Jain Digest 1994 06 Special Issue

Author(s): Federation of JAINA
Publisher: USA Federation of JAINA

Page 20

GURUJI'S MESSAGE FOR THE
SYMPOSIUM ON "SURVIVAL OR VIOLENCE” NONVIOLENCE IS THE GUARANTEE FOR WORLD PEACE
Thought is force. Thought has unlimited power. You are what you think. Anyone can achieve complete success by spiritual awareness. 2,500 years ago Lord Mahavir gave this perfect truth, "All mankind is one. There is no superiority or inferiority, no caste or creed, no Caucasian or Aryan." Weather conditions in various areas may have produced amounts of pigmentation as far as our skin is concerned, but since our systems of birth and death are the same, our smiling and weeping is the same, our reactions to pain and pleasure are similar, how can we make distinctions by caste, color or religion? A cow's skin may be red, white or black but the milk is the same. If all the nations of the world can accept the principle of nonviolence, who will attack? If no country is ready to attack there will be no problem between China or Pakistan and India or between Iran and Iraq. Mankind is like a big lake. If someone puts poison in any part of the lake, all the water will become poisonous and people will die. It is not possible to poison only a portion of the lake and expect the people on that portion to die and those on other portions to survive. Total survival and total destruction are related. Science has advanced to such a degree that all mankind on this planet must either die together or all must survive together. It is time to stop the sinful waste of money which is being poured into the production of instruments of destruction. This money should be used for the betterment of the world, mankind and all living beings. It is the perfect time for people to begin to understand the need for nonviolence. Mankind has suffered much from world wars. They understand the result of fighting and destruction. It is time to practice peace and awareness, to achieve perfection and total enlightenment. We must stand. We must not sleep. We must be awake and stand, but not with weapons. We must fight for the betterment of society - not for jealousy or destruction. Inside each of us there is a violent army disturbing us. Anger, jealousy, ego, greed, desire and madness of thoughts comprise this army. We must organize a stronger nonviolent
army of peace, contentment, self-realization, complete health, bliss and total samadhi. We must work for peaceful coexistence and universal brotherhood. We will march for the betterment of mankind. Then we will accept a nonviolent system of society where there is no lord and no servant. We will help each other and be friendly to one another. The days have gone when the nonsensical principle of killing for survival was upheld. We must help one another. The whole world is existing through and by mutual help. We are all interdependent. Without trees no living being can survive. Trees are converting the minerals of nature into edible fruit. Mankind cannot survive without animals. Animals are eating what is excess and sending it back into nature. The cycle of the universe is going on with the help of trees and animals and both poles, North and South. This is the main energy center. If one pole would become weak and create imbalance, the whole cycle would be destroyed. If you want to live, then you must be ready to live and let live. We all have to accept it and now is the time. The U.N. is thinking about human rights. We must think about animal rights and ecology rights. Without the animals and the trees we can't survive. If we even think about destruction, the negative thoughts create a vibration that could destroy our whole system. Lord Mahavir taught we must practice oneness by body, mind and word. Feel oneness with all living beings and expand yourself. When you experience the universal feeling that all is one and one is all -- that is enlightenment. That is universal man - - Superman. Jainism is calling such a universal man *Arihant.' Arihant means the superman who has awakened all extrasensory perception. Christ-consciousness, Bodhisattva or Avatar - all mean the same thing. We are awaiting the birth of a superman who has all powers of mercy, survival, love and oneness, but the basic idea is nonviolence. That is the beginning. If you think about others they will think about you. What you do not want for yourself do not do to others. When you feel oneness with all, jealousy, anger and greed, the army of satan, cannot exist. The time has come when we must decide either for total survival or total destruction. If we accept violence in any form, we cannot expect the world to survive. If we want total survival, the only way is to feel oneness with all living beings; love, brotherhood and coexistence. Om peace. Om shanti.
Page 18
June 1994
Jain Digest
Jain Education Intemational 2010_02