ISJS Jainism Study Notes E5 Vol 03

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

Page 262

The media of practicing religion are not to cause to other living beings, always speaking the truth, not to take things which are not given by their rightful owner, purity of mind and body, exercise restraint on sensual activities, maintain control over mind, charity as per the capacity, to protect one who are in distress and not to get angry when provoked etc.
Father of the nation Mahātmā Gāndhi also emphasized ahiṁsā and persuaded other fellow patriots to practice and adopt it against the freedom struggle of India against the British Empire. Mahātmā Gāndhī spoke a lot about ahimsā which is clear from a few following
statements.
"I do not want to teach anything new to this world. Truth and Ahiṁsā have been there since eternity. There is no other way to gain our freedom other than ahiṁsā and truth.” Mahātmā Gāndhi
Gandhi organized many movements for non violence and disarmament. The one international seminar on 'Non-violence movement continued in San Francsco for six months. Besides this, Gandhi went to Noukhali in 1946-47 to preach ahiṁsā. Further he practices ahiṁsā in all his struggles like Non cooperation movement, Quit India movement etc against British Empire in India. Even after being hit by sticks form the British army, he did not resort to violence. In his autobiography, he says 'There is no god different from the truth, this is what I have experienced. If every page of this text does not bring out clearly that ahiṁsā is the only way to adopt truth, then I will consider my effort as in vain. Effort can be useless and the speech cannot be useless even though my ahiṁsā is true yet it is not complete. Like the light of thousands of suns shining brightly are not the true measures of the power and light of truth; my expression on the truth is like a way of such a sun. Based on experiments till date, can definitely say that doctrine of truth is impossible without ahiṁsā.' (Autobiography Page 431) The practice of ahimsā from eternity to date and Mahātmā Gāndhi as to the practice of ahimsă in our daily life.
Here I will like to add that what we understand of Hindu religion is in fact the oldest religion as it is a collection of all the religions. The above religions have emphasized ahiṁsā. Our soul is by nature pure and endowed with bliss. Nature of soul is eternal, knowledge and immortal. People have understood ahimsā wrongly and hence described it as a sing of
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