Famous Vegans - Jay Dinshah

H. Jay Dinshah, 8th International Vegan Festival, 1995.

H. Jay Dinshah

Born Horn Dinshah Ghadiali. He lived from November 2, 1933 to June 8, 2000. He died of an apparent hearth attack at age 66. He was born in Malaga, New Jersey. His father was born in India and his mother was a United States citizen with German ancestry. He was a lifelong vegetarian and became vegan in 1957. He married the English-born Freya Smith in 1960, the same year he founded the American Vegan Society at the age of 26.

He was the president of the American Vegan Society and the editor of its magazine Ahimsa from 1960 to 2000. He was the self-published author of Out of the Jungle (1967), Song of India (1973) and Health can be harmless (1987) and had edited an anthology titled Here's Harmlessness (1964). He had also written numerous articles for Ahimsa. Freya Dinshah is the current president of the American Vegan Society.

In his lifelong career he had variously served as an executive vice-president of the International Vegetarian Union, vice president of the Vegan Society (England), founder and president of the North American Vegetarian Society (1974-1979), acting executive director of the American Natural Hygiene Society (1983) and first president of the Vegetarian Union of North America.

The American Vegan Society's definition of veganism is:

"Veganism is an advanced way of living in accordance with Reverence for Life, recognizing the rights of all living creatures, and extending to them the compassion, kindness, and justice exemplified in the Golden Rule."

The motto of the American Vegan Society is "Ahimsa lights the way". Ahimsa is a Sanskrit word for non-killing and non-harming. It is not mere passiveness, but a positive method of meeting the dilemmas and decisions of daily life. In the western world, we call it Dynamic Harmlessness.

The six Pillars of A-H-I-M-S-A are:

Abstinence from animal products
Harmlessness with reverence for life
Integrity of thought, word and deed
Mastery over oneself
Service to humanity, nature and creation
Advancement of understanding and truth.

Quotes by H. Jay Dinshah:

In 1961, he wrote in Ahimsa:

"I call upon you, in the name of mercy and of justice, to speak out and to work for the eventual freedom of all creatures ... to refuse to buy, sell, or utilize in any manner, shape or form any product of the cruelty, slavery, exploitation, pain, or death of an animal."

He wrote the essay "To Tell the Truth" in Here's Harmlessness. The essay included:

"Life, precious though it is, is not the only basic right which we deny the animals. Perhaps no less criminal is the deprivation of their freedom, their normal family life, their liberty to develop according to natural patterns of their inclination instead of the hideous plans we, in our greed for profits, have outlined for them.

Thus, a product is clearly objectionable if any type of cruelty, direct or indirect, or even the crime of forced servitude (slavery) is involved, regardless of whether killing is involved in the acquisition of the product. In actual practice, of course, there is virtually no such thing as an animal product obtained from a creature that is permitted to live out its days unharmed; the slaughterhouse represents the end of the road for nearly all."

In Out of the Jungle, he wrote:

"Man cannot pretend to be higher in ethics, spirituality, advancement, or civilization than other creatures, and at the same time live by lower standards than the vulture or hyena. The Pillars of Ahimsa indisputably represent the clearest surest path out of the jungle, and toward the attainment of that highly desirable goal."

"Man must get his thoughts, words and actions out of this vast moral jungle. We are not predators. We are, hopefully, more than instinctive killers and selfish brutes. Why take such a dim view of our potentialities and capabilities?"

In 1971, he wrote in Ahimsa:

"To anyone who believes that life itself has some purpose - or is even its own reason for being - one should not wantonly destroy even plants. The destruction of any life is thus an act not to be taken lightly, or presumed to be isolated in the scheme of things. It is to be preceded by careful consideration of the responsibilities and the possible alternatives involved, and accompanied by an understanding that one is indeed doing the right thing according to his present state of existence . . . The ethical vegetarian is seriously interested in lessening the suffering that he may be causing in the world - even inadvertently inflicted upon relatively low forms of life."

He included the following words in the souvenir book of the 1977 World Vegetarian Congress in India:

"Mankind cannot, I submit, save itself from destruction through mere cleverness of scientific technology selfishly applied, nor through wishful thinking. But through a deep sense of brotherhood of all life, and a willingness and eagerness on the part of each and every person to work constructively for the preservation and enhancement of life, mankind may yet be preserved and go forward into the next millennium with confidence, competence and compassion."