Training in Nonviolence

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

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Foundation of Training in Nonviolence
Is it possible to train people in nonviolence? The question is neither unnatural nor irrelevant. It is a certain disposition of the mind, which results in Ahimsa or nonviolence. The former can be the subject of training: not the latter. The same logic will apply to violence. A disposition can be got rid of as well as transformed. Its outcome can neither be removed nor transformed. Origin of Violence
Man by instinct is given to acquisition and accumulation. It is here that violence is born. Transforming this instinct is the best means of bringing about nonviolence. Training in nonviolence lies solely in making efforts to rouse the awareness of non-acquisitiveness.
We cannot even think of training in nonviolence without a thorough discussion of and reflection on concepts like individual ownership, collective ownership, state ownership, cooperative ownership, centralized or decentralized economy. The tremendous attraction held out by individual ownership has been responsible for the success of the above system for economic development. Both collective and state ownership have beaten a retreat, as this is evident from the development of the past ten years. Cooperative ownership has fared no better, either. The reason is not far to seek. The instinct for ownership is at its strongest only at the level of the individual. In all other cases it gets enfeebled. This means there is a direct relation between acquisition and violence. The instinct for ownership leads to acquisition, which in turn breeds violence. Training in Nonviolence: The Beginning
The solution to the problem of violence lies in answering the question: where does one begin for training people in nonviolence? The first step to nonviolence is fearlessness. Even a thousand repetitions of the Mantra, "Do not fear" will not rid an individual of fear so long as he is attracted by the body and infatuated by wealth and material objects. How can one achieve the aim by nursing the cause of fear in the mind and repeating the lesson of fearlessness orally? In what way can one
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