Jain Center of America NY 2005 06 Pratishtha

Author(s): Jain Center of America NY
Publisher: USA Jain Center America NY

Page 47

AHIMSA IS LIFE
Gurudev Chitrabhanuji
"As we meditate we come to know ourselves. We discover the sacred beauty of life."
Ahimsa is not a philosophy. Ahimsa is not a religion. Ahimsa is a feeling of life. Many people say, "Ahimsa means don't hurt anybody. Don't kill." That is one meaning, but it is secondary. The first meaning is: "Don't hurt yourself. When you hurt somebody, you are already violent inside; you lose the feeling of amity. Ahimsa is the road from enmity to amity. From hostility to love! Ahimsa is a subtle thing. It cannot be grasped unless we go deep into ourselves. As we meditate we come to know ourselves. We discover the sacred beauty of life. Unless we have that experience, we may use the word Ahimsa, but it will only be lip service. It will just come from language; it will not emanate from experience. To practice Ahimsa, one has to remove the veil of ignorance about oneself. One has to experience life.
Once we have the experience, we make an inner commitment to practice Ahimsa in three areas: With our actions. With our words. With our thoughts. Every night we review our day and ask, "Did I harm myself? Did I have any negative thoughts and feeling toward anybody? Did I criticize anybody? Did I judge anybody?"
As we develop the tenderness in ourselves, we see the tenderness in others and become more compassionate toward others. Once we see the sacred beauty of life in ourselves, we see that sacred beauty in others. We do not see that person as a man or woman or a person from a certain sect or religion. All these obstacles evap
orate.
Unless we see beyond the barriers, there won't be peace in the world. We may talk about peace; but inside we go on creating separation. Some say, "My religion is best; it is the only true religion. And, if you don't start to practice my religion, you will go to hell." Such dogmatism and bigotry is also a form of violence. When we practice Ahimsa, we try to understand what others are saying, what they are conveying, what they are feeling. We listen beyond the words.
Once you start practicing, your life becomes an inspiration. Wherever you go your eyes will speak; your feelings will speak; your words will speak; your actions will speak. And people will be changed. Not by your words, but by what they see. When we experience the sacred beauty of life, we experience peace. We inspire peace. Then, there will be peace. There will be peace.
Ahimsa and a meditative mind go hand in hand. Meditation is seeing things as they are. And when you see, you feel and you experience. A child is not thinking; it is experiencing. That is why it does not think that you are old or young, beautiful or ugly. It does not discriminate. It sees life. It connects with life.
In meditation we get in touch with life: its depth, its joy, its beauty, its ecstasy. This is our source. But when we think, the mind either worries about the future or has regrets about the past. So, the present slips through our fingers. In meditation, we just feel and live. We are in tune with the experience of life. Life is the experience. Life is not permanent. Life is change. Whatever action comes, it comes from our source. That source we experience and expand in meditation. We tune in. We connect to ourselves, our body, our cells, our vibrations. And we progressively evolve in this change.