UpdateBot at 14:15, 11 January 2022

2022-01-11T14:15:53Z

New page

{{Infobox writer
| name = Hom Jay Dinshah
| image = H. Jay Dinshah.jpg
| image_size =
| caption = H. Jay Dinshah in 1964
| period = 20th century
| genre = Philosophical, spiritual, vegan advocacy, social reform
| subject = Veganism, ahimsa
| movement = Vegan movement
| notableworks = *''Out of the Jungle'', 1967, 1995;
*''Here's Harmlessness'', 1964, 1993 - (an anthology edited by Jay Dinshah);
*''Health Can be Harmless'';
*''Song of India'';
*Numerous magazine articles (>250) and other writings
| relatives = [[Dinshah P. Ghadiali]] (father)
| awards = Vegetarian Hall of Fame<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.NAVS-Online.org |title=NAVS | North American Vegetarian Society |website=Navs-online.org |date=2015-12-21 |accessdate=2016-01-07}}</ref>
| website =
| birth_date = November 2, 1933
| birth_place = [[Malaga, New Jersey|Malaga]], [[New Jersey]], US
| death_date = {{death date and age|2000|6|8|1933|11|2}}
| death_place = Malaga, New Jersey, US
| occupation = Vegan advocate, social reformer
| spouse = [[Freya Dinshah|Freya Smith Dinshah]]
| children = 2
}}

'''Hom Jay Dinshah''' (November 2, 1933 – June 8, 2000) was the founder and president of the [[American Vegan Society]] and the editor of its publication the ''Ahimsa'' magazine (1960–2000).

==Life==
H. Jay Dinshah was born in the [[Malaga, New Jersey|Malaga]] section of [[Franklin Township, Gloucester County, New Jersey]], United States, where he lived his entire life.<ref>Hagenmayer, S. Joseph. [https://ivu.org/news/oct2000/dinshah.html "Jay Dinshah, 66, American Vegan Society Leader"], ''[[The Philadelphia Inquirer]]'', June 15, 2000, copied at [[International Vegetarian Union]]. Accessed May 25, 2017. "H. Jay Dinshah, 66, who as the leader of the American Vegan Society was an advocate for life without violence toward animals or humans, died on June 8, apparently from a heart attack while working in his office in Malaga, New Jersey.... A lifelong Malaga resident, Mr. Dinshah founded the American Vegan Society in 1960 and was its president for 40 years."</ref> His father was a US citizen of [[Parsi]] ancestry who was born in India, and his mother was a US citizen of German ancestry.<ref>[[Dinshah P. Ghadiali]] (1873-1966) was vilified as a [[quackery|quack]] and independent politician who espoused the curative effects of 'color therapy' and was known "the Parsi Edison"; the family took his forename 'Dinshah' as their surname during the 1950s; one son, Sarosh Ghadiali, did not follow this pattern.</ref><ref>A Parsi or Parsee /ˈpɑrsiː/ is a member of one of the two Zoroastrian communities found throughout South Asia. They are legally and ethnically distinct from the Iranis, even though both groups descend from Persian Zoroastrians.</ref><ref>American Vegan Society, The Life of a Karma Yogi, 1973</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dinshahhealth.org/ |title=Dinshah Health Society (DHS) Main Page |website=Dinshahhealth.org |date= |accessdate=2016-01-07}}</ref><ref>Irene Grace Hoger</ref> A lifelong [[vegetarian]], Dinshah became [[vegan]] in 1957.<ref name="Dinshah HJ, Song of India, 1973">Dinshah HJ, Song of India, 1973</ref><ref>[https://www.vegparadise.com/24carrot58.html Interview of Freya Dinshah on winning 24 Carrot Award. Vegetarians in Paradise website]</ref> He and his younger brother Noshervan—then aged 23 and 20 respectively—visited a Philadelphia slaughterhouse in 1957, after which he vowed to "work every day until all the slaughterhouses are closed!"<ref name="deathdata1">{{cite web |url=http://deathdata.org/r/15358167/noshervan-dinshah |title=Noshervan Dinshah - Vineland, NJ - (1937 - 2010) |publisher=Death Data |date= |access-date=2016-01-07 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140104204428/http://deathdata.org/r/15358167/noshervan-dinshah |archive-date=2014-01-04 |df= }}</ref><ref name="Dinshah HJ, Song of India, 1973"/><ref name="autogenerated1">Dinshah HJ, Dinshah A, Powerful Vegan Messages, 2014</ref> He married the English-born Freya Smith in 1960. They had two children, Daniel Dinshah and author and athlete Anne Dinshah.

