Training in Nonviolence

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

Page 53

Foundation of Training in Nonviolence
block the flow of fear or about its rise? A proper and practical understanding of these issues is vital. Then only can fearlessness become the first stage of training in nonviolence.
Seed of Nonviolence
Proprietorship, accumulation and fear are interrelated. It is not easily possible to get rid of them. However, they can be cleansed, refined and disciplined. Therein lies the seed of nonviolence. The search for the means of refinements is difficult. Short-lived discipline or refinement is easy; making it lasting is very difficult. But, though difficult, it is not impossible.
First Practical Step
The course violence takes is from affection to thought and from thought to action. Therefore, the first step on the road to training in nonviolence is sublimation and refinement of affections. The mind has to be trained to ensure that only positive, and no negative, affections are generated.
Formula for Physical Training
It comprises Yogic Postures (asans) and rhythmic control or breath (pranayam): Padmasana (Lotus Posture), Shashankasana (Moon Posture), Yogmudra (Sealing Posture), Vajrasana (Thunderbolt Posture), Sarvangasan (All Limbs Posture), Matsyasana (Fish Posture), Godhikasana (Posture adopted while milking a cow) etc. affect the nervous and the endocrine systems. They weaken the physical factors responsible for violence. Anuloma-Viloma Chandrabhed Narhihshodhan. Ujjayi, Shitali (Pranayam that cools the system) and similar Pranayam purge the body of the causative factors of violence.
Formula for Mental Training
The formula for mental training is meditation. Kayotsarga (total relaxation), Deerghashvas Preksha (Perception of Deep Breathing or Diaphragmatic Breathing), Samvrittic Shvas Preksha (Perception of Exhalation and Inhalation alternatively through Right and Left Nostrils) and similar meditational practices contribute to the development of concentration. Violence increases directly in proportion to the degree of distraction. So the less the distraction is there, the less the violence.
Formula for Affecting Training
More important than physical and mental training is the training of affects. The formula for practising it consists in meditation on the Chaitanya Kendra (Psychic Centres). Contemplative practices are useful for all the three types of training - physical, mental and effective.
Base and the Field of Application
What has been expounded above is a method of individual training. In fact training in nonviolence is given only at the level of the individual. Its application,
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