SAN RAFAEL, Calif. (April 26, 2024) — In Defense of Animals’ Interfaith Vegan Coalition has announced the winners of its prestigious Homo Ahimsa Award. Dr. Will and Madeleine Tuttle, co-founders of the Circle of Compassion, will be honored for their nonviolent activism at an award ceremony on Sunday, April 28.

For many years, Dr. Will Tuttle and Madeleine Tuttle have traveled the world spreading ahimsa, a tradition of non-harm and nonviolence to all beings. Venerated champions of the teaching include Mahatma Gandhi, who took a vow of ahimsa that informed his life and his activism. 

Dr. Tuttle’s writings, presentations, and music focus on compassion, creativity, intuition and the intersection of social justice, animal liberation and environmental health, spiritual and peace issues. Since 1985, he has delivered over 4,000 talks to live audiences encouraging compassion and vegan living in over 50 countries and in all 50 U.S. states.

Dr. Tuttle is the author of eight books, including the international best-seller The World Peace Diet, which has been published in 17 languages. He’s also the author of the newly-released Food for Freedom, on the interconnection of health freedom and animal liberation. He is a featured expert in Cowspiracy and other documentary films, and — using his doctorate degree from U.C. Berkeley, which focused on educating intuition and altruism — he has taught college courses in creativity, comparative religion, and philosophy. 

Dr. Tuttle is a recipient of the prestigious Courage of Conscience Award and is a former Zen monk and Dharma Master in the Zen tradition. He is also the creator of 10 much-loved original piano music CD albums. 

Accompanying him, Madeleine has created inspired and visionary art depicting animals as a way of encouraging love and respect for all beings. 

Together they have created many YouTube videos demonstrating ahimsa living, including Madeleine’s intuitive cooking videos and inspiring walks through their food forest.

“The Homo Ahimsa Award honors those who live in nonviolent, respectful, and ahimsa partnership with all life,” said Judy Carman, co-founder of the Interfaith Vegan Coalition and author of Peace to All Beings and Homo Ahimsa.

Homo sapiens tend to view the world through a lens of domination which leads to a great deal of suffering. Homo ahimsa refers to the new human species we are becoming as we leave behind H. sapiens’ worldview and live from our true nature as loving partners with all life.

“In today’s world, it is a truly heroic act every time we express nonviolence or ‘ahimsa’ through our actions, thoughts, and words,” said Lisa Levinson of In Defense of Animals and co-founder of the Interfaith Vegan Coalition. “Our recognition of this dynamic duo as the recipients of the Homo Ahimsa Award signifies a growing shift toward compassion for all beings. Dr. Will and Madeleine Tuttle tour the world to educate people about the virtues of vegan living and the harm that eating animals does to us mentally, physically, and spiritually. The Tuttles have literally changed hearts and minds worldwide, inspired the vegan spiritual movement, and trained other vegan advocates to follow in their footsteps.”

The Homo Ahimsa Award was established by In Defense of Animals’ Interfaith Vegan Coalition in 2021 and is given to honor those who exemplify the qualities of Homo ahimsa in outstanding ways and demonstrate how vegan living can co-create a world of peace, partnership, and loving-kindness by ending violence and domination of people, animals, and the Earth. The award is named after the book Homo Ahimsa: Who We Really Are and How We’re Going to Save the World by the Interfaith Vegan Coalition’s co-founder Judy Carman, who coined the term.

Carman added, “We can stop violence to animals, people, and the Earth caused by our species, Homo sapiens, by making a personal commitment to nonviolence. Together we can evolve and become a kinder species: Homo ahimsa.”

Dr. Will and Madeleine Tuttle shared their delight at being selected to receive the Homo Ahimsa Award.

“My heartfelt appreciation to the Interfaith Vegan Coalition for shining the light of kindness and respect for all living beings over these past years, encouraging religious traditions to promote nonviolence toward all living beings, and for honoring Madeleine and me with this year's Homo Ahimsa Award,” said Dr. Will Tuttle, Author of The World Peace Diet and Co-founder of Circle of Compassion. “We are grateful for the opportunity to do our best to share the message of ahimsa through our creations and in our daily lives, and for the opportunity to work together with countless caring people over the years, to help plant seeds of both animal and human liberation during these critical times. Let’s redouble our efforts to not only communicate about the vegan ideals of compassion and self-responsibility, but to live them as well. Thank you.” 

Madeleine Tuttle, Co-founder of Circle of Compassion, said, “It is a beautiful honor to receive the Homo Ahimsa award, and is especially significant because I feel our efforts to promote vegan living over the past 30 years are deeply aligned with the spiritual message in Judy Carman’s book of the same name, Homo Ahimsa. It is time to contribute to the evolution of humanity from Homo Sapiens to Homo Ahimsa.”

