Vegan lifestyle articles that discuss ways of living in peace with humans, animals, and the environment.
"Ahimsa" comes from a Sanskrit word meaning “no harm” or non-violence. “Homo Ahimsa” is a term coined by the coalition’s co-founder, Judy Carman, to describe a kinder, more compassionate humanity committed to ending violence against animals, people, and the earth.
Homo Ahimsa award winners: Dr. Sailesh Rao and his granddaughter
10-year-old Kimaya Rainy Rao. (Photo Courtesy of Interfaith Vegan Coalition)
A 10-year-old girl from Arizona and her grandpa received the first ever
“Homo Ahimsa” award from the
Interfaith Vegan Coalition this year for their
vision of a vegan world by 2026.
“Ahimsa” comes from a Sanskrit word meaning “no harm” or non-violence. “Homo
Ahimsa” is a term coined by the coalition’s co-founder, Judy Carman, to
describe a kinder, more compassionate humanity committed to ending violence
against animals, people, and the earth. [Judy's book:
Homo Ahimsa: Who We Really Are and How We’re Going to Save the World]
The new award from the Coalition, an initiative by the animal welfare
nonprofit In Defense of Animals, seeks to honor and recognize those who
advance the nonviolent, respectful, and compassionate treatment of all
beings.
The Coalition has its own clever standards for defining ‘AHIMSA,’ via an
acronym developed by Jay Dinshah of the American Vegan Society: Abstinence
from animal products; Harmlessness with reverence for life; Integrity of
thought, word, and deed; Mastery over oneself; Service to humanity, nature,
and creation; and Advancement of understanding and truth.
This year’s recipients of the award, 10-year-old Kimaya Rainy Rao and her
grandfather Sailesh Rao, exemplified those traits, said IDA’s Lisa Levinson.
Rao, who holds a doctorate in electrical engineering from Stanford
University and is the founder of the nonprofit Climate Healers, made his
granddaughter a “pinky promise” of a better, vegan world by 2026.
Why a pinky promise, that childhood gesture of faith and commitment?
Because, in Rao’s own words, a pinky promise is “sacred.”
The promise he made to Kimaya was “a promise made to a child for all of us,”
he added on Climate Healers’ website. The site notes that a vegan world by
2026 is necessary for ethical reasons, as well as out of “sheer ecological
necessity.”
Both Rao and Kimaya are HEAL activists — which stands for Human, Earth, and
Animal Liberation.
He’s written two books about environmental impacts and served as executive
producer of four documentaries — including 2014’s Cowspiracy and 2017’s What
the Health.
She’s starred as an Animal Hero Kid in videos produced by the Million Dollar
Vegan Campaign.
Their “Vegan World 2026” campaign notes that a vegan world is more than just
cutting out consumption of animal products. It’s an entire mindset that
works toward cutting out the oppression of animals of any kind, including
the oppression of people.
“In such a Vegan World, there would be neither child labor for conflict
minerals and cocoa production nor slave labor for tomato picking and
strawberry picking,” the campaign’s website notes.
According to the campaign, in addition to necessary ecological, economic,
and political shifts, society also will need to undergo spiritual mindset
shifts — from animal slavery to animal liberation, deliberate cruelty to
compassion for all life, from religious divisions to acceptance of all
faiths and non-belief traditions, and from an ‘ego-centric’ to an
‘eco-centric’’ model of life.
Lady Freethinker applauds this dynamic duo for their vision of a world in
which humanity can play a more considerate, compassionate, and non-violent
part.
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