ISJS Jainism Study Notes E5 Vol 01

Author(s): International School for Jain Studies
Publisher: International School for Jain Studies

Page 217

3.5 Other consideration of Ahimsā Living beings help each other14 is the doctrine leading us to practice co-existence at least as human community, smallest to largest, local to global, characterized by no killing of humans, at least; no threats to kill; no weapons designed to kill humans and no justifications for using them; and no social conditions that are dependent upon threat or use of killing force for maintenance or change. We thus see emergence of special interest groups like Non-violent communications, ecology preservation, human and animal rights, and setting up departments in universities all over the world to teach and research on nonviolence and even setting up a university on nonviolence. The United Nations has declared October 2nd as the World Non Violence Day to be celebrated all over the world.
In the end, I conclude that there are no choices left except to understand, preach, practice and put all efforts to make this world a non-killing society else? Thus Mahāvīra's conclusive pronouncement that after understanding the importance of kindness to beings, the enlightened person should preach, disseminate and applaud it at all places in East-West and North-South directions is very timely for us who understand nonviolence.
Bibliography (courtesy Prof. Glen Paige for ISSJS 2008)
Glenn D. Paige, professor emeritus of political science, University of Hawai'i, is founder president of the Center for Global Nonviolence in Honolulu, Hawai'i (1994-). In 2008 it is in transition to become a Center for Global Non-killing. He published Non-killing Global Political Science (2002). By 2008 the book had been translated into fifteen languages all over the world including Hindi and Tamil. A number of articles on various aspects of ahimsa in www.globalnonviolence.org Kool, V.K. 2007. Psychology of Non-violence and Aggression. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Nobel Peace Laureates. 2007. Charter for a World without Violence. Rome: December 13-15, 2007 www.nobelforpeace-summits.org/ENG/PDF/2007/CHARTER_ULTIMATE.pdf. 2005. "Nonkilling Global Society." In Peace Section edited by Ada Aharoni, Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS). Developed under the auspices of UNESCO, Eolss Publishers, Oxford, U.K.
http:www.eolss.net. • Ram, Senthil and Ralph Summy, eds. 2007. Nonviolence: An Alternative for Defeating Global Terrorism).
Hauppage, NY: Nova Science Publishers. World Health Organization (WHO). 2002. World Report on Violence and Health. Geneva: WHO.
14 Parasparopagraho jīvānām, Tattvārtha-sūtra 1.21
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STUDY NOTES version 5.0