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point. Like a pendulum, it swung to the other extreme. Freedom gradually transformed into boldness, abandon, impertinence, and finally into wantonness. Whatever happened is for the historians to research and evaluate. But there is no reason we cannot explore true and healthy discipline again.
This quest will lead us to nature. We will have to understand the basic laws of nature, the restraints in nature and the inherent discipline of nature. We will have to learn from it. We will have to instill such natural discipline in every facet of life. Only then can peace be achieved. True spiritual progress is beyond all this. In our existing state, we lack the ability to discuss that subject in its true spiritual sense. However, even that can be accomplished through the understanding of natural discipline.
Discipline is a natural and spontaneous activity of life. If we free it from the clutches of idiosyncrasies and dogmas of religions, sects, or other organizational and institutional setups, it loses its oppressive dimension. In nature, such discipline can be observed at every step. A flower blooms at its proper time in its proper season. The gravitational laws govern the sun, the moon, the earth, and all other celestial bodies. Various activities we see around us are, in turn, occurring under the discipline of these movements of heavenly bodies. Other forms of life in the natural world are living according to their own specific disciplines. It is only the humans who, driven by their unique intellectual and creative talent, keep on transgressing that discipline.
If we discipline our abilities or capacities, all problems could be solved. And all our energies will be directed at solving the problems caused by natural forces and circumstances. Only then will we be able to devote our energies to
AHIMSA: THE SCIENCE OF PEACE 145
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