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own “violent ego complex" dominate our confused thinking and reckless behaviour.
The world is in turmoil. The highly advanced materialistic life culture is lost in its own ingrown contradictions and frustrations, tensions and pressures, disputes and discords, due largely to our conditioning towards self-interest and material acquisition. While on the one hand science has been harnessed to augment our comforts and luxuries, speed and mobility, the creative energies thus unleashed have also been put to violent and destructive applications.
Man's vicious exploitation of the environment, his inhuman behaviour towards fellow living beings, infectious spread of the cult of violence indulgence in irrational behaviour and growing mal-adjustments in inter-relationships are rapidly making the world a most uncivilized place to live. Fear, hatred, anger, mistrust, depression and disillusionment persist in the midst of material plenty. Human values are changing for the worse and the generation gap is widening. In the inner recesses of the human mind, there is despair. The practice of non-violence can bring solace, serenity and stability to our lives.
We must realize with complete clarity that non-violence is not only the highest religion, but is the highest restraint, highest knowledge, highest happiness, highest penance and hence this highest gift needs to be treasured, promoted and spread far and wide.
Mahatma Gandhi used non-violence most effectively not only as political weapon but also an instrument for promoting social reforms and social justice. Martin Luther King's nonviolent struggle for the assertion of racial equality created a deep impact in the minds and hearts of not only the Americans but also people all over the world. Nelson Mandela spent almost three decades in Jail in peaceful non-violent protest endeavouring to demolish the citadel of apartheid through persuasive struggle and passive resistance. Recent radical changes in communism in
Ahimsa: The Ultimate Winner
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