a
Professor Christopher Miller, PhD
Vice President of Academic Affairs

Phd in the Study of Religion, University of California, Davis   

Dr. Miller holds master’s degrees in Theological Studies and the Study of Religion, as well as a doctorate in the Study of Religion. Combining critical and yet community-engaged methods, he passionately engages in ethnographic and theological research seeking to address some of society’s most pressing concerns in light of Jain and yogic principles. These concerns include interconnected issues like climate change, animal rights, food and social justice.   

At Arihanta Institute, Dr. Miller’s current research focuses on two primary areas: Engaged Jain Studies and modern yoga studies. In the field of Engaged Jain Studies, he has published and is currently working on articles pertaining to Jain veganism and Karma theory as well as Jain contemplative practice, and has recently compiled a thematic, full-length course workbook that applies Jain principles to many common issues of daily life.   

In the field of modern yoga studies, Dr. Miller is currently finishing a book manuscript that is a critical ethnographic project exploring the ways in which yoga practices are transformed in their interaction with particular cultural logics around the world. In this project, Dr. Miller specifically engages in interdisciplinary research that brings the field of modern yoga studies into dialogue with the fields of food studies, ethnomusicology and pollution studies.   

Dr. Miller has published a number of peer-reviewed articles in the fields of Jain studies and modern yoga studies, and is the co-editor of the volume Beacons of Dharma: Spiritual Exemplars for the Modern Age (Lexington 2020).   

He is the author of Embodying Transnational Yoga: Eating, Singing, and Breathing in Transformation (Routledge 2023).

PUBLICATIONS


BOOKS

Miller, Christopher Jain. 2024. Embodying Transnational Yoga: Eating, Singing, and Breathing in Transformation.  
London: Routledge.


EDITED VOLUMES  
Miller, Christopher Jain and Cogen Bohanec, editors. Forthcoming. Engaged Jainism.


Rita Sherma and Christopher Jain Miller, editors. Forthcoming. Ecology & Indian Philosophy:Hindu, Jain, and Yoga Perspectives onClimate and Environmental Mitigation. Proposal in process.


Miller, Christopher Patrick, Jeffery Long, and Michael Reading, editors. 2020. Beacons of Dharma: Spiritual Exemplars for the Modern Age.  
New York: Lexington Books.


EDITED JOURNAL ISSUES  
Miller, Christopher Jain, and Jeffery D. Long, editors. 2023. “A Continuing Search for Light in our Shared Times of Darkness: Introduction and Response to a Special Review Section on Beacons of Dharma: Spiritual Exemplars for the Modern Age.” Special Issue on Beacons of Dharma: Spiritual Exemplars for the Modern Age edited by Christopher Jain Miller and Jeffery D. Long  
Journal of Dharma Studies (Springer).


Miller, Christopher, editor. 2016. Special Issue: “Contemplative Practice: Philosophy, Pedagogy, and Science.

International Journal of Dharma Studies (Springer).

 

BOOK CHAPTERS   
Miller, Christopher Jain. Forthcoming. "Puruṣa bound from within / without looking on”: Gurani Anjali's Sāṃkhya-Yoga Musicon Long Island, New York. " In Yogic Traditions and Sacred Sound Practices in the United States,  
edited by Brita Renée Heimark. New York: SUNY Press.


Miller, Christopher Jain. Forthcoming. "Jain Veganism in Dialogue with Jain Speciesism: Clarifying Jain Intra-religious Dialogue as a  
Basis for Inter-religious Dialogue." In Bloomsbury’s Handbook on Religion and Food, edited by Yudit Greenberg and Ben Zeller.


Miller, Christopher Jain. Forthcoming. "Engaged Jain Yoga: Seven Cakras, the Buddha, and Mahāvīra on the Berlin Wall." In Engaged Jainism:  
Critical and Constructive Approaches to the Study of Jain Social Engagement, edited by Christopher Jain Miller and Cogen Bohanec.


Miller, Christopher Jain. Forthcoming. "Conceptualizing ‘Engaged’ Jainism and the Field of ‘Engaged’ Jain Studies." In Engaged Jainism:  
Critical and Constructive Approaches to the Study of Jain Social Engagement, edited by Christopher Jain Miller and Cogen Bohanec.


Miller, Christopher Jain. Forthcoming. "Engaged Jain Epistemology: Jain Responses to Climate Change."  
In Ecology & Indian Philosophy:Hindu, Jain, and Yoga Perspectives on Climate and Environmental Mitigation,  
edited by Rita Sherma and Christopher Jain Miller.