In 2000, Dinshah died of a heart attack at age 66, after a life of promoting veganism and the ethic of [[ahimsa]], dynamic harmlessness. The [[International Vegetarian Union]] (IVU) memorialized Dinshah in their ''IVU News'' issue of October 2000.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ivu.org/news/oct2000/dinshah.html |title=International vegetarian Union - Jay Dinshah, 66, American Vegan Society Leader |website=Ivu.org |date=2000-06-15 |accessdate=2016-01-07}}</ref> That same year, he was posthumously awarded the Mankar Memorial Award during the 2000 World Vegetarian Congress, held in [[Toronto]], [[Ontario]], Canada.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ivu.org/members/trophy.html |title=International Vegetarian Union - The Mankar Trophy |website=Ivu.org |date= |accessdate=2016-01-07}}</ref><ref>[https://ivu.org/members/council/jay-dinshah.html IVU profile page for Jay Dinshah, who had been an IVU Council Member]</ref>

==Vegan activism==
Dinshah founded the [[American Vegan Society]] early in 1960, and later that year (August) married the English-born Freya Smith.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.vegparadise.com/24carrot58.html |title=Vegetarians in Paradise/Freya Dinshah/American Vegan Society/24 Carrot Vegetarian Award |website=Vegparadise.com |date= |accessdate=2016-01-07}}</ref> Freya, whose parents were active in [[The Vegan Society]] (of Great Britain), contributed to the early growth of the American Vegan Society and is the president of the American Vegan Society today. The American Vegan Society is headquartered at Malaga, New Jersey, on a parcel of land which is called "SunCrest", or "the SunCrest Educreational Center". During Dinshah's life, the American Vegan Society was characterized by vegan publishing and outreach, annual vegan conferences, vegan archiving, spiritual inspiration, providing people with an experience of vegan living, vegan food-preparation demonstrations, maintenance of a small veganic garden, and extensive networking. Dinshah served the American Vegan Society as its president and as the editor of its publication, ''Ahimsa'' magazine (1960–2000).

As a teenager, Dinshah was a motivational speaker, following the example of his father, who promoted vegetarianism along with [[color therapy]]. Throughout his life, Dinshah continued to lecture and to organize conferences advocating "positive veganism" as "dynamic harmlessness" ("Ahimsa" is derived from a Sanskrit term meaning "non-harming").

Dinshah's lectures, organized by American Vegan Society, included: 1961 "Coast to Coast Crusade" for Veganism across North America; 1965 "North Atlantic Lecture Tour" in Iceland, Britain, Europe; 1967-1968 "Round the World" Lecture Tour including four months of lectures in India.<ref>{{cite book|last=Dinshah|first=HJ|title=Song of India|year=1973}}</ref>

Through these efforts, Dinshah lectured to general audiences in 19 different nations, on five continents, about veganism and ahimsa. Although Dinshah would lecture in English, local multilingual vegetarians interpreted his talks for each audience. Some videos of Jay's lectures from the 1980s and 1990s are archived and can be viewed on the YouTube channel Powerful Vegan Messages.

