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THE BIRTH OF A BEAUTIFUL HOME
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to Oneness, and all differences disappear. We are able to relate with people and really love them.
anon
EMANCIPATION THROUGH AHIMSA Mahavir understood the roots of violence in the human psyche. His warning, therefore, was against absolutism and dogmatism. His stress on Anekantvada was a plea for the recognition of the multifaceted nature of reality. The perception of reality depends on the time, place, nature and state of the viewer. Absolute truth cannot result from any one viewpoint alone. For Mahavira, absolutism was an act of mental violence.
Training in non-violence is essential to make the family environment healthy. Training in behaviour infused with morality and humility is a part and parcel of this training. We are interpreting ahimsa in a very narrow sense. Though the first foundation of non-violence is 'Do not kill anyone' and 'Do not torture anyone', the multi-storied mansion of ahimsa has: (1) verbal non-violence as its first storey; (2) mental non-violence as its second storey; and (3) emotional non-violence as its third storey. In this manner, true understanding becomes possible.
It has been said that an angry person opens his mouth and closes his eyes. It is our mind that needs control. Wars, they say, begin in the minds of men. So it is there that peace must be won. While verbal non-violence can be experienced directly, non-violence at the internal level-mental and emotional-is difficult to grasp.
VERBAL VIOLENCE The verbal violence is of many kinds, such as harsh words (such words act like a sharp weapon rending the heart), taunting or satirical words (words uttered without due
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