JAIN DHARMA

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PHILOSOPHY OF NON VIOLENCE.
JAIN DHARMA is a philosophy, a way of living, to total non-injury or Ahimsa to all living beings and fully supports the ecology. The need to practice total non-injury and focusing on this ideal is a result of concern for a world that seems torn by conflict and terrorism. With terrorism and violence comes a need for advocacy of a principle that is hallowed by our moral and spiritual traditions: AHIMSA.

Mahavir lived and showed the way of Ahimsa for self-purification. Buddha's message gave Ashoks solace when he wearied of the bloodshed and wars. Mahatma Gandhi showed how nations can win freedom, and humankind transform itself through nonviolence. Today, the growth of terrorism makes nonviolence more necessary than ever. If there is any hope for man, it is THROUGH AHIMSA.

The cardinal principal is Ahimsa which means nonviolence in thought, words and actions, in living and in diet. In this way, our life becomes a blessing and not a curse to other living beings.

The vibrations of violence or peace do not come from outside. They come from inside. In the beginning there will be resistance. Tell your thoughts to "get out" and be firm just as we tell children. So we tell our mind what to do. But it is easy to tell others. It is much more difficult to tell our own self.

Violence percolates from inside. It comes from inside out. Each individual has to take charge of oneself, and create harmony in oneself. Unless we create peace inside, we won't be able to create peace outside.
So this is not only a teaching but it is primarily a practice, the practice of Ahimsa. AHIMSA means the dignity and sacredness of the human person in relation with all other living beings. Its criteria is Reverence for ALL Life.

Violence is spreading like wildfire all over the world and is devouring human life. It is a matter of grave concern to all of us and so our conscience urges us to do something in this direction: PRACTICING AHIMSA in everyday life, creating literature, holding conferences, seminars and increasing the consciousness of Reverence for All Life - these are the ways to peace. And with our sincere practice, meditation and prayer, we create vibrations of awareness of Reverence for Life; in this way, we help nullify the idea of de humanizing war and violence in the world at large.
Bhagwan Mahavira has shown us by the examples of his own life experiences that nonviolence and compassion are the answers for peace and well being. In order to expunge violence, one has to remove it from thoughts, from feelings, from the mind, and from one's expression. Knowing this law of life, we can purify our minds with meditation and understanding, and then with guidance we can help our children avoid becoming victims of this materialistic world where violence is predominant.

Success, not at the cost of others, not with conflict but with cooperation and coordination becomes pragmatic and automatic, it teaches an individual to transform his or her life and be the part of a world where love, amity and friendship are healing and nourishing to all living beings. The cruelty which is imposed upon the lives of animals is beyond imagination. True Jains, all through their history have refrained from cruelty. Carl Sagan in TIME MAGAZINE, October 20, 1980, wrote: "there is no right to life in any society on earth today, nor has there been at any former time (with a few rare exceptions, such as among all the JAINS in India)".
You will not find any vegetarian army that has participated in war. Nor will you find any vegetarian soldier who has gone out to kill human beings. That is why even Mahatma Gandhi, though he was not a Jain by birth, realized the true AHIMSA of Mahavira and embraced it and practiced it in his life. He raised AHIMSA to the level of statesmanship and politics to liberate India without bloodshed. This AHIMSA is a solace to mankind. Not only Gandhi; not only Martin Luther King; and not only the Venerable Japanese Monk Nichidatsu Fuji, but the whole world is now looking up to this principle of AHIMSA