Christopher Miller, PhD
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Christopher Miller, PhD
Vice President of Academic Affairs, Professor of Jain & Yoga Studies
MA Faculty
Christopher Jain Miller is the co-founder, Vice President of Academic Affairs, and Professor of Jain and Yoga Studies at Arihanta Institute. He completed his PhD in the study of Religion at the University of California, Davis and is also a Visiting Researcher at the University of Zürich's Asien-Orient-Institut and Visiting Professor at Claremont School of Theology where he co-developed and co-runs a remotely available Masters Degree Program focusing on Engaged Jain Studies. His current research focuses on Engaged Jainism and Modern Yoga, and he is the author of a number of articles and book chapters concerned with Jainism and the practice of modern yoga. Christopher is the author of Embodying Transnational Yoga: Eating, Singing, and Breathing in Transformation (Routledge 2024), as well as co-editor of the volumes Engaged Jainism: Critical and Constructive Approaches to the Study of Jain Social Engagement (SUNY 2025) and Beacons of Dharma: Spiritual Exemplars for the Modern Age (Lexington 2020).
Research
Dr. Miller holds a PhD in the Study of Religion from the University of California, Davis and master’s degrees in Theological Studies and 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.
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 2024). 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.
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 on Climate 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.
Christopher Miller, PhD's Courses
Self-paced
1001 | Jain Philosophy in Daily Life
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1001 | Jain Philosophy in Daily Life
What do Jain teachings have to do with my life today? Learn how to answer this question with Jain philosophical texts that provide perennial guidance that applies to your most common everyday life situations.
$99.00 USD
Instructor
Christopher Miller, PhDSelf-paced
2005 | Demystifying Anekāntavāda
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2005 | Demystifying Anekāntavāda
Explore the history, philosophies, and many meanings of the popular Jain concept known as “anekāntavāda”. Begin by exploring anekāntavāda’s rich history and understand why this term means much more than just “intellectual ahiṃsā”. Next, appreciate the philosophical complexity of anekāntavāda and its variant applications through nayavāda, syādvāda, saptabhaṅgī, and nikṣepa.Finally, with this philosophy and history in mind, bring your fresh and deeper understanding of anekāntavāda into the present and apply it to one of many important questions of contemporary society.
$99.00 USD
Instructor
Self-paced
3002 | Yoga Sūtra: The Classical Yoga of Patañjali
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3002 | Yoga Sūtra: The Classical Yoga of Patañjali
Master the philosophy, goals, & practices of Patañjali’s Yoga Sūtra & identify its Jain, Buddhist, & Vedic influences. Understand the history that allowed this text to become a text in the modern yoga canon. Learning Objectives• Learn the classical yoga of Patañjali’s Yoga Sūtra and Vyāsa’s Bhāṣya• Take time to reflect on and incorporate Patañjali’s principles into daily life• Learn the text's Sanskrit vocabulary in depth to penetrate its deeper meaning• Understand the Yoga Sūtra’s ancient as well as modern colonial history
$99.00 USD
Instructor
Self-paced
3004 | Modern Yoga Studies: Critical History, Anthropology and Methodology
One of the primary questions students of modern yoga seek to answer is precisely how the forms of contemporary yoga practiced today are connected to pre-modern forms of yoga developed in India. To begin to answer this question and to formulate new questions, this course will trace some of the historical continuities and discontinuities between pre-modern and modern yoga practices, demonstrating that modern yoga is a complicated, transnational cultural product. We will explore the legacy of the first yoga teachers who brought yoga to America and Europe as well as yoga’s development from a historical, social, and political perspective.Students will thus take into account current scholarly debates regarding the relationship of transnational yoga to categories such as capitalism, neoliberalism, orientalism, racism, speciesism, gender, cultural appropriation, biopolitics, nationalism, and colonization. Doing so will encourage yoga practitioners to adopt new methodologies concerning the critical study of modern yoga, and will also give them an opportunity to confront and unravel saṃskāras, or acquired mental impressions and social conditionings, related to their inherited beliefs regarding the origins, history, and contemporary practice of yoga. The course is thus simultaneously intellectual as well as, from a yogic perspective, transformational.
$99.00 USD
Instructor
Self-paced
1006 | Jain Dharma and Animal Advocacy
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1006 | Jain Dharma and Animal Advocacy
According to Jain dharma, we live in an interconnected web of life in which no creature, human or non-human, wants to be harmed. For this reason, the Jain tradition has taught ahiṃsā, or non-violence, to all forms of life for thousands of years. Learn why the Jain tradition places particular emphasis on non-violence toward non-human animals, and how these Jain perspectives can be brought into conversation with contemporary animal advocacy concerns. Leave the course inspired to advocate for the well-being of all forms of life.
