Training in Nonviolence

Author(s): Mahapragna Acharya
Publisher: Anuvrat Global Organization

Page 21

Reverence for Life
Teenage Violence
On the one hand we see that the incidents that trigger violence are on the rise, on the other hand efforts are also being made for universal peace. Is it not a contradictory situation? If you expose your children daily to violent scenes, what will they learn? What will a youth learn? If they see such violent scenes everyday, they will imbibe violence and their minds will be affected by it. That is why for those who have begun to understand the language of arms; the value of life has ceased. If it were not so, there would be no shooting in schools, no killing in educational institutions. A school is a sacred place of learning. It is a centre for worshipping Saraswati - the goddess of learning. How can one dare to shoot one's friends at such a pious place? But unfortunately it has happened in some American and western schools. Now the question before us is who is shooting. It is not a robber, nor a dacoit, nor an extremist but it is the students themselves who are shooting. The students who come to study in schools resort to shooting. They kill not only other students but also their teachers.
Is it the result of reverence for life or irreverence for life? If he has learnt to respect life, he cannot indulge in such violent acts. If you cannot save anyone's life you shouldn't think of taking the other's life. We have both the categories of the people in the world. There are those who risk their own lives to save others and there are others who destroy the lives of others. Let alone the question of saving other's lives but if only one decides to refrain from killing others, it will mean respect for the lives of others. It will also indicate that one has learned the meaning of respect for life. The ideal is that we inculcate a sense of reverence for all lives. What we see today is that provocative situations are created to instigate violence. When a student or youth watches scenes of violence on TV, it creates an indelible impact on his mind. This impact becomes a formative influence on him. The value of life loses its meaning for him. He thinks that one who has come into the world will die tomorrow. All have to leave the precincts of the world late or soon. What does it matter if one dies now or later? In his view there is no such thing as respect for life. Peace is impossible till a person's consciousness of ahimsa is awakened and till he realizes that we shouldn't cause suffering to others. Ethics and Violence
As a person begins to realize the equality of the souls, his respect for life will also increase. I feel that there isn't much respect for life today. If it were so there wouldn't be unnecessary violence. It is true that violence existed even in the ancient times but the people of those times refrained from unnecessary violence. In India there was a time when there were some ethical norms even for a war. There was a code of conduct for warriors. Everyone who took part in the war followed the code of conduct - "No one will attack an unarmed man." We come across several examples in the story of the Mahabharata when unarmed persons were spared. It shows that they had great respect for life. It was because of his commitment to respect for life that the emperor Chetak who was a disciple of Lord Mahavira had taken a vow that he would not strike first. He would hit back only when someone
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