Ahimsa Crisis You Decide

Author(s): Sulekh C Jain
Publisher: Prakrit Bharti Academy

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steps toward self-transformation. Jain teachings offer timetested techniques for developing inner ahimsa, until it fills one's whole being and flows outward for the sake of all living beings.
In every religious tradition one finds a struggle between narrow (safe) and broad (spiritual) interpretations. When the ancient Jewish people were tempted to reduce their religion to a simple legalism, their greatest rabbis, among them a rabbi named Jesu, reminded them that the heart of the Law is the love of God and of neighbor. Similarly, Dr. Jain holds before us here what he calls "ahimsa beyond food and adornments." The true practitioner "strives to practice ahimsa in everything, consistently, both inside and outside the temple or place of worship. "Perhaps the whole book is summed up in these
momentous sentences:
The teachings of ahimsa refer not only to wars and visible physical acts of violence, but also to the violence in the hearts and minds of human beings, their lack of concern and compassion for their fellow human beings and for the natural world. Ancient Jain texts explain that violence is not defined by actual harm only, for this may be unintentional. It is the intention to harm, the absence of compassion, that makes action violent. Without violent thought there could be no violent actions. When violence enters our thoughts, we should remember, "You are that which you intend to hurt, injure, insult, torment, persecute, torture, enslave or kill."
In one sense, Dr. Jain does nothing more than to remind us what has always been the heart of the Jain way of life. Lord Mahavira taught that all plants, animals, and humans have a jiva, a living soul. All are of equal value, deserving our respect and compassion. Doing violence to any one of them is himsa, and himsa creates karma. The Jain view of reality is called paras-prop-graho-jivanam in the sacred texts, which Dr. Jain beautifully interprets as "all life forms are bound together and dependent on each other for their support." In a sense,
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