Non Violence

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

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intoxication will remain with them through countless lives. Such people become conceited and say, 'I am something, I am something.'
Once there was a Jain merchant who had two sons: a three-year-old and a year-old infant. When a plague hit their village, the merchant and his wife died, leaving the children behind. The villagers held a meeting to determine the fate of the two boys. A goldsmith adopted the older boy, but no one was ready to adopt the younger one. A man belonging to a lower caste came forward and offered to take the infant. Some of the villagers protested, saying that it was wrong for a Jain child to go into a family of a lower caste, but they ultimately conceded. When the older child became an adult, he strongly opposed eating meat and drinking alcohol. The younger brother on the other hand insisted that one should drink alcohol and eat meat. How can the thinking of these two brothers differ so much?
Questioner: It was because of their upbringing.
Dadashri : Yes, their upbringing. The villagers asked a sage how it was possible that two brothers should have such contrary beliefs and wanted to know which one of them would attain liberation. The sage told them that liberation was a completely different matter, which could not be applied to either of the brothers because they were both egotistical. One had an ego about not drinking alcohol or eating meat and the other had an ego about doing both. To attain liberation one has to be without ego.
Exclusively For Those Who Revere Non-Violence
What people nowadays believe is not what the Lord has proclaimed as the truth. The Lord is very wise. He said that not a single being exists in this world that can kill another being,
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because everything is governed by vyavasthit (scientific circumstantial evidences). How can one person kill another, when in order for a person to die, so many circumstances have to come together? But at the same time, He also said that this fact should be kept absolutely secret. Some found this statement contradictory with regards to non-violence. They would say, *You teach us not to harm even a single living being and now you are saying this?" The Lord said that this information is only meant for those who revere non-violence. It is not for those who practice violence. Such individuals would misuse the Lord's statement and feel that they have a license to kill. They would create misery all around by developing inner intent of violence. Therefore this matter can only be discussed with those who revere Ahimsa.
The Lord has said that one should not have the ego for either committing violence or for practicing non-violence. If you kill, you are really killing all reverence for your own soul. You are committing violence against yourself. The Soul does not die, but you are committing violence against yourself, which is why The Lord has forbidden it. On the other hand, if you try to save lives, you will be doing so with ego, which is also violence against your soul. In both instances, one is doing something wrong. Why not stay out of this predicament?
In reality no living being can kill another living being, but if The Lord had openly stated the fact that no living being is able to kill another, people with ego would claim that they are able to kill. No one has the strength to do this, but nevertheless people have a false notion (vikalp) about it, which is why they are perpetually caught in the cycle of birth and death. All the Gnanis have witnessed the way the world functions. People have so many false beliefs, so how can they be free from them?