$99.00 USD
Instructor
Self-paced
1008 | Jain Responses to Climate Change
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1008 | Jain Responses to Climate Change
Arihanta Institute is offering this course in collaboration with Museum Rietberg, coinciding with their Exhibition “Being Jain: Art and Culture of an Indian Religion” in Zurich, Switzerland.Climate change is arguably the biggest collective challenge human society has ever encountered. But there is hope. Among many of the innovative solutions that have and continue to be proposed, the Jain tradition encourages an environmentally sustainable lifestyle, which, if incorporated into our daily lives worldwide, could have a significant impact in reducing the worst of the climate disaster that is yet to come. Learn the Jain way of life in conversation with some of climate change’s most pressing issues. Leave transformed and empowered to reduce your climate footprint.Class 1Jainism and Ecology: Recognizing the Interconnected Web of LifeLearn how the Jain tradition views the world as an interconnected web of life in which nothing wants to experience pain. Understand how the Jain principle of ahiṃsā, or non-violence, arises from this worldview and some of the fundamental ways you can reduce your carbon footprint by following the Jain way of life and in accordance with climate science.Class 2Jain Approaches to Food: Climate Change & Animal AgricultureThe IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) recently advised that in light of the effects of animal agriculture on the climate, the entire planet must be “veganised.” Learn, in light of climate science, why animal agriculture is one of the most significant contributors to climate change and environmental degradation. Also study Jain approaches to an ethical and environmentally friendly diet that call into question our unnecessary reliance on animals for food.Class 3Jain Views on Consumption and Waste: A Changing Climate requires Changing HabitsHumans consume food, electronics, fuel and other commodities at rates far beyond what our planet can sustain in the long run and which amount to significant amounts of environmental degradation. Discover what the acceptable limits of consumption are, and also consider Jain ethical approaches to the human behavior of consumption. Be inspired to reconsider your own consumptive habits.Class 4Jain Professional Ethics: Making a Climate-Friendly LivingWe all need to make a living, but what would it mean to make a “climate-friendly” living? Learn Jain ethical approaches to career and professional life, and understand the important connections between the work that you do and its potential effects on the climate. Be inspired to make a righteous living that is good for both you and our climate future.
Free
Instructor
Self-paced
3006 | Embodying Transnational Yoga
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3006 | Embodying Transnational Yoga
"Yoga is more than āsana" is a phrase we commonly hear in the contemporary yoga world. But what does this actually mean in practice? In this course we will explore the ways yoga practitioners engage in the practice of eating, singing, and breathing. We will learn about these three transformative, yet understudied embodied yoga practices: yogic diet, music, and breathing techniques. While embracing philosophical, philological, and historical approaches to the study of these practices, this course also presents novel cultural approaches for understanding each following the methodology in Professor Miller’s book, Embodying Transnational Yoga: Eating, Singing, and Breathing in Transformation. Students will move through three contemporary sites of yogic practice where they will learn about the social-historical and cultural forces that both shape and enable particular ways of yogic eating, singing, and breathing therein. By combining the field of yoga studies with Indian Ocean Studies, Food Studies, Ethnomusicology, and Pollution Studies, they will learn that when they embody their own yoga traditions’ transformative practices, they are also simultaneously embodying other unseen cultural and social-historical influences. Students will therefore also learn how to perform research in their own yoga tradition or community to better understand and communicate to others the often unrecognized and complex histories, social contexts, and philosophies comprising their embodied yoga practices. Professor Miller will take students through a systematic approach for performing yoga research to help each participant identify their own key research questions concerning their yoga tradition’s embodied practices and techniques. They will also be inspired to develop their own research methods that will help them to answer these critical questions, thereby becoming a scholar of their own yoga tradition. The only prerequisite for this course is a sincere curiosity to learn about the historical sources and cultural influences shaping contemporary yoga practices whether they are eating, singing, breathing, or another transformative yogic technique of special interest. This course is offered in collaboration with Yogic Studies
Instructor
Self-paced
1014 | Jainism, Veganism, and Engaged Religion
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1014 | Jainism, Veganism, and Engaged Religion
Committed to nonviolence (ahiṃsā) since its ancient beginnings, the Jain tradition has admonished the mistreatment, slaughter, sacrifice, and consumption of animals for thousands of years. In light of these commitments, Jains have traditionally lived a lacto-vegetarian lifestyle, advocated for the legal protection of animals, and have created sanctuaries for animals for centuries. In ancient and medieval scriptural sources, we even find restrictions on the consumption of dairy itself, suggesting potential pre-modern Jain commitments to what would now be referred to as a vegan lifestyle. And today, many Jains have been advocating for veganism in light of the devastating and irreparable harms involved in the production of dairy in contemporary society. This course carefully considers the philosophical and historical underpinnings of Jain Veganism, presenting an opportunity for non-Jain vegans to discover a rich philosophical system aligned with their values, as well as an opportunity for Jains to appreciate the philosophical resources within their own tradition which naturally lead to living an ethical vegan lifestyle.
