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Editor's Note
Both violence and nonviolence have been in existence from time immemorial. It is also true that a householder who has to resort to various activities for his survival cannot abstain from violence in its entirety. It was why Lord Mahavira- the 24th Tirthankar of the nonviolent Jain Tradition - prescribed the middle path for himself. Personally, he should at least refrain from inessential and intentional violence. But man's deviation from the path of dharma as enunciated by the self-illumined sages has plunged the world into the abyss of violence and hatred.
The Jain ecology is based on the realization that all life forms inhabiting our planet are 'bound together by mutual support and interdependence. It means that all living beings, big or small, are bound in a physical as well as a metaphysical relationship. Each life is a gift of togetherness, accommodation and cooperation in a universe teeming with jivas (souls). The question that agitates the minds of positive thinking people across the world is how the extreme forms of violence that mark the world today; in the form of terrorism, ethnic, religious and political wars, vandalism and killing for money, can be avoided.
The 20th Century will be remembered for ghastly wars, racial frenzy untold human suffering and hatred. It was believed that the 21st Century would usher in an era of peace and happiness but the hope was belied in the first decade of the century itself. The terrorist strikes in different parts of the world, the wars of Iraq and Afghanistan, unabated killings in the Middle East, incidents of shooting classmates, teachers and parents by teenagers, communal violence and ever-increasing violence at family level have disappointed peace and nonviolence crusaders alike. Way back in 1997, the Nobel Peace Laureates, appalled by this gruesome situation, signed an appeal for the children of the world and called for an International Decade for Peace. The UN General Assembly endorsed their appeal and declared the decade from 2000 to 2010 as a Decade of a Culture of Peace and Nonviolence for the Children of the World. These efforts have, of course, generated an environment across the globe but nothing concrete has emerged so far to prevent violence among teenagers. However some organizations have launched independent initiatives to train the young and the old in nonviolence in different parts of the world. What is disheartening is that in the name of training in nonviolence only training in theory is being imparted to trainees by these groups.
His Holiness Acharya Mahapragya, who is known for his Anuvrat Movement and Ahimsa Yatra, is of the view that attitudinal changes can occur only if the trainees are also exposed to practical exercises. According to Acharya Mahapragya questions relating to peace, the lack of peace combined with violence and nonviolence are linked with human mind and human consciousness. Hence it is not possible to solve the problem by mere
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