Lessons of Ahimsa and Anekanta for Contemporary Life

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

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Lessons of Ahimsa and Anekanta for Contemporary Life
stopped. He killed his ego and anger instead of kiling his brother. He removed hair from his head and renounced the world. The event transformed his life. Near Bangalore there is a big statue of Bahubali. We should celebrate his legacy of great courage not to kill but to overcome ego and anger.
Mahāvīra is a super example of nonviolence. He grew up as a prince. He had all the power, wealth and comfort. But he decided to leave these behind and go with a begging bowl. There is a great message in this renunciation of power and affluence for us and for the world. The modern democracies encourage us to seek power. It is believed that only through acquisition of political power we can help others. Therefore, individuals and parties spend millions of dollars to gain power. But Mahāvīra was born to rule. He was given the opportunity to do good by governing and controlling others. Yet, he renounced power, wealth and the material world. Goodness, virtues, service, compassion and peace cannot be imposed from top down. This qualities have to grow from the bottom of our hearts, every one's hearts. So Mahāvīra advocated spiritual democracy. He worked for social change through personal purification and transformation of the soul. By renouncing political power he gained spiritual power. There is a powerful lesson here for modern democracies which have become power hungry and corrupt. So much is their concern for power that it must be maintained at any cost and defended with weapons of mass destruction and other violent means. Mahāvīra teaches us to serve rather than to rule.
Now the Jains need to wake up. We have been sleeping for too long and keeping nonviolence to ourselves as if it is too precious so keep it confined. We need to communicate the message of nonviolence actively in political, social, ecological domains. In Jain tradition, ahimsā (nonviolence) and anekānta (multiple truths) go together, like two legs of a human being. There is no one truth but many truths. It is like the great garden of Eden, the humanity and the world are diverse-we have the black people, the white people, the yellow people, the dancing