A vegan diet affects our food choices and is limited to what we eat, but a vegan lifestyle has a farther-reaching impact.

A vegan lifestyle means all our decisions and actions are interwoven and none stands isolated. All life is interconnected. So, decisions about shopping, entertainment, clothes, as well as our meals, are interconnected. And that includes our relationships with the earth, the animals and people!

With that in mind, the following excerpt by H. Jay Dinshah (1933 – 2000), Founder and President, American Vegan Society, from American Vegan magazine explains and summarizes the deeper basis of veganism:

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, it is called Dynamic Harmlessness.

The six pillars of this dynamic philosophy for modern life (one for each letter: 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