In this enlightening episode of the Engaged Jain Studies Podcast, Arihanta Institute professor Christopher Jain Miller, PhD, engages in a profound conversation with Dr. Devinder Pal Singh, an expert in Sikh studies. Their discussion explores the central role of compassion in the Sikh dharmic tradition, from its theological underpinnings to its real-world applications.

Dr. Singh introduces listeners to the foundational principles of Sikhi that shape compassionate living, such as seva (selfless service) and the ethic of oneness that honors the divine presence in all beings. He highlights how Sikh teachings inspire not only inner transformation but also active forms of service, including the institution of langar (free community kitchens), ecological care, and the defense of social justice.

The conversation also emphasizes how acts of forgiveness, service, and balancing of temporal and spiritual responsibilities invite practitioners to live in ways that uplift humanity and protect the natural world. Together, Professor Miller and Dr. Singh illuminate how the Sikh tradition envisions compassion as both an inward disposition and an outward call to action—encouraging all to serve others and stand against injustice.

Course Spotlight — 2023 | Sikh Teachings and Practices of Compassion — available for self-study on Monday, November 3, 2025.

This course, offered by the Compassion Studies Initiative (CSI@AI) at Arihanta Institute and made possible through the generous support of the Uberoi Foundation, explores how the Sikh tradition fosters both personal transformation and social responsibility through compassion.

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ADDITIONAL RESOURCES & LINKS

• Course 2023 | Sikh Teachings and Practices of Compassion
• The Compassion Studies Initiative is supported by a grant from the Uberoi Foundation.
• Arihanta Institute | Ancient Wisdom for Modern Living
• Subscribe to the Arihanta Institute Newsletter

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ABOUT OUR PODCAST GUEST

Dr. Devinder Pal Singh is a teacher-researcher with over 35 years of experience in education and advocacy on scientific, environmental and religious issues. He, a Founder-Director of the Center for Understanding Sikhism in Ontario, Canada, specializes in writing on scientific and theological topics. He has authored 24 books and published over 1000 articles in the fields of Science, Environment and Sikhism. He is the Editorial Advisory Board Member for prominent journals like The Sikh Review, Kolkata, India, and Studies in Sikhism and Comparative Religion, New Delhi, India.

With over two dozen invited talks and more than 100 TV and YouTube presentations to his credit, he is a prominent voice on social, technological, and environmental issues within the Punjabi and Sikh communities. His advocacy work is grounded in a sound scientific background, given his PhD and decades of experience teaching physics at the college and university levels. He has published over 100 research papers and presented them at 60 national and international conferences on Physics and allied topics.

Dr. Singh...

In this enlightening episode of the Engaged Jain Studies podcast, Arihanta Institute professor Cogen Bohanec, MA, PhD engages in a profound discussion with Eileen Goddard, a Religious Studies PhD candidate at the University of California, Santa Barbara. The conversation traverses Eileen's academic journey, highlighting key influences like her mentors Barbara Holdrege and Edwin Bryant, and her deep-rooted interest in South Asian religious traditions.

Eileen delves into her fascination with the Caitanya Vaiṣṇava tradition, exploring how her research focuses on the sixteenth-century Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava movement. She offers insights into Indian religious constructions of "perfected" minds and bodies, along with her broader interests in bhakti traditions, classical Sanskrit aesthetic theory (rasa), and gender and sexuality.

The discussion also reveals the intersection of Cogen Bohanec’s own work with Eileen’s, especially in areas like philosophy of religion, yoga studies, Jain studies, and Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava studies. They touch upon Eileen’s course, "Devotional (bhakti) Approaches to Compassion in the Caitanya Vaiṣṇava Tradition," which investigates the connections between divine love, human compassion, and contemporary humanitarian efforts.

Key topics include the role of compassion in scholarship, the ethical teachings of the Caitanya Vaiṣṇava tradition, and the influential philosophies of Rūpa Gosvāmin and Jīva Gosvāmin. Gender, embodiment, metaphysics, epistemology, and ethics within Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava theology are also thoughtfully examined, offering listeners a rich tapestry of devotional and academic insights.

