though, because from what I read it would be impossible to be a "good Jain" in western culture. You would have to be vegan to start out at least Id like to hear about your version of Jainism though.

 

[GhostUser]

magates, it really depends on what you have read about Jainism and what you know about it. Provide some details so that I can give you a solid response.<br><br><br><br>
It's a pretty obscure religion with only 16-20 million followers, hence my request for any fellow vegs to holler if they consider themselves Jain. Just gotta know if I'm the only one on the board ;-).<br><br><br><br>
Also, I sure hope I'm not the only overweight veg on this board. Holler if you're no more than 5'8 and weight at least 205 pounds ;-).

 

[1vegan]

Welcome Rushabh, what kept you so long <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="/images/smilies/smiley.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="">

 

[with_open_eyes]

welcome !!!!<br><br><img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="/images/smilies/smiley.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title=""><img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="/images/smilies/smiley.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title=""><img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="/images/smilies/smiley.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="">

 

[GhostUser]

Hey <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="/images/smilies/hi.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title=":hi:"> Believe me, you are not the only one that is over-weight here. But in the big picture, who the heck is gonna care how much we weigh anyhow (that's what I keep telling myself as I struggle).

 

[magates]

This is what I rember of my studies of Janism. Its basicly a distant cousin of other Indian religons especialy Hinduism. Its main point is that every living thing has a karma or energy and you should do nothing to harm these things. Jains apparetnly used to go such lenghts as straining their water to prevent them killing the microbes and protozoa in the water. They would wear special shoes so they wouldnt kill a bug if the steped on it. It includes fasting and alot of other rigrous dicplines. So if they went this far I cant see how it would be possible to be a jain in todays world. And if your lacto-ovo then I would think that would automaticly disqualify you from good jain status since you harm the cows and chickens who produce the eggs and dairy. Thats just what I rember of a very acedmic study of it. It was 3 years ago and I have forgton a ton of the info. We had to read 800 page tomes on Indian/Eastern religons.

 

[GhostUser]

magates, if you are interested, you can refresh your memory by checking out the following links:<br><br><br><br><a href="http://www.silcom.com/~origin/sbcr/sbcr111" target="_blank">http://www.silcom.com/~origin/sbcr/sbcr111</a><br><br><br><br><a href="http://www.cs.colostate.edu/~malaiya/jainhlinks.html" target="_blank">http://www.cs.colostate.edu/~malaiya/jainhlinks.html</a><br><br><br><br>
I'm not a lacto-ovo but a lacto as most Jain householders/laypeople are in India. There are actually two classes of Jain people: the householders/laypeople who are often lacto-veg and the monks/acharyas who are fruitarians (fruits/nuts/grains), as far as I know. In the US, there is a small movement of Jain laypeople who are keenly aware of the violence associated with dairy products and have become vegans. I don't know if there is a similar movement on the subcontinent. Hopefully, with this board's help, I can get into that camp gradually.<br><br><br><br>
There is no such thing as "good" Jain or "bad" Jain. It is actually a individual-centric, non-dogmatic, and trans-athiestic religion that has no links to the amorphous Hindu religion, notwithstanding the cultural contimination and idol worship derived from the mainstream Hindu practices. In addition, veganism and fruitianism is highly recommended for laypeople within the Jain context but is hardly followed due to cultural contamination (dairy products have been a central part of the Indian diet for centuries).<br><br><br><br>
This may surprise you but Jains were often targets of religious genocide and pogorms by their Hindu brethren many centuries in the past, especially in South India.

 

[Kreeli]

hi! i'm FAT and vegan! nice to meet you!<br><br><br><br>
i've always been interested in jainism, though i don't think i could ever really understand it, not being immersed in indian culture.<br><br><br><br>
thanks for sharing all that information.