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A LECTURE ON AHIMSA
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soul is potentially God. In every living thing mineral, plant, insect, bird, animal or man, there is soul, there is God.
This sublime conception of the presence of Divine Life in everything that breathes was taught not only by the Indian Sages and Saints but by the great thinkers and seers in other parts of the world. For example Sufi Mystic says in one place, "God sleeps in the mineral, dreams in the vegetables, wakes to consciousness in the animal, to self-consciousness in the man, to divine consciousness in the man made perfect." I remember to have read somewhere that a friend of Gibbon, the greatest historian of the Roman Empire, once took him to a magnificent church to see the building. After seeing the whole church which was famous for its splendid architecture, both the friends came out and sat on the staircase for a while to take rest. The friend of Gibbon asked him, "Learned Sir, What do you think of this Temple of God. Is this not really a wonderful construction?"
"Wonderful indeed," replied Gibbon, "but this Church is nothing when compared to this temple of God, (pointing to an ant that was crawling on the step below). Here God lives, breathes and moves."
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Again, Saint Francis of Assisi used to address the sparrows as "My brothers and sisters" and invite the birds and animals to take food with him. They all responded to his call and this was a marvel to the ordinary people.
All the great seers and thinkers of the world were conscious of the potential equality of all the souls whether they were embodied as minerals, vegetables, birds, animals or men. They have all taught us to love one another and be kind and merciful towards the lower creation. Are our actions in accordance with their teachings? Let us examine ourselves and see.
From morning till night our daily life is one of himsa in some degree or other. If we harbour evil thoughts about others, abuse them and inflict bodily pain on them we commit himsa. This is called intentional or sankalpini himsa. When a king orders his army to fight against an invader or when a Shree Sudharmaswami Gyanbhandar-Umara, Surat
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