ISJS Jainism Study Notes E5 Vol 03

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

Page 79

SCHOOL
TIONAL
OF
SELF STUDY IS THE SUPREME AUSTERITY,
ध्याय परम
STUDIES
Story of Abel in the Quran for both nonviolence and forgiveness of sin. Rahim (mercy) as one of the 99 names of Allāha 15.
American author Henry David Thoreau 16 had a major impact on the philosophy of nonviolence. Leo Tolstoy, Mohandas Karmachand Gandhi and Martin Luther King were greatly influenced by Thoreau.
Buddhism, Jainism and Pātañjala Yoga all talk of Ahimsa as the first and foremost rule or code of conduct. Thus we see all religions of the world thus talk of Ahimsā, though in different scales much less than in Jainism.
1.3 Need for Ahimsā
Historical evidence is available from religious story literature of all religions which along with our own observations of recent times show the deadly and at times devastating results of violence committed as the coverage of violence and mass killing is increasing regularly.
1 Adipurana: Bharata Bahubali dual;
2 Rāmāyana: Killing of individual/s
3 Mahābhārata: Killing of a family/s.
4
1965-75: Community or countries affected
5
1980s-: The entire world getting affected.
have thy cloke also; And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain; Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away. -Matthew 5:38-5:42 KJV
15 Quran, 1.1, 3.18; 5.109; 6.124; 7.180 etc
16 Henry David Thoreau (July 12, 1817 - May 6, 1862) was an American author, poet, philosopher, abolitionist, tax register, naturalist, development critic, surveyor, historian, and leading transcendentalist. He is best known for his book Walden a reflection upon simple living in natural surroundings, and his essay Civil Disobedience, an argument for individual resistance to civil government in moral opposition to an unjust state.
Thoreau's books, articles, essays, journals, and poetry total over 20 volumes. Among his lasting contributions were his writings on natural history and philosophy, where he anticipated the methods and findings of ecology and environmental history, two sources of modern day environmentalism. He was also deeply interested in the idea of survival in the face of hostile elements, historical change, and natural decay; at the same time he advocated abandoning waste and illusion in order to discover life's true essential needs.
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STUDY NOTES version 5.0