Vow of Ahimsa

Does Ahimsa mean anything to you?

For me, being vegetarian is central to my own internalisation of the vow of Ahimsa (non violence), alhough of course it stretches unto all spheres of life, of how we treat each other and think about life and living. If your interested, I've paste some stuff below, and included a link to a story about the resident cow 'Shambo' from Skanda vale temple in Wales, who was killed yesterday unnecessarily:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/6918618.stm


Ahimsa (Devanagari: अहिंसा; IAST ahiṃsā) is a Sanskrit term meaning non-violence (literally: the avoidance of violence - himsa). It is an important part of Buddhism, Hinduism, and especially Jainism appearing within the Hindu scriptures called the Upanishads^[1], the oldest of which date to about 800 BCE. The concept is detailed in the Bhagavad Gita and the Puranas, as well as Jain and Buddhist texts.

In its Eastern form the principle of ahimsa was significantly promoted in the West by Mahatma Gandhi, whose non-violent resistance movement, satyagraha, influenced various civil rights movements led by others, such as Martin Luther King Jr.

"This is the sum of duty: do naught onto others what you would not have them do unto you." (Mahabharata 5, 15, 17)

"One should not behave towards others in a way which is disagreeable to oneself. This is the essence of morality. All other activities are due to selfish desire." (Mahabharata, Anusasana Parva, 113.8)

"What is religion? Compassion for all things, which have life." (Hitopadesa, Sanskrit fables)

"When one is established in non-injury, beings give up their mutual animosity in his presence." (Yoga Sutras)

"To be free of violence is the duty of every man. No thought of revenge, hatred or ill will should arise in our minds. Injuring others gives rise to hatred." (Swami Sivananda)

Nonviolence is the greatest force at the disposal of mankind. It is mightier than the mightiest weapon of destruction devised by the ingenuity of man.

Literally speaking, ahimsa means non-violence towards life but it has much higher meaning. It means that you may not offend anybody; you may not harbor uncharitable thought, even in connection with those whom you consider your enemies. To one who follows this doctrine, there are no enemies. A man who believes in the efficacy of this doctrine finds in the ultimate stage, when he is about to reach the goal, the whole world at his feet. If you express your love-ahimsa-in such a manner that it impresses itself indelibly upon your so-called enemy, he must return that love.

This doctrine tells us that we may guard the honor of those under our charge by delivering our own lives into the hands of the man who would commit the sacrilege. And that requires far greater courage than delivering of blows.

Ahimsa or non-injury, of course, implies non-killing. But, non-injury is not merely non-killing. In its comprehensive meaning, ahimsa or non-injury means entire abstinence from causing any pain or harm to another living being, either by thought, word, or deed. Non-injury requires a harmless mind, mouth, and hand.