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compassion, protection, etc., result in the beneficial positive feelings of friendship, brotherhood, affection and they reduce and destroy the feelings of attachment and aversion, delusion and passions, etc., that are already present or that are on the rise at the time and melt then just as the ice melts and becomes water that eventually evaporates. Therefore, for a non-violent person the activities of mercy, charity, etc., cause reduction in attachment, aversion and delusion and these are, therefore, beneficial.
What is meant here is that the beneficial and non-violent activities of mercy, charity, etc., purify the soul and these are, therefore, not abandonable. The abandonable volitions are the harmful volitions of attachment, aversion etc., that accompany these beneficial volitions. The abandoning of these volitions depends on the endeavour of the spiritual aspirant. These flaws are present in the volitional stoppage, restraint and penance of as exalted spiritual aspirant as a vigilantly restrained monk. Therefore, he also incurs sinful bondages in little measures due to the effect of these flaws. However, because of the presence of these flaws the restraint and penance do not become abandonable. Similarly, non-violence also does not become abandonable in either of its manifestations - positive or negative. This fact equally applies to all three parts of dharma – that is, non-violence, restraint and penance. Therefore, as the activities of restraint and penance cannot be treated as abandonable even if some flaws remain associated with them, so the activities of positive non-violence like mercy, kindness, charity, service, etc., also cannot be treated as abandonable even if some flaws are present in them. The requirement is that of getting rid of those flaws rather than abandoning the activities of positive non-violence themselves. To consider them as harmful is neither justified nor proper. It is a folly to do so and such a folly can destroy everything. Due to this folly the spiritual aspirant cannot progress even a step in the right direction in his spiritual practices. The reason being that where there is no humanity, how can there be any dharma or religious practice?
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Positive Non-Violence
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