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Jainism in a Global Perspective
An important dimension of modern scientific and technological advancement has been the power that man has got to annihilate the entire human race many times over. In the past a war was fought on the battlefield but now it has reached the doorstep of a common man. It is obvious that if want to ensure a happy future for mankind, we have to exterminate all possibilities of war:
An analysis of the present state of the world reveals that Hissã is the root cause of all the evils prevailing in the society. We are aware of the degradation that physical violence brings about. But most people are unaware of disastrous effects of the numerous subtle forms of Hiṁsā which we commit in our day to day life.
Inherent in the word violence is violation, an invasion of someone's aura, space and territory. Whenever we invade others sphere with an intention to prove that we are superior to others, we commit Himsā hatred, anger, jealousy, pride, avarice, chauvinism and even gestures like an ironical smile or a mocking glance are different forms of Hiṁsā which we are not able to perceive very easily in our lives.
We must also realise that our callousness and indifference to environmental balance is nothing but the manifestation of our cruelty and our unkindness with which we treat the nature and that is returned to us in a redoubled form. We understand that Hiṁsā is being committed only by perfoming evil acts through body, speech and mind but we must not forget that we become a part of Hissă even by motivating others to perform evil acts or by giving our implicit consent to such acts. Having evil intentions, imposing our thoughts on others and uttering unkind words are equally abominable form of Himsāand are as harmful as physical violence. In a nutshell, it may be said that Hiṁsā consists in even the slightest deviation from the basic attributes of soul, i.e. love and compassion.
The world is plagued today be enormous amounts of tension and fear. If we want to save humanity from this universal suicide, it is imperative for all of us to strictly follow Ahimsă as a way of life at the individual level. And this can be achieved only through being awakened and alert at every moment of life in our attitudes and behaviour.
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