Watch the Homo Ahimsa Award ceremony on Sunday, April 28 at 3 p.m. PT: https://climatehealers.org/convergence

### NOTES ###

Homo Ahimsa Award Ceremony: Sunday, April 28, 3 p.m. PT:

In Defense of Animals’ Interfaith Vegan Coalition will bestow its third annual Homo Ahimsa Award to Dr. Will and Madeleine Tuttle. Please use this link to join the online Homo Ahimsa Award Ceremony during V-COP 13: Vegan Convergence of the Peoples on April 28, 3 p.m. PT.

Discover more on the Facebook event page.

Virtual Book Launch Celebration: Sunday, April 28, 5 p.m. PT:

Dr. Tuttle celebrates the release of his new book, Food for Freedom: Reclaiming Our Health and Rescuing Our World. Please use this link to join the virtual celebration on April 28, 5 p.m. PT. 

Biographies of Homo Ahimsa Award 2024 Recipients:

Dr. Will Tuttle, visionary author of the acclaimed best-seller The World Peace Diet, published in 17 languages, is a recipient of the Courage of Conscience Award and the Empty Cages Prize. He’s also the author of the newly-released Food for Freedom, on the interconnection of health freedom and animal liberation, as well as Your Inner Islands, on developing intuition. He has authored and edited many other books, including Circles of Compassion, on the interconnection of social justice issues, and Buddhism and Veganism, on the connection between animal liberation and spiritual awakening. 

Dr. Tuttle’s Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, focused on educating intuition and altruism in adults, and his doctoral dissertation was nominated for the Best Dissertation Award. He has taught college courses in philosophy, humanities, mythology, religion, and creativity. A former Zen Buddhist monk and a Dharma Master in the Korean Zen tradition, Dr. Tuttle is a noted composer and pianist. He has created ten CD albums of uplifting original piano music as well as several spoken word meditation CDs. A vegan since 1980, Dr. Tuttle is featured in Cowspiracy and other documentary films, and is a frequent radio, television, and online presenter, and has created several wellness and advocacy training programs.

Madeleine Tuttle is a Swiss visionary artist whose watercolor paintings have been exhibited in museums and galleries in Switzerland, Germany, and the United States. Today, besides painting her original works, she creates album and book covers for Will’s creations, as well as original art cards and museum-quality art prints, and collaborates with Will in creating personalized Music and Art Portraits for individuals and couples. Madeleine also creates videos for her ongoing series of Intuitive Kitchen videos on YouTube, promoting healthy organic vegan cuisine. She is also a flutist, Waldorf teacher, vegan coach, and organic gardener. Together, Will and Madeleine have traveled to all 50 states and over 50 countries, sharing the vegan message with live audiences in 4,000 presentations over the past 30 years of their marriage and their mission of promoting the liberation of animals for the benefit of all.

AHIMSA Acrostic: 

Ahimsa is the compassionate way to inner peace and world peace through non-killing, non-injuring, non-harming, and nonviolence. 

A: Abstinence from animal products

H: Harmlessness with reverence for life

I: Integrity of thought, word, and deed

M: Mastery over oneself

S: Service to humanity, nature, and creation

A: Advancement of understanding and truth

Acrostic credit: Jay Dinshah, of American Vegan Society, a member of the Interfaith Vegan Coalition

Interfaith Vegan Coalition:

In Defense of Animals started the Interfaith Vegan Coalition to help animal activists and spiritual leaders bring vegan values to spiritual, ethical, and religious communities. The coalition provides faith-based tools to help all faith and secular wisdom traditions practice the ideals of nonviolence, lovingkindness, and harmlessness toward all animals. The coalition is composed of 47 member organizations, 5 allied organizations, and one partner organization Animal Interfaith Alliance comprising 17 organizations, all working in harmony for a common cause.

Images: ​​​https://bit.ly/Ahimsa24Pix

Contacts:

In Defense of Animals, Interfaith Vegan Coalition co-founder, Lisa Levinson, lisa@idausa.org, 215-620-2130
Interfaith Vegan Coalition co-founder, Judy Carman, judycarman@ymail.com, 785-760-2446
The World Peace Diet Author and Circle of Compassion Co-founder, Dr. Will Tuttle, willtuttle@earthlink.net, 707-479-1113

Organizations:

In Defense of Animals is an international animal protection organization with over 250,000 supporters and a 40-year history of fighting for animals, people, and the environment through education and campaigns as well as hands-on rescue facilities in India, South Korea, central California, and rural Mississippi. www.idausa.org

The Interfaith Vegan Coalition (IVC) helps animal activists and spiritual leaders bring vegan values to spiritual, ethical, and religious communities. The IVC provides tools to help all faith and secular wisdom traditions practice the ideals of nonviolence, lovingkindness, and harmlessness toward all animals. www.interfaithvegancoalition.org

Circle of Compassion is a non-denominational organization devoted to using action and the power of prayer, meditation, and/or focused thought to liberate all animals from human oppression and exploitation. www.circleofcompassion.org 

The World Peace Diet is a book by Dr. Will Tuttle that has become a movement. The evolution to a more conscious society begins with individuals. Mahatma Gandhi rightly emphasized there can be no positive social change without positive personal change. www.theworldpeacediet.com

### ENDS ###