Training in Nonviolence

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

Page 26

Training in Nonviolence
Question - If it becomes necessary for us to abandon one more thing, what
should we abandon? Confucius - Abandon food. Question - Should we abandon faith then? Confucius - No, if you abandon faith, your very existence will come to an
end. (iii) Ahimsa Yatra and People's Faith
The work that has been done to serve humanity during the last six years by means of Ahimsa Yatra has generated confidence in people. I can notice its impact and the people have also begun to feel it. They have reposed faith in me because my character reflected the formative influence of ahimsa from the childhood itself, which matured in the company of Acharya Tulsi. I never give any importance to caste. I know the significance of Jainism and the principles it stands for. According to Jainism there can be no caste on the basis of one's birth but the profession one chooses can define it. Lord Mahavira has said ekka manuss jai (human race is one). On account of my irrevocable faith in it we do not have any problem of casteism. The problem that our society faces today is that of communalism or sectarianism. It is a big obstacle. I have never believed in it too since most years of my life were spent in proximity to Acharya Tulsi. We have remained free from this problem. I have a right to project my religion as a world religion but I have no right to refute the other world religions. I received a request from the Ramkrishna Math of Chennai to write on those principles of Jainism that make it a world religion. I wrote the article and sent it to them. It was published in their journal. Not only that but also printed five thousand copies of the article separately and distributed them among the people across the world.
Everyone has a right to make his religion a world religion but no one has a right to compel the entire world to be initiated into it. It is false ego, which is responsible for the problems in the world today. Such religious fundamentalism is adding fuel to the fire of violence. The reason why we have succeeded in our project to serve humanity is that neither the problem of caste prejudices nor that of communalism ever gripped our dharma sangha. We are guided solely by truth. It alone is the basis of our work. As a result people are coming forward to join our mission. In the course of my journeys into Gujarat, Maharashtra, Punjab, Haryana etc I met intellectuals and thinkers who frankly acknowledged that they didn't consider me a Jain Acharya but rather they thought of me as the Acharya of the whole humanity. I am heartened by their observation. It has been possible because we could spend some moments in the service of humanity. My introspection has led me to conclude that to some extent we have been able to carry out the first directive of Gurudeva. Worldwide Dissemination of Jain Vidya
His second directive was to disseminate Jain wisdom widely across the world. We are also getting success in this area because the Jain religious tradition has in it
20 Jain Education International