$JES 302 Jain Philosophy Level 3 Book

Author(s): JAINA Education Committee
Publisher: JAINA Education Committee

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APPLICATION OF NONVIOLENCE (AHINSÄ) Chapter 15- Application of Nonviolence (Ahinsä)
Introduction
Vegetarianism has been known for thousands of years as a principle of health and environmental ethics throughout India. It remains to this day a cardinal ethic of Jain thought and practices. Each form of life, even water and trees possesses consciousness and energy. Nonviolence, (Ahinsä), the primary basis of vegetarianism, has long been central to the religious traditions of India, especially Jainism. Religion in India has consistently upheld the sanctity of life, whether human, animal, or the most elemental.
More than twenty-five hundred years ago, Lord Mahävir made a simple yet profound statement based on the inclusion of Non-violence into the very fabric of his consciousness. "All of life is just like me. I want to live. So do all souls, all living beings. The instinct of self-preservation is universal. Every living being clings to life and fears death. Each one of us wants to be free from pain. So let me carry out all my activities with great care so that I am not harmful to any living being."
The philosophy of Non-violence is a living practice. More than refraining from violence, it is a deep reverence for all life. When anger, jealousy, or unfulfilled ambitions provoke us, the one whom we damage first is our own self. This is equally true of harsh, slanderous, or critical speech. It works like a matchstick; before it ignites something else, it burns its own self.
Before putting anybody down, judging them, or treating anyone as an inferior, we must examine ourselves. Before buying or using any product, we must ask, "By my action, am I causing any living being to pay a price in pain? Directly or indirectly, am I destroying any life?"
From the moment this awareness becomes a part of our daily life, we find that traits and habits, which used to limit us, disappear naturally. We are no longer able to invite pain and disease to our bodies through uninformed eating habits. The vegetarian way of life becomes a natural outcome of inner understanding. By doing everything we can to minimize violence and pain to life, we enjoy living with a pure consciousness and a clean conscience.
Jain philosophy emphasizes taking care to minimize the harm one does to other living beings and to direct one's actions with the intention to revere life. This requires vigilance, awareness of motives, and fearlessness to live in tune with nature's laws. The underlying feeling is not to inspire fear in any living being; it is opening one's heart to life. It is true that just by breathing, using water, walking, and taking plants as wood, we are causing lives to be lost. The emphasis lies in reducing to a minimum the harm we do in order to survive.
The more developed its sensory apparatus is, the more a life form is sensitive to pain. Since fish, birds, and animals have a well-developed sense of pain, we must refuse to be a cause to their agony and pain. Also, when we observe how dearly animals cling to life and struggle to survive, how much they are dominated by fear, we must drop any notion of using or exploiting them. We feel for their helplessness in the face of man's gluttony, greed, and callousness; we want to see them live unmolested. Even for vegetables, we must realize
JAIN PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE I
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