Crediting the wisdom of [[Mahatma Gandhi]] and [[Albert Schweitzer]], Dinshah created and promoted the Pillars of Ahimsa, one for each letter of the word: A-H-I-M-S-A.<ref>{{cite book|last=Dinshah|first=HJ|title=Out of the Jungle|origyear=1967|year=1995}}</ref> Dinshah explained each in his book ''Out of the Jungle.''
* '''A'''-Abstinence from Animal Products;
* '''H'''-Harmlessness with Reverence for Life (from Schweitzer);
* '''I'''-Integrity of Thought, Word, and Deed;
* '''M'''-Mastery over Oneself (against greed, envy, and materialism; instead focus on enlightenment);
* '''S'''-Service to Humanity, Nature, and Creation (3 main draws to veganism: health, environment, and animals; devotion to improving the world);
* '''A'''-Advancement of Understanding and Truth (applying Gandhian principles of Truth)
Dinshah was co-organizer of the 23rd World Vegetarian Congress in 1975, which was held in [[Orono, Maine]], sponsored by the [[International Vegetarian Union]] (IVU), and hosted by the North American Vegetarian Society (NAVS), which continental organization he and other vegetarians founded to organize this international conference.<ref>At that time, only five vegetarian societies were known to exist in the USA: Detroit, Los Angeles, New York City, San Francisco, and Washington DC (the oldest). Representatives from these five vegetarian organizations were joined with representatives from Montreal and Toronto in Canada. [[Helen Nearing|Helen]] and [[Scott Nearing]] of The Social Science Institute in Harborside, Maine, proposed the conference site in Orono, Maine.</ref><ref name="autogenerated1" /><ref>{{cite web|url=https://ivu.org/congress/wvc75/index.html|title=23rd IVU World Vegetarian Congress 1975 Orono, Maine, USA|website=Ivu.org|accessdate=2017-10-14}}</ref> During conference planning, the ad hoc committee decided to found the [[North American Vegetarian Society]] and asked Dinshah to serve as its first president.

Dinshah's birthday, November 2, has been designated as Dynamic Harmlessness Day<ref>[http://americanvegan.org/DHD.html Dynamic Harmlessness Day]</ref><ref>[https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/dynamic-harmlessness-day/ Dynamic Harmlessness Day]</ref><ref>[http://itsallaboutfood.podbean.com/e/its-all-about-food-anne-dinshah-michael-budkie-and-andre-leu-100714/ Daughter Anne Dinshah presenting talk about Dynamic Harmlessness Day]</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://americanvegan.org/DHD.html |title=Archived American Vegan Society page for Dynamic Harmlessness Day |access-date=2018-06-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180625032332/http://americanvegan.org/DHD.html |archive-date=2018-06-25 |url-status=live }}</ref> and is the day following [[World Vegan Day]] (November 1).

==Positions held==
*[[International Vegetarian Union]] (IVU), Executive Vice-President<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.IVU.org |title=IVU World Vegfest |website=Ivu.org |date= |accessdate=2016-01-07}}</ref>
*[[The Vegan Society]] (England), Vice-President
*[[American Vegan Society]] (AVS), Founder, President, 1960-2000
*[[North American Vegetarian Society]] (NAVS), Cofounder and President, 1974–1979
*[[American Natural Hygiene Society]] (ANHS), Acting Executive Director, 1983<ref>Now known as the National Health Association</ref><ref name="autogenerated1"/>
*Vegetarian Union of North America (VUNA), first President, 1987–1989
*Better Eating Coalition (various vegetarian and vegan groups) - late 1990s (under leadership of [[Richard H. Schwartz|Dr. Richard Schwartz]]).

==Honors and awards==
* Induction, Vegetarian Hall of Fame (North American Vegetarian Society)<ref>[https://navs-online.org/purposes-programs/hall-of-fame/ Inductees, Vegetarian Hall of Fame, North American Vegetarian Society website]</ref>

==Publications==
*''Powerful Vegan Messages'', 2014 posthumously coauthored with his daughter Anne Dinshah
*''Here's Harmlessness'', 1964, 1968, 1970, 1973, 1993 (an anthology edited by Jay Dinshah)
*''Out of the Jungle'', 1967, 1968, 1970, 1975 ([[Albert Schweitzer|Schweitzer]] Centennial Edition), 1995
*''Health Can Be Harmless'', 1968, 1987
*''Song of India'', 1973
*Numerous (>250) magazine articles and other writings

==References==
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

==External links==
{{Wikiquote}}
*[http://www.ivu.org/people/politics/dinshah.html H. Jay Dinshah (1933-2000) - International Vegetarian Union]

{{Veganism and vegetarianism|state=collapsed}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dinshah, H. Jay}}
[[Category:1933 births]]
[[Category:2000 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century American non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:American animal rights activists]]
[[Category:American health and wellness writers]]
[[Category:American male writers of Indian descent]]
[[Category:American people of Parsi descent]]
[[Category:Orthopaths]]
[[Category:People from Franklin Township, Gloucester County, New Jersey]]
[[Category:Veganism activists]]
[[Category:Veganism in the United States]]

H. Jay Dinshah - Revision history

UpdateBot at 14:15, 11 January 2022