Non Violence

Author(s): Dada Bhagwan
Publisher: Dada Bhagwan Foundation

Page 25

Ahimsa
Ahimsa
has gained from this act. You should conduct yourself in such a way that your benefits are greater than your losses but you should stop if your losses are greater than your gains. If however, you do not pick any flowers, then there is no gain or loss.
Suffering Inflicted On Flowering Plants
Questioner: Have I not bound sins for all the flowers that I have picked so far?
Religious rituals are done to decrease difficulties in life. The Lord has said that the ascetics should do intent puja (internalized offering to The Lord as opposed to dravya puja which utilizes material objects for external offering). The Jains do dravya puja. Through dravya puja their worldly obstacles are removed. So what I am saying is that if you have difficulties in life, you should offer flowers to the Gnani Purush. Those that do not have any difficulties need not do anything at all. But as far as the Gnani Purush is concerned, he remains detached.
Yet despite all this, some people still strictly adhere to this quote and obsess over hurt caused by picking even flower petals. I tell them that in doing so, they are mixing both the college and elementary levels of understanding. They would do better to heed what Krupaludev has said when they reach a higher spiritual level. I gave them Lord Mahavir's example to illustrate the point.
Dadashri : The sin that you incur from picking flowers for thousands of years is still lesser than the sin you bind from just a single lifetime worth of kashayas (anger, pride, attachment and greed) you create with those near you. That is why The Lord has said that the first thing man needs to do is to stop arguments and bickering. Picking flowers is not a problem, but it should not be done unnecessarily for one's own vanity and pleasure. One can pick flowers as an offering to the Lord.
Questioner: But there is a saying: "Where even a flower petal is harmed, one has transgressed the principles of the Jinas (Enlightened Ones)".
I told them that in His final incarnation, Lord Mahavir was married and also had a daughter. He led a worldly life until the age of thirty and despite this He attained full liberation. What knowledge allowed Him to achieve liberation despite living a married life? It is at this level of spiritual development where this quote is relevant.
Dadashri : Those are the words of the Tirthankars that Krupadudev had written. But where is this dictum applicable? It is for the one who has reached a spiritual level where one is free from all desires. But for you, you still have to wear these fancy clothes, do you not?
Questioner : Yes, and they have to be ironed too!
Dadashri : Yes ironed ones at that too! The worldly people have a need for many things. That is why it is said that one should offer the flowers to the Lord. Have you not seen people offer flowers to the idols of Tirthankaras?
So understand that flowers can be offered to the deities. People are needlessly cautious about violence towards flowers while they have no reservations about their kashayas and hurting people around them. They do not inflict pain on the flowers but they inflict gross pain on people. The one who truly does not hurt even a flower petal is non-violent in all respects. He would even walk very carefully so as not to disturb a sleeping
dog.