Light of Nonviolence

Author(s): Sushilmuni
Publisher: Vishwa Ahimsa Sangh Delhi

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by the arm and pretend that you are going to beat me. I want to show you something."
When I took the zoo-keeper by the arm and pretended to hurt him, the monkey became very upset, yelling and screaming, and threatening to attack me. But all the owner did was to say, "Stop!" and the monkey became silent and he did not show anymore anger. The meaning was that the monkey could not tell the difference between real intention and pretense. He only knows what he sees with his eyes.
Then I thought; when I read a tragic story in a book or see actors on a stage, I have great feeling for all the characters. I lose my mind and my feelings take over just like the monkey. It is very important that we have sympathy for the troubles of other people, but we must be able to distinguish illusion from reality; otherwise, we will only act as the monkey does.
If you feel a oneness and love for animals, they will love you in return. The only problem is that an animal's love is not as universal as ours. Animals will have an affection for those who feed them but not as much for other people, usually. But we can know about our nature and how we are conditioned by the physical laws of nature, and our capacity for caring and loving is greater than that of nonhuman animals.
At the same time, we must remember that humans also have a greater capacity for cruelty and violence, as
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