Introduction to Jainism

Author(s): Rudi Jansma, Sneh Rani Jain
Publisher: Prakrit Bharti Academy

Page 77

AHIMSA
75
environment and respect their point of view? Should we regard them as unavoidable agents of karma, fulfilling the unpleasant duty of destroying the old so that something new can be born and grow? As to terrorists, as long as he or she is impersonally serving an ideal other than rendering service to some private psychological frustration, this man or woman too is thinking that he or she is doing the best he or she can for his or her people, religion, ethics, or whatever conviction it may be (blinded as they may be by ignorance concerning the real meaning of religion and service), and we should try to understand the core of their motivation, and the cause which aroused their feelings and the feelings of those they represent. When two people or groups of people such as nations or religious brotherhoods are connected in an unpleasant relationship, both are part of the problem, both have their ignorance, especially about the others real inner intentions - for which they are often willing to sacrifice all comforts and possessions, their family and even their lives. Both may think they serve the universal good of divine intention or justice. Both may even be driven by compassion – though probably not enough wisdom. A terrorist for the one may be a hero for the other; a chosen president or other national leader may be a devil for those who suffer on the other side. Talking and serious willingness to listen and understand the other's viewpoint may turn the worst enemies into the best friends, recognizing each other as brothers serving the same cause of higher human dignity and destiny. So the anekānta doctrine, if implemented, can avoid tremendous amounts of fear, misunderstanding, and social, material and physical suffering and violence among the human community (and even the animal and other communities – which are usually forgotten during conflicts).
Still, however many “other cheeks” we may present, however much we talk and try to understand, some will always remain enemies because of their psychology. In such cases, let the parties battle, with words and psychological confrontation, on as small a scale as possible – at best on the
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