Miller, Christopher Jain. 2023. "Shedding Light on the Humane Hoax through the Deeper Dimensions of Jain Ahiṃsā."  
In The Humane Hoax Anthology, edited by Hope Bohanec. Lantern: New York.


Miller, Christopher Jain. 2023. "Contemplating Jivas: The Ecological Implications of Jainism's Elemental Meditations."  
In Contemplative Studies in Jainism: Prayer, Veneration, Ritual, and Meditation in Jainism, edited by Rita Sherma and  
Cogen Bohanec. New York: Routledge.


Miller, Christopher Patrick. 2021. "Christian and Hindu Responses to Christian Yoga Practice in North America." In Routledge Handbook  
of Hindu-Christian Relations, edited by Chad Bauman and Michelle Voss Roberts. New York, Routledge. 280-293.


Miller, Christopher Patrick. 2020. "Paramahansa Yogananda’s World Brotherhood Colonies: Models for Environmentally Sustainable  
and Socially Responsible Living." In Beacons of Dharma: Spiritual Exemplars for the Modern Age,  
edited by Christopher Patrick Miller, Michael Reading, and Jeffery Long. New York: Lexington Books. 163-180.


Miller, Christopher Patrick and Michael Reading. 2020. "Introduction." In Beacons of Dharma: Spiritual Exemplars for the Modern Age,  
edited by Christopher Patrick Miller, Michael Reading, and Jeffery Long. New York: Lexington Books. ix-xxi.


Miller, Christopher Patrick. 2018. "Yoga Bodies and Bodies of Water: Solutions for Climate Change in India?"  
In That All May Flourish: Comparative Religious Environmental Ethics, edited by Laura Hartmann.  
New York: Oxford University Press. 126-155.


Miller, Christopher Patrick and Dianna Bell. 2018. "Harmonizing Bureaucracy and Bio-Spirituality."  
In That All May Flourish: Comparative Religious Environmental Ethics, edited by Laura Hartmann.  
New York: Oxford University Press. 173-176.


JOURNAL ARTICLES  
Miller, Christopher Jain and Jonathan Dickstein. 2021. "Jain Veganism: Ancient Wisdom, New Opportunities." Religions. Vol. 12, no. 512: Online


Miller, Christopher Patrick. 2020. " Softpower and Biopower: Narendra Modi’s ‘Double Discourse’ Concerning Yoga for Climate Change   
and Self-Care ." Journal of Dharma Studies, Special Issue on Yoga Studies. Vol. 3, no. 1: 93-106.


Miller, Christopher Patrick. 2019. "Jainism, Yoga, and Ecology: A Course in Contemplative Practice for a World in Pain." In "New Directions in Jaina  
Studies." Special issue edited by Anne Vallely. Religions. Vol. 10, no. 4: 1-14.


Miller, Christopher Patrick. 2018. "World Brotherhood Colonies: A Preview of Paramahansa Yogananda's Understudied Vision  
for Communities Founded upon the Principles of Yoga." Yoga-Mīmāṃsā. Vol. 50 no. 1: 3-9.

 

PEER-REVIEWED ENCYCLOPEDIA ENTRIES  
Miller, Christopher. 2020. "Jainism." In Wiley-Blackwell's Encyclopedia of Sociology, Second Edition,  
edited by George Ritzer & Chris Rojek.


Miller, Christopher. 2018. "Sāṃkhya." In Hinduism and Tribal Religions, Encyclopedia of Indian Religions, edited by Pankaj Jain, et al.  
New York: Springer.


BOOK REVIEWS  
Miller, Christopher Patrick. 2021. Review of Post Lineage Yoga: From Guru to #MeToo by Theodora Wildcroft.  
Journal of Contemporary Religion, 36:3, 587-589, DOI: 10.1080/13537903.2021.1923191


Miller, Christopher Patrick. 2021. Review of Living Landscapes: Meditations on the Five Elements in  
Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain Yogas by Christopher Chapple. Journal of Dharma Studies. Vol4,151–154 (2021).


Miller, Christopher Patrick. 2021. Review of Jainism and Environmental Philosophy: Karma and the Web of Life  
by Aidan Rankin. International Journal of Hindu Studies, 24: 407–443.


Miller, Christopher Patrick. 2020. Review Essay of An Introduction to Jain Philosophy by Parveen Jain.  
Journal of Dharma Studies, 3: 193–196.


