1. AHIMSA (NON
VIOLENCE): It is an ennobling virtue that brings each one to par with his or
her fellow beings, and ultimately leads to the principle of the brotherhood of
man and the Fatherhood of God. The cultivation of this virtue demands a broad
development of toleration towards all, irrespective of their shortcomings and
failures. To radiate the grand principle of the Family of Man on the divine
ground of loving and compassionate desire for the well-being of all, costs very
little but counts very much. A heart full of divine compassion is the abode of
all virtues. A close review of the problem would show that ordinarily we are
neither worried nor irritated when everything goes in accordance with our
wishes. No sooner do we fancy that our interests are thwarted or feelings are
injured, than a chain of reactions starts, resulting in violence in thought,
word and deed, according to one's physical, mental or moral make-up. Many of us
consider it our legitimate duty to repay the real or supposed insult in the
same coin, and very few would consider it a virtue to forego, forgive and
forget. Jesus always preached the two cardinal virtues: (1) "Love Thy
Neighbor as Thyself" and (2) "Love Thine Enemies." Does that
mean that it is out of timidity or weakness that one should love and forbear
one's enemies? No, there is something moral and divine that lies at the root of
such an attitude. The place where fire burns becomes heated first and then transmits
its heat to the atmosphere around. So is the case with the fire of anger. An
imagined or supposed wrong keeps rankling in the mind like a thorn. When one cannot bear its intensity, one bursts forth into flames
of hatred and contempt (begins abusing right and left), loses his balance of
mind, and like a canker keeps emitting a malign odor that virtually goes on
polluting the atmosphere around. Most of our injuries and wrongs are the
outcome of our own process of thinking, and such thoughts breed countless
others, multiplying in geometrical proportion. We can get out of this vicious
cycle only by changing our attitude towards life. Why sacrifice our natural
equanimity for mere trifles, for passing bubbles and vapory nothings that are
things of no consequence? Instead of brooding over these supposed and imagined
wrongs, it would be better by far to contemplate on the higher aspects of life,
the divinity within and the divinity without, for this world is verily of the
Divine and Divinity resides therein. If we really wish for God and aspire to
attain to the Godhead, we must learn to love His creation, for God is nothing
but Love. St. John has emphatically proclaimed, "He that Loveth not,
knoweth not God, for God is Love." Saith Kabir, "The soul in man is
of the same Essence as of God." This being the case, we must try to live
in our natural habitat of love and all that is and belongs to love, for love
beautifies everything within and without. We live because of the Love of God
which is but a life-Principle. Love, Life and Light are synonymous. The whole
creation is the manifestation of His Love and God verily dwelleth in it. Again,
it is said that the entire creation has sprung from Light and none need
therefore be dubbed as "Good" or "Bad". Intrinsically, all
of us have our roots deeply embedded in the Light and Love of God though we may
not be aware of it because we seldom get an opportunity to peep inward, for we
are all the time wholly engrossed in outer environments and have not the least
idea of what lies within the real essence of essences, the source of all life,
which is the Love and Light of God. If we only knew this and practiced it in
our workaday life, we could not but live within the Love of Him by whose Love
we live and all life exists. AHIMSA (Non-violence) then is the practical aspect
of the Divine Life, and a Fruit that grows on the Tree of Life.
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