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What is Ahimsa?

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Published: 28Jan2010
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In the religion of Jainism there is the principle of Ahimsa. Ahimsa is a principle that is highly regarded and followed by its religious members. Literary it means being completely non-violent, or more accurately exemplifying a state of "harmlessness" or "gentleness." People who are involved in this practice, mainly nuns and monks but other followers practice this as well, will even sweep the tiniest ant out of their way before sitting, in order to keep the small life alive. Basically they believe all life is sacred no matter how "insignificant" one might think that life to be. Since they have this belief they are unable to hold jobs which might involve hurting any life form such as animals and insects. Thus, they typically hold jobs which involve caring for life such as a doctor, an educator, lawyer, or some form of business. They will even open animal hospitals in order to protect them and have been known to help people as well. All over America this principle is basically ignored as people and animals are killed every day with little to no regard for their lives.

On the local level in the DFW area, people can see the violation of the principle of Ahimsa all over. The first and probably most obvious violation is seen in kill shelters. In these types of animal shelters, animals that are perfectly healthy but unable to be adopted are euthanized simply because there is no one to take care of them. These kill shelters disregard the principle that all life is sacred, even if it is a life that cannot be taken care of. Another if the act of exterminating "pest" which almost every business has to do because of health code regulations. By killing these insects whether they are bugs like cockroaches, ants, beetles, or rodents such as rats, the act of exterminating them violates the standard of sacred life and shows harm. At the state level there are also a number of violations to the sacred life principle. The act of states allowing toxic dumping, allowing poor energy usage, or even dumping non-biodegradable trash causes harm to the environment and thus causes harm to animals as well as humans. Although this is not necessarily a direct action such as euthanizing animals, it is still something that causes harm to living things, an action that is against the principle of Ahimsa. At the national level there are many different things that go against the principle of Ahimsa. Underwater nuclear testing is one of the biggest examples of the national government going against the principle of Ahimsa. This kind of testing leads to harmful chemicals and materials in the water supply for people as well as in the environment of animals. Thus, this directly violates the principle of causing non violence and gentleness, it is not very gentle to pollute the world with a device designed to kill.

It is hard to truly follow the principles of Ahimsa is a person's everyday life. Some of the easiest ways to achieve this, however, is to donate to no kill shelters such as the humane society so they can keep their animals well feed until they can be adopted. Another is to recycle materials that are non-biodegradable in order to limit the amount of pollution, we as people, create on our own personal level. It is even plausible to attempt to downgrade our carbon footprint by limiting drive time, using public transportation or riding a bike in order to stop harmful emissions into the environment which hurts animals and other creatures including ourselves. In my own personal life, I will continue to donate to animal shelters to help animals, reduce pollution by recycling, and attempt to not drive as much.

It seems that the principle of Ahimsa is a very interesting and useful principle to apply to ones everyday life. Hopefully, if more people both individually and as a state or national whole, are able to understand the beauty behind non-violent lifestyles in regard to violence against animals as well as their fellowman.

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