Engaged Jainism

Explores the manifold ways in which Jains and Jain ideas become engaged in social worlds. The Jain tradition, with roots in ancient India but now spread across the globe, is anything but static and monolithic. In Engaged Jainism, an interdisciplinary cohort of academics and practitioners explore the manifold ways in which Jains and Jain ideas become engaged in social worlds—historically, philosophically, philologically, and anthropologically. Following the legacy of Engaged Buddhism, the groundbreaking volume edited by Christopher S. Queen and Sallie B. King, this volume shows how Jain traditions become engaged in everyday life, puts Jain ideas in dialogue with Western philosophical traditions, and examines the ways in which Jains have maintained Jain identity in their engagement with other religious traditions and cultural influences in the past and present. Across all of these disciplinary approaches, Jainism emerges as a dynamic, protean, and diverse tradition.

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgments Foreword Parveen Jain Introduction: Conceptualizing 'Engaged' Jainism and the Field of 'Engaged' Jain Studies Christopher Jain Miller Part I: Critical Issues in "Engaged Jain Studies" 1. Applied to What? For Whose Benefit? A Critique of "Applied Jain Ethics" Steven M. Vose 2. Jain Mantra Healing: Opportunities and Challenges of an Engaged/Applied Jain Studies Tine Vekemans Part II: Social Engagement in the Diaspora 3. Engaged Curation: Challenges, Experiences, and Potentials from a Museum Exhibition about Jainism Johannes Beltz 4. Engaged Jain Yoga: Narendra Kumar Jain's The Seven Stages of Enlightenment on the Berlin Wall Christopher Jain Miller 5. Engaging Spaces: Jain Position and Identity in the Urban Space of Bangkok, Thailand Yifan Zhang Part III: Engaging with Business and Economy 6. Engaging Jain Ideas: Interdisciplinary Business Ethics Education Benjamin Zenk 7. Engaged Jain Business and Professional Culture Atul Shah Part IV: Engaging to Protect Animals and the Environment 8. Jain Virtue Ethics Engaging with Animal Rights Cogen Bohanec 9. Ahiṃsā, Anekānta, and Animal Rights: Engaging Plurality in our Planetary Context Andrew Bridges 10. An American Panjrapole: Engaging Tradition and Innovation at Luvin Arms Animal Sanctuary Jonathan Dickstein 11. A Jain Perspective on Faux Meat: Engaging Jain Philosophy with Contemporary Debates Joey Tuminello 12. Jain Ecotheology Engaging with Ecopsychology Cogen Bohanec Part V: Interfaith Engagement 13. Engaged Virtues: Cultivating Friendliness, Joy, Compassion, and Equanimity in Jain Thought Alba Rodríguez Juan 14. Engaging Difference: Approaches to Religious Pluralism in Haribhadra's Yogabindu Christopher Key Chapple 15. Fortuitous Jain Engagements with Non-Dualities: Jain Yoga in the Yogapradīpa and Yogasāra Corinna May Lhoir 16. The Anuvrat Movement: A Case of Socially Engaged Jainism Shivani Bothra 17. Engaged Anekāntavāda: The Potential of Jain Philosophy for Grounding Dialogue Across Worldviews (With a Focus on Vijñāna Vedānta) Jeffery D. Long List of Contributors

About the Author :
Christopher Jain Miller is Vice President of Academic Affairs and Professor of Jain and Yoga studies at the Arihanta Institute, Visiting Researcher at the University of Zürich's Asien-Orient-Institut, and Affiliate Professor of engaged Jain studies at the Claremont School of Theology. He is the author of Embodying Transnational Yoga: Eating, Singing, and Breathing in Transformation. Cogen Bohanec is Assistant Professor in Sanskrit and Jain studies at the Arihanta Institute and Affiliate Professor of engaged Jain studies at the Claremont School of Theology. He is the author of Bhakti Ethics, Emotions, and Love in Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava Metaethics.

Review :
"This excellent book is a milestone in Jain studies. Highlighting an often-neglected aspect of Jainism as a tradition that shows remarkable engagement with contemporary issues, it makes a timely and important contribution to a rapidly expanding field." — Melanie Barbato, Pasifika Communities University, Fiji "This book offers a sophisticated and multifaceted treatment of what 'engaged Jainism' has been and might mean going forward. For scholars of Jainism (and Asian religions generally), it offers a very helpful reflection upon methodologies and developments in the field. It also fills a huge need—especially enunciated by early undergraduate students—for rigorous instructional materials on how Jains actually apply their traditions and principles in modern society." — Anil Mundra, University of California, Santa Barbara "A bold and much-needed intervention in the field of Jain Studies." — Dr. Venu Mehta, Bhagwan Chandraprabha Endowed Assistant Professor in Jain Studies and Assistant Professor of Comparative Spiritualities, Claremont School of Theology