Ahimsa the Science of Peace

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

Page 98

capacity of endurance is phenomenal. Since homo-sapiens first walked naked under the sky and started tackling the elements with bare hands and a mind having unprecedented, dormant potentialities, we have been using individual consciousness, determination and cooperation as our most useful traits. These vital mental attributes sprout spontaneously from the Ahimsa discipline.
Our actions are as dependent on past events or experience as on planning for the future. It is this unique capacity that makes humans capable of achieving extremes, both towards progress and regress. The regression pushes us down towards ghastly bestial attributes like cunning, violence, ferocity, etc. Progress is indicated by good conduct and expression of kindly emotions.
The process is not as simple as it sounds. It involves a whole lot of experience and continued learning for generations. Emotions guide man towards better learning and better use. The powers of communication and capacity to accumulate and modify knowledge give him chances of improving his behaviour.
But these same assets may also take him towards bestiality. The two extremes a human being is capable of reaching are the feeling of romantic love and the capacity of legalizing murder, as in warfare. When indulging in war the predominant factor at work is not the animal instinct but the human faculty of reason. The instinctive feeling of natural and need based aggression towards intruders is thoughtfully converted into glorified, legalized murder in name of nationalism, communalism, racialism, etc., with the help of the immense thinking and manipulating capacity of human brain.
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