Ahimsa is not Religion It is way of Life

Author(s): Clare Rosenfield, Linda Segall
Publisher: Clare Rosenfield and Linda Segall

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growth, and we come closer to our goal, SelfRealization. As an instrument tuning itself to the right key, we tune ourselves to Reverence for All Life. By doing everything we can to minimize violence and pain to life, we enjoy living with a cleansed consciousness and a light heart.
WHAT IS THE JAIN APPROACH TO
LIFE'S ORIGINS AND EVOLUTION? Jain masters hold that in each living being there is a partnership between the energy of matter which has no consciousness and that of soul, which is conscious. Without the latter, the former would be inanimate. Because of the dynamic impact of soul force in the body, it grows and evolves. Both energies, attam (atom) and atma (soul) are considered to be the permanent constituents of the universe, without beginning or end in the sense that matter continually changes, regroups its molecules, and decomposes but never disappears, and soul keeps on evolving until it reveals its true identity and becomes fully liberated from the gravitational pull of matter and mind. The idea of creation is not a question here. Matter is, was, and will be, in one form or another, and soul is, was, and will be, dwelling in a body until its ultimate release.
When Jains speak of evolution, it is primarily of consciousness, an unfolding of the divine potential through loving-kindness and awareness. It is experienced as an ascension to merge with those who have already reached the pinnacle and whose fragrance of universality perfumes the entire cosmos everlastingly.
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