Ahimsa the Science of Peace

Author(s): Surendra Bothra
Publisher: Prakrit Bharti Academy

Page 76

it appears to be non-violent. The measures taken to re-establish the balance should be called non-violent although they appear to be violent.
The moment a conscious being comes into existence all the concepts of philosophy, psychology, sociology etc. commence their interplay. One has to follow the dictates of many different sets of rules in a balanced way. The rules continue to change. The individual continues to progress and regress with the state of his consciousness. With the advent of consciousness, rules, individuals, groups, natural phenomena etc. and the mutual interaction between these, all become dynamic factors. Any effort to make any one or more of them static leads to distortion and disharmony.
The supporters of static traditional rules claim that efforts towards reform tend to create laxness and consequent degeneration. They forget that it is not the reform that brings laxness but the changes instigated for ulterior motives.
Mahavir himself brought about reforms in the Jain tradition he inherited, but his reforms never brought any laxness. In fact, he revitalized the traditions with infusion of healthy changes. Behind every distortion one can find a change in rules brought forth for the purpose of serving sectarian organizations, in terms of increasing the following or merely to facilitate the power of the leader of the sect.
The blind following of tradition is the root cause of laxness. The simple reason is that people bound by rules, without understanding the meaning; forget that the important thing is the discipline of mind and progress of the soul, notthe following of rules like lifeless puppets, and earning applause of the masses.
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