Miller, Christopher Patrick. 2019. Review of Biography of a Yogi: Paramahansa Yogananda & the Origins of Modern Yoga  
by Anya P. Foxen. International Journal of Hindu Studies, Vol. 23: no. 1: 342-344.


Miller, Christopher Patrick. 2019. Review of Yoga in Britain: Stretching Spirituality and Educating Yogis  
by Suzanne Newcombe. Religions of South Asia, Vol. 12, no. 3: 413-416.

Professor Cogen Bohanec, PhD
Assistant Professor at Arihanta Institute

PhD in Historical and Cultural Studies of Religion (Hindu Emphasis), MA in Buddhist Studies, IBS/GTU    

Dr. Bohanec’s scholarship focuses on the comparative philosophies between major dharma traditions (Jain dharma, Buddhism, Hinduism), within these traditions, and in dialogue with Western theoretical frameworks. He specializes in Sanskrit and Indian literature but has engaged in textual work in texts in a variety of languages such as Pali, Gujarati, Hindi, Bengali and Ardhamāgadhī. By employing methods of textual hermeneutics, philology, literary criticism, and translation, Dr. Bohanec seeks to nuance the academic understanding of dharma traditions by employing the lexicon of Western philosophy in a way that is vigilant against the possibility of distorting these traditions, yet renders them more accessible to the Western milieu. During his time at Arihanta Institute, Dr. Bohanec has engaged in extensive research to develop curriculum and corresponding manuscripts that will soon bear publications. The first of these, “Jain Yoga Philosophy: Peacebuilding and Contemplative Practice,” is a philosophical engagement with various Jain yoga texts (e.g. Yoga-bindu, Yoga-dṛṣṭi-samuccaya, and the Yoga-śāstra). This work brings various philosophical fields of inquiry (metaphysics, epistemology, logic, psychology, and ethics) into dialogue with similar categories of thought in the broader field of dharmic yoga texts from the Hindu and Buddhist traditions. In the process, the book proposes a model of interfaith dialogue and peacebuilding and asserts the Jain tradition’s rightful place in the broader academic field of contemplative studies.    

A second manuscript that Dr. Bohanec has developed which corresponds to his curriculum at Arihanta Institute is titled, “Jain Pragmatism in the Ātma-Siddhi Śāstra.” This text engages in a dialogue with Western philosophical pragmatism, particularly as articulated by William James. In the Ātma-siddhi, Śrīmad Rajchandra invokes a number of themes that resonate with the evidentialist claims of a pragmatic maxim (the evidence and meaning of a proposition can be found in the result of its engagement). James has specifically argued in favor of an ontological pluralism in his attempt to synthesize the dialectical tension between empiricism and rationalism. His way of framing the discussion has great potential to lend conceptual and linguist constructions to the understanding of a similar Jain ontological pluralism and dialectical logic. While there are a number of dissimilarities between James and Śrīmad Rajchandra’s teaching, the illuminating process of dialogue between these views unfolds with a translation and scholastic analyses on the Ātma-siddha by Dr. Bohanec, and in consultation with Nitya-kram commentary by Pujyashri Brahmachariji.    
 

PUBLICATIONS

2023 | Contributing Author & Co-Editor in Chief | Volume 2: Contemplative Studies and Jainism: Meditation, Devotion, Prayer, and Worship | Routledge | Completed, available in Print    

2023 | “Pan-Dharmic Yoga: Comparative Meditative Praxis in the Jain Yoga-Śāstra of Hemacandra and the Hindu Yoga Sūtra of Patañjali” | Contemplative Studies and Hinduism:    
Meditation, Devotion, Prayer, and Worship | Routledge   

 2019 | Editor & Research/Translator Assistant | An Introduction to Jain Philosophy: Based on Writings and Discourses by Ācārya Sushil Kumar, by Parveen Jain, PhD | D.K.    
Printworld |     

2023 | “Book Review: Māyā in the Bhāgavata Purāṇa: Human Suffering and Divine Play. By Gopal K. Gupta | Journal of Hindu Studies    

2023 | “A Theocentric Argument for Animal Personhood in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta” | Journal of Dharma Studies | Springer |     

2023 | “Towards A Jain Ecotheology” | Ecology & Indian Philosophy: Hindu, Jain, and Yoga Perspectives on Climate and Environmental Mitigation | Routledge | Accepted, Forthcoming    

