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whether we mean to or not, the machines of power and domination, exploitation and killing. We become accomplices in the large-scale destruction of billions of other human and non-human lives who, like us, are equally eager to grow, fulfill their needs, and bring their lives to fruition.
What we need is a new dimension of thinking, a new directive for living. We need to perceive all planetary life as one interdependent family from which no living being is excluded. We need to experience the plight and pain of all living beings as if it were our own. Indeed, the pain of others is our own, for the consequences of neglect and apathy cannot be long in coming our way.
Such a philosophy and practice does exist. Known as Jainism, it originated thousands of years ago in pre-historic India and was transmitted by twenty-four exemplary individuals who left the well-worn ruts of thinking to discover the causes and cures of violence, greed, dogmatism, and war in the human psyche and in the world. Beginning with Adinatha (or Rushabhadeva) and ending with Mahavira (or Vardhamana) who lived from 599-527 B.C., each enlightened master or Jina rediscovered the immortal laws of life, placing Ahimsa or Non-Violence first and foremost among them.
Mahavira matured his consciousness during twelve and a half years of silence, meditation, and fasting practices. The insights he shared during the next thirty years were gathered into forty-five books known as Agamas. Thanks to them, the heart of Jainism has been preserved. In one of the sutras, he spoke of Ahimsa in this way:
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