$25.00 USD
Instructors
Jonathan Dickstein, PhDSelf-paced
3007 | Ancient and Classical Jain Yoga
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3007 | Ancient and Classical Jain Yoga
This course provides an in-depth exploration of yoga and meditation as understood within ancient and classical Jain scriptures. In Part 1: Ancient Jain Yoga, students will be introduced to foundational concepts such as āsana, or physical postures, as a tool for purification and meditation. Drawing from early Jain texts, including the Uttarādhyayanasūtra and the Daśavaikālikasūtra, students will learn how restraint of the body, mind, and speech formed early Jain definitions of yoga. Part 2: Yoga and Meditation in Classical Jain Philosophy, transitions into an examination of the Tattvārthsūtra and its commentaries, where yoga is described as the inflow (āsrava) of karma—representing an obstacle to spiritual liberation. Students will explore the key to liberation through correct worldview, knowledge, and conduct, as well as the role of dhyāna (meditation) as both an austerity (tapas) and a means of wearing away (nirjarā) karma. Through a discussion of virtuous (dharma) and pure (śukla) meditation, the course will highlight how advanced meditation practices lead to spiritual purification and the elimination of karma, providing a comprehensive understanding of Jain yoga's ultimate aim of mokṣa, or liberation. This is designed as a two-week course that will take approximately 4 hours to complete, and includes readings and a series of 10 lectures to guide you through the intricacies of ancient and classical Jain definitions of Yoga. Learning Objectives:Learn the role of āsana (physical postures) in ancient Jain yoga as a tool for purification and meditation.Discover how restraint of body, mind, and speech formed early Jain definitions of yoga, with guidance from key ancient texts.Explore the classical Jain philosophical view of yoga as the inflow (āsrava) of karma, and see how this concept is discussed in the Tattvārthsūtra and its commentaries.Understand how meditation (dhyāna) serves as an austerity (tapas) to wear away karma (nirjarā) and how virtuous (dharma) and pure (śukla) meditation practices lead to spiritual purification and liberation (mokṣa).
$99.00 USD
Instructor
Graduate Course
Foundations of Jain Yoga Studies
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Foundations of Jain Yoga Studies
Foundations of Jain Yoga Studies provides students with the historical and philosophical foundations for engaging in the study of Jain yoga. Students will learn about the history of yoga broadly, while also learning core methodologies used to study yoga in the field of Yoga Studies. With this new knowledge and skillset, students will learn how to study Jain yoga and see how it emerged in engagement with other yoga traditions since ancient times and into the present.
Instructor
Graduate Course
Jain Yoga
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Jain Yoga
Jain Yoga considers Jain yoga from ancient sources to the present. We will study secondary scholarship analyzing Jain yoga from critical perspectives, while reading translations from Sanskrit and Prakrit primary sources describing Jain yoga. Students will also practice and reflect on their experience of various forms of Jain yoga and meditation, experimenting with what it means to embody Jain yoga principles and techniques in their everyday lives in contemporary society. No prior experience is necessary.
Instructor
Graduate Course
Social Justice and Modern Yoga
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Social Justice and Modern Yoga
Social Justice and Modern Yoga surveys the history and contemporary practice of modern yoga and its intersection with issues of social justice. Students will encounter both the major names and lineages in the history of transnational modern yoga as well as some of the lesser-known figures who have contributed to the development of transnational yoga into the present. The course is structured both historically and thematically, presenting topics including, but not limited to, yoga’s intersections with warrior asceticism, colonization, non-violent social justice movements, nationalism, Orientalism, the carceral system, racism, White supremacy, appropriation, gender, foodways, speciesism, pollution, necropolitics, biopolitics, neoliberal capitalism, and abuse. Students will be trained in the basic methods of writing yoga ethnography and social history and will complete an ethnographic research project on a topic of their choice related to the academic field of Modern Yoga Studies.
Instructor
Graduate Course
Haṭha Yoga and Jain Yoga
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Haṭha Yoga and Jain Yoga
The “Haṭha Yoga and Jain Yoga” course carefully considers the development of the haṭha yoga tradition, the medieval forms of yoga that emerged after India’s classical period, and which are the predecessors of today’s forms of physical yoga. Students are offered the opportunity to undertake the postural, breathing, and meditation techniques found in medieval haṭha yoga texts as well as to see how these texts influenced, or were perhaps influenced by, the Jain yoga tradition in particular.