Vegetarianism has been known for thousands of years as a principle of health and environmental ethics throughout India. It remains to this day a cardinal ethic of Jain thought and practices. Each form of life, even water and trees possesses consciousness and energy. Nonviolence, (Ahinsä), the primary basis of vegetarianism, has long been central to the religious traditions of India, especially Jainism. Religion in India has consistently upheld the sanctity of life, whether human, animal, or the most elemental. More than twenty-five hundred years ago, Lord Mahävir made a simple yet profound statement based on the inclusion of Non-violence into the very fabric of his consciousness. “All of life is just like me. I want to live. So do all souls, all living beings. The instinct of self-preservation is universal. Every living being clings to life and fears death. Each one of us wants to be free from pain. So let me carry out all my activities with great care so that I am not harmful to any living being.” The philosophy of Non-violence is a living practice. More than refraining from violence, it is a deep reverence for all life. When anger, jealousy, or unfulfilled ambitions provoke us, the one whom we damage first is our own self. This is equally true of harsh, slanderous, or critical speech. It works like a matchstick; before it ignites something else, it burns its own self. Before putting anybody down, judging them, or treating anyone as an inferior, we must examine ourselves. Before buying or using any product, we must ask, “By my action, am I causing any living being to pay a price in pain? Directly or indirectly, am I destroying any life?” From the moment this awareness becomes a part of our daily life, we find that traits and habits, which used to limit us, disappear naturally. We are no longer able to invite pain and disease to our bodies through uninformed eating habits. The vegetarian way of life becomes a natural outcome of inner understanding. By doing everything we can to minimize violence and pain to life, we enjoy living with a pure consciousness and a clean conscience.
Posted on: Thu, 06 Jun 2013 12:06:41 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015