Course Spotlight — 2021 | Devotional (bhakti) Approaches to Compassion in the Caitanya Vaiṣṇava Tradition — available for self-study on Monday, October 6, 2025.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES & LINKS

• Course 2021 | Devotional (bhakti) Approaches to Compassion in the Caitanya Vaiṣṇava Tradition
• The Compassion Studies Initiative is supported by a grant from the Uberoi Foundation.

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ABOUT OUR PODCAST GUEST

Eileen Goddard is a Religious Studies Ph.D. Candidate at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She teaches courses on Indian religious traditions and philosophies at UCSB and the University of Houston. Eileen's dissertation research focuses on the sixteenth century Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava tradition and comparatively analyzes Indian soteriologies of perfected minds and bodies. Eileen's broader research interests include Hindu and Indian philosophies, bhakti traditions, classical Sanskrit aesthetic theory (rasa), and gender and sexuality. Eileen completed her M.A. in Religion at Rutgers University and B.A. in Philosophy at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

ABOUT OUR PODCAST HOST

Cogen Bohanec currently holds the position of Assistant Professor in Sanskrit and Jain Studies at Arihanta Institute where he teaches various courses on Jain philosophy and its applications. In addition, he is a Visiting Assistant Professor at Claremont School of Theology (CST) where he teaches Sanskrit and Gujarati, and he has taught numerous classes on South Asian Culture & Religions and Sanskrit...

In this episode of the Engaged Jain Studies Podcast, Arihanta Institute professor and lead organizer of the Vegan Studies Initiative, Jonathan Dickstein, PhD, interviews Laura Wright, PhD—Professor of English at Western Carolina University and the scholar widely credited with naming and framing “Vegan Studies.” Drawing on Prof. Dickstein’s guiding questions, Dr. Wright traces her own “radicalization” for animals, clarifies what Vegan Studies includes (and excludes), and articulates its aims as both an academic field and a lens for cultural critique.

The conversation explores how gender shapes public narratives about animals and food—why veganism is still coded as feminine, “elitist,” or emotionally naïve, and how such framings police bodies and politics. Building from Wright’s signature focus on “the vegan body as a contested site” across literature, popular culture, advertising, and new media, they examine how fiction and film illuminate lived experience and ideology. Listeners also get a preview of Wright’s forthcoming Arihanta Institute course, which uses novels and cinema (think Coetzee’s The Lives of Animals, Han Kang’s The Vegetarian, and films like Beatriz at Dinner and Raw) to interrogate gendered readings of veganism.

Course Spotlight — 1021 | Gender, Animals, and Veganism

• Starts: Monday, September 15, 2025 (materials available)
• Live Zoom Q&As: Fridays Sept 19, 26, Oct 3, Oct 10 • 9–10 a.m. PDT
• Format: Live online + self-study • ~4 hours recorded video • Weekly readings
• Focus: How gender shapes vegan identity; reading fiction/nonfiction and film through a Vegan Studies lens; why female-coded veganism is often dismissed or pathologized—and how to read against that grain.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES & LINKS

• Course 1021 | Gender, Animals, and Veganism with Laura Wright, PhD
• Vegan Studies Initiative @ Arihanta Institute | Courses, Speaker Series, Research & More!

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ABOUT OUR PODCAST GUEST

Laura Wright, PhD is Professor of English at Western Carolina University, specializing in postcolonial literatures and theory, ecocriticism, and animal studies. She is the author of Writing Out of All the Camps: J. M. Coetzee’s Narratives of Displacement (Routledge, 2006/2009) and Wilderness into Civilized Shapes: Reading the Postcolonial Environment (University of Georgia Press, 2010). She co-edited Approaches to Teaching Coetzee’s Disgrace and Other Works (MLA, 2014) and authored The Vegan Studies Project (UGA Press, 2015). She is also editor of Through a Vegan Studies Lens (UNV Press, 2019). Her work often centers on how the vegan body—male and female—is depicted as a contested site across literature, popular culture, advertising, and new media.

ABOUT OUR PODCAST HOST

Dr. Jonathan Dickstein specializes in South Asian Religions, Religion and Ecology, and Comparative Religious Ethics. He received his doctoral degree in Religious Studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he wrote his dissertation on ancient Indian animal taxonomies and their relevance for religious ritual and dietary practice. Jonathan’s current work focuses on Jainism and contemporary ecological issues, and accordingly extends into Critical Animal Studies, Food Studies, and Diaspora Studies.

Jonathan has published in a wide array of...