Agni Hogaboom, MA - Engaged Jain Studies Graduate Student 

Arihanta Institute & Claremont School of Theology (CST)

What inspired you to undertake graduate studies at Arihanta Institute?

There are four main factors that lead me to seek graduate studies at Arihanta Institute:

First, I am an engaged vegan and climate activist in my community, and I need more education to be more effective, to feel more encouraged, and to make a more impactful difference.

Second, I have been a practicing Buddhist for some time, a trained yoga instructor, and I now operate a yoga space here. The engaged Jain [studies] content at Arihanta has changed my spiritual and philosophical inner landscape more than any previous exposure to any faith or philosophical tradition.

Next, our youngest child is moving on to her University education and, with our children grown now and needing less of our non-financial resources, I find myself with a tremendous amount of energy and drive to pursue environmental justice and the climate crisis in a deeper and more effective way. Arihanta Institute’s MA program seems to be the best resource for this, particularly as I fear in other South Asian studies programs, the vegan component will continue to be ignored as it largely has for so long (in both secular and spiritual traditions).

Finally, I want to make a more impactful difference in my local community and my world. The secular vegan activist community has by and large sapped my strength rather than sustained me with the knowledge and opportunities I need to make a bigger difference.

Living as a vegan and zero-waste producer here in this corner of America - living and working a life of ahimsa and aparigraha - has been quite isolating. When I found Arihanta Institute, I found a depth of academic rigor and engaged spirituality that was simply astonishing. It feels like I’ve plugged my tattered spiritual cord into an outlet of power - not personal power so much as: the education I need to make a more effective difference in the world.
 

How do you see yourself connecting your studies in the classroom with the community(ies), organizations, etc. that you are involved in or which are around you? How do you plan to use what you learn in the world?

My community has unique challenges ahead; we hover at the beginning of a wave of gentrification, we carry the state’s second-highest unemployment rate, and our unhoused population is skyrocketing. Resentments in our community are escalating.

Here is a bit about what I’ve done so far: I operate the only vegan business (my yoga space), which is also the only physical space in the county devoted to consistent dharma teachings, and the only public sliding-scale business as well. I have created and I administrate our county’s vegan Facebook group, and this has been going well (and in fact, has been going even better since I began taking Arihanta Institute’s public-facing courses). I am known in the community particularly for my social and environmental ethics and have been asked to serve on several boards as a result of this reputation.

It is hard to predict just how impactful my experience at Arihanta Institute will inform my work, because in my time with Arihanta Institute so far it has already done so. But my strongest desire would be to expand my yoga space into a Jain space, or at the very least begin offering substantive teachings on dharma traditions, through literature, guest teachers, meditation and study practices. I want to have the confidence of a rigorous education so I can serve my community best and especially so I can encourage interfaith dialogues and usher in and/or support South Asian studies and community development here.

While my personal family position is still very much working class - especially supporting two young people in their own college careers - my health resources, work ethic, engaged values system and community reputation allow me to pursue deeper, consistent work at a very high standard. My hopes would be to, in addition to my local public practice space, find a position at our local community college which currently has no South Asian study component.

What is your background in Jain education and Jain tradition?

I have been a practicing Buddhist for many years. I have often felt dispirited at the lack of analysis for the (mis-)treatment of animals in particular. That said, I’ve persevered. I’ve attended weekly meditation sits faithfully since my teacher started hosting them in the next town over (often I am there with only two other students from our entire county), but I’ve longed for a deeper quotidian and communal experience of my faith tradition.

So, with regards to Jainism specifically, as I’ve said to Dr. Miller, when I found Arihanta Institute I almost couldn’t believe it was real. I had heard of “Jainism” in only the most glancing way; in fact, one of my Buddhist mentors dismissed the tradition by emphasizing its severity of asceticism, and the other reference I remember was a joke about Jains avoiding onions. When I began exploring Arihanta Institute’s content, I was astonished to find Jainism has a very influential root dharma tradition, with tremendous amounts of literature, traditions, practices, and community.
 

Why are you interested in pursuing higher studies in Jain education? Would you pursue a career in engaged education or a similar profession? 

Arihanta Institute is to be praised for igniting my interest in interreligious studies; it isn’t so much that I wasn’t interested before, it’s that I had little understanding of the importance of religious studies, and I now see them as essential. I look forward to expanding my knowledge of South Asian studies and traditions, particularly as I’d like to help ameliorate and forestall the xenophobia and racism that easily brews here in my community.

That said, Jainism has captured my heart and mind like nothing else. Since attending Arihanta Institute’s coursework I have memorized the Namokar Mantra and meditate twice a day, I have purchased Dr. Parveen Jain’s book, and although the material is complex and deep and yes - intimidating - I have faith that with continued work and exposure this tradition will nourish my spiritual thirst.
 

Agni Hogaboom is a first-year MA-Engaged Jain Studies graduate student. 

We are truly grateful to welcome students like Agni, Jay, Diana, and Gopal to the MA-Engaged Jain Studies program. Read their stories in previous articles of the “Meet Our MA Students” series on the Arihanta Institute blog. 

If you are interested in applying or just want to learn more, check out our graduate studies webpage or email study@arihantainstitute.org for more information.