Lessons of Ahimsa and Anekanta for Contemporary Life

Author(s): Tara Sethia
Publisher: California State Polytechnic University Pomona

Page 56

Satish Kumar, "Nonviolence for All”
disappear altogether. So let us practice nonviolence in our speech: speak less, think what we are going to say, and how we are going to say it. This may be the first step toward a nonviolent world order.
I speak about nonviolence because I personally witnessed the events of September 11, 2001. That evening I was due to give a public lecture in New York Open Center. I was staying close to the twin towers of the World Trade Center in Greenwich Village. That morning I was woken up by the loud noise of emergency vehicles. We could not figure out what was going on. Then we got a call from my friend's wife asking us to put the television on, which we did. We could not believe what we saw on the television screen. So we went outside. We were only a 10-15 blocks from the location. As we stood there on the Seventh Avenue, we saw a plane come over the second tower, went around the tower and then pierced through it. We were shocked. Lots of people gathered on the street. The traffic stopped. We were all speechless. People were hugging each other. We saw people jumping off from the windows of the twin towers. A few minutes later, we saw the two towers collapse. I went to the Open Center that afternoon. Of course the meeting was cancelled. We decided to put a notice outside as a gesture of nonviolence. The notice invited those who needed help or counseling. About 25 people came and we talked.
I tell you this story in the context of nonviolence. As a Jain, who has dedicated his whole life to nonviolence. First as a monk, and later going around the world for peace, walking like a Jain monk from India to America without a penny - totally without money. Just going from door to door and village to village and depending on the goodwill and hospitality of the people. I walked, along with a friend, about 8000 miles to promote the principles of nonviolence. Then witnessing the criminal violence of September 11 was devastating. You can imagine my situation. My entire body was saturated with feelings of nonviolence. Seeing such catastrophe made nonviolence even more urgent. I feel that September 11 has changed or should change our lives.
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