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Ahimsa
Questioner: Why is that?
Dadashri If you are non-violent and you are to reincarnate in the animal kingdom, you will be born a cow or a buffalo (vegetarian animal). If you are violent in this life you will be born as a tiger, a cat or any other carnivorous animal. Even if you are non-violent as a human, you can still take birth in a violent family where your upbringing will be fraught with violence. This all has to do with your karmic accounts. This is all related to your likes and dislikes, your attachment and abhorrence. When a person does raag (attachment) or dwesh (abhorrence) towards others, he becomes bound and as a result will be born in close proximity with people who do the same.
Nothing Affects The Non-Violent One
Questioner: What is the karmic connection when a dog bites you?
Dadashri: Without a karmic connection, not even a single mustard seed will enter your mouth!
Questioner: Does that mean that we have a karmic tie with that dog?
Dadashri : No. You have not bound karma specifically with the dog that bites you. For that matter, even people 'bite' each another, do they not? One man told me that his wife was like a serpent because she kept biting him at night. What he really meant was that she had a sharp tongue and would say vicious things to him. The consequence of interacting with someone in such a manner would be a 'dog-bite', or 'bites' from others. Everything in nature is ready to deliver the consequences for your own actions. Nature is prepared to deliver the effects of whatever karma you have bound.
Ahimsa
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So if you want to be free from all the suffering in this world, you must not retaliate towards those who hurt you. If you hurt someone even slightly, then in your next life, the effect of the karma you cause will not leave without taking revenge against you. The revenge may come in countless ways. A snake may even bite you. You cannot afford to create any vengeance whatsoever with anyone in this world. And whatever suffering you experience, it is the result of your own past wrongdoings, where you have hurt others. Otherwise, there would be no suffering in this world.
Questioner: So is life a perpetual conflict?
Dadashri: Yes, but if you create an atmosphere of Ahimsa, nothing can harm you. Not even a snake or a tiger will harm you. Even if someone were to throw a snake at you, the poor creature will leave you unharmed. You cannot imagine the tremendous power behind Ahimsa. The power of Ahimsa is unparallel. There is no greater weakness than that of violence. All the suffering in this world is due to violence. Tremendous violence.
Not a single living being has the power to hurt you, and the one that does, does so because of your own karmic account. So settle all your accounts. If someone hurts you or something bites you and you develop bitter feelings of revenge, you will be binding new accounts. When a dog bites you, and if you feel from within, 'All dogs should be killed', then you have created a new karmic account. No matter what the circumstances are, you should handle the situation with equanimity, without any attachment or abhorrence. You should not feel any negativity from within.
Questioner: But in these situations, our awareness fails