Jain Spirit 2001 12 No 09

Author(s): Jain Spirit UK
Publisher: UK Young Jains

Page 59

Gandhiji Revitalised Ahimsa
CHANDU SHAH
Prime Minister Mr. John Major learning about ahimsa from his visit to the
Jain Temple in Leicester in November 1996
succeeded in mobilising millions into becoming revolutionaries without fear and without arms. Under his creative leadership, the non-violent armies challenged and defeated the world's most powerful diehard British imperialism.
action. This also automatically leads to the development and enhancement of many of the noble personal qualities such as forgiveness, fairness, fearlessness, attitude of positive thinking and due consideration for others feelings. It is apparent that any conflict won with violence ends in a never ending bitter feeling with a potential for frequent rekindling of violence and injury, whereas the conflict resolutions based on non-violence end with permanent peace and good will. It was because of this peaceful freedom resolution achieved through non-violence that the free India chose to befriend Britain instead of hating Britain and the British Empire.
Again, the passive practice of tolerance is easy - live and let live. It could simply mean to be kind to mute, non-threatening living beings. Active tolerance involves not only tolerating, but also understanding an opponent's point of view. While passive tolerance compares with non-action and indifference, active tolerance refers to the Jain's principle of anekantvada, which nurtures understanding and respect for the other's viewpoints. Gandhiji identified the active tolerance to be essential in using the method of satyagraha in resolving conflicts at all levels from a small personal level to community, national and international.
Gandhiji practised active ahimsa, active tolerance through understanding of multiple viewpoints (anekantvada) and an ascetic life-style (aparigraha). He ingrained these basic Jain principles in his philosophy and in his life-style, and successfully demonstrated their use to the modern world in amicable and peaceful conflict resolutions and in the conservation of natural resources. Greater cooperation between the superpowers and various countries is happening because there is really no other alternative but to adopt the principles of non-violence and mutual tolerance. S2
resources beyond essential personal necessities.
The perfect label that best describes Gandhiji is the one that he attached to himself: the practicalidealist. In his own struggles in South Africa, Gandhiji first attempted to fight injustice through the available instruments of law, which he found to be ineffective. He then had the option of either to continue to accept the unjust system or resort to violence. He realised that response to violence has always been violence, thereby setting up the vicious cycle of never ending violence. He rejected both options and invented a third one: satyagraha - extra-constitutionalism combined with non-violence and dynamism, but without the destruction of the system and without perpetuation of violence. This unprecedented, dynamic method of satyagraha for demanding justice was based on the principles of truth (satya), love (prema), service (seva), humanism or kindness (sarvodaya), and ahimsa. Gandhiji applied this idealistic satyagraha weapon to the real life problem of challenging the unjust laws in South Africa. Later, he used the same approach in awakening the political consciousness in Indian masses during the British rule and infused a dignified moral force. He
"Active tolerance
involves not only acknowledging but also
understanding an opponent's point of
view.'
Underlying the principle of nonviolence in Gandhiji's philosophy is the powerful principle of tolerance. Both non-violence and tolerance can be passive as well as active. In a passive form, non-violence is easy to practise. None of us normally would do any harm to others. But the practice of active non-violence is harder. It requires courage, self-discipline, thorough understanding and analysis of the truth from its various aspects. Once non-violence is clearly understood and adopted as a way of life, one would not deliberately hurt or cause injury to others in thought, speech or
Dr. Mahendra Dosi lives in Alpharetta, Georgia, USA.
December 2001 - February 2002. Jain Spirit
55