Book Title: Jain Spirit 2005 06 No22 Author(s): Jain Spirit UK Publisher: UK Young JainsPage 36
________________ lustration by Timothy Cutting. Email: Jain Eguration International WAR BEC FROM WORDS SATISH KUMAR widens the definition of ahimsa HT When W I was an eighteen-year-old Jain monk, I read the autobiography of Mahatma Gandhi. As a monk I was concerned with personal non-violence. But Gandhi had made personal non-violence go a bit further and extended it into social, political and ecological non-violence. Of course, the roots of social, political and ecological non-violence are all there in Jain philosophy. But in practice, we Jains have become too centred on personal non-violence. Influenced by Gandhi, I wanted to extend non-violence into social, political and ecological spheres. So I remain a Jain, although no longer a monk, and I continue my quest on the path of holistic non-violence. I do so because I believe that the Jain philosophy is dynamic rather than a static dogma. they all means a person who keeps silence (maunam). It is believed that when Mahavir A Jain monk is called a muni. The word 'muni' gave his first sermon sitting under the tree, he sat in silence. Animals, birds, angels and humans - all came for this great event, and www.jainelibrary.orgPage Navigation
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