2023 | “Bhaktivedānta, Gandhi, and the Social Implications of Nonviolence” | Ahiṃsā in India: Diverse Traditions of Nonviolence | Lexington | Accepted, Forthcoming    

2023 | “Kīrtana as Meditation: A Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava Theory on Sound and Language” | Contemplative Studies and the Arts of Yoga: Contemporary Approaches | Routledge | Accepted, Forthcoming    

2021 | “A Dialogical Encounter between Christian Ecotheological Ethics and Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava Theology” | Sustainable Societies: Interreligious, Interdisciplinary Responses | Springer    

2021 | “Bhaktivedānta Swami and Buddhism: A Case Study for Interfaith Dialogue and Peacebuilding” | The Journal of Dharma Studies | Springer    

2020 | “Semiotics and Illocution in Gauḍīya Sādhana” | Contemplative Studies and Hinduism: Meditation, Devotion, Prayer, and Worship | Routledge    

2018 | “Ecotheology, Animal Rights, and the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam” | Journal of Vaishnava Studies | Volume 26, NO.2 | Spring 2018, 17-33    

2023 | Animal Ethics | “Spiritual Bypass and Manipulation in DIY Slaughter” | The Humane Hoax Anthology | Contributing Author | New York: Lantern Books    

2013 | Animal Ethics | The Ultimate Betrayal: Is There Happy Meat? | Co-author | Bloomington: iUniverse

Professor Jonathan Dickstein, PhD
Assistant Professor, Arihanta Institute

PhD in Religious Studies, University of California-Santa Barbara     
MA in Religious Studies, University of Colorado-Boulder     

Dr. Dickstein is a specialist in the premodern religious traditions of South Asia. His three areas of research span Yoga Studies, Religious Studies, Critical Animal Studies, Environmental Studies, Diaspora Studies and Comparative Ethics.     

Dr. Dickstein’s previous research involved issues of theism, agnosticism, and atheism in yoga traditions. Critical questions involved the existence and role of a supreme deity in effecting a practitioner’s eventual achievement of the goal of liberation. Dr. Dickstein is finalizing an article on theism in the Pātañjala Yogaśāstra and its relevance for the beliefs, sensibilities, and aims of contemporary practitioners. He sees this work as broadly informative on how practitioners in Jain and non-Jain yoga traditions reconcile ancient views on soteriology and ethics with current atheistic trends in yoga practice and yoga-inspired practical ethics.     

Currently focused on Animal Studies, Dr. Dickstein’s doctoral work investigated ancient Indic perspectives on domesticated animals, examining animal taxonomies and their relationships to regulations on ritual sacrifice and dietary practice. Ancient Jain texts offer a unique viewpoint on this topic given their emphasis on the sense-faculties of various living beings, and sentience as the basis for human ethical responsibilities towards animals and the environment. In his current scholarship, Dr. Dickstein draws parallels between this Jain viewpoint and contemporary arguments in moral philosophy that reject anthropocentric and species-centric approaches to animal and environmental ethics.     

Dr. Dickstein will soon initiate a new research project that connects the long history of animal rescue and caretaking in Jainism with animal rights advocacy in the United States that also promotes the rescue and caretaking of exploited animals. Using an animal sanctuary in Colorado as the field location from which to generate this discussion, Dr. Dickstein will put Jainism’s rich history of caring for animals in conversation with the direct action tactics employed by animal activists to rescue animals from sites of abuse.     

 

PUBLICATIONS

“Veganism as Left Praxis.” Capitalism Nature Socialism 33, no. 3(2022): 56–75.     

“Review: Sacred Cows & Chicken Manchurian: The Everyday Politics of Eating Meat in India by James Staples.” Himalaya Journal 40, no. 2 (2021): 164–166.     

“Jain Veganism: Ancient Wisdom, New Opportunities.” Religions 12, no. 7 (2021): 512.     

“Animal Abuse in Modern Yoga Gastropolitics.” Sacred Matters Magazine, May 16, 2021.     

“The Ism in Veganism: The Case for a Minimal Practice-Based Definition.” Food Ethics 6, no. 2 (2021).       

“Why Aren’t We All Boycotting Factory Farms?” Sentient Media, October 5, 2020.         
              
“Ahiṃsā.” In La Pensée végane. 50 regards sur la condition animale, ed. Renan Larue. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 2020.     

“The Strong Case for Vegetarianism in Pātañjala Yoga.” Philosophy East and West 67, no. 3(2017): 613–628.