ahimsa

Schweitzer criticized Indian philosophical and religious traditions for having conceived ahimsa as the negative principle of avoiding violence instead of emphasizing the importance of positive action ( helping injured beings ).

In the schools of Bhakti Yoga, the devotees who worship Vishnu or Krishna are particularly keen on ahimsa.

Another Bhakti Yoga school, Radha Soami Satsang Beas observes vegetarianism and moral living as aspects of " ahimsa.

The word in the middle is " ahimsa ".

In Jainism, the understanding and implementation of ahimsa is more radical, scrupulous, and comprehensive than in any other religion.

When Mahavira revived and reorganized the Jain movement in the 6th or 5th century BCE, ahimsa was already an established, strictly observed rule.

In the times of Mahavira and in the following centuries, Jains were at odds with both Buddhists and followers of the Vedic religion or Hindus, whom they accused of negligence and inconsistency in the implementation of ahimsa.

The Jain concept of ahimsa is characterized by several aspects.

Among the five-sensed beings, the rational ones ( humans ) are most strongly protected by Jain ahimsa.

In the practice of ahimsa, the requirements are less strict for the lay persons who have undertaken anuvrata ( Lesser Vows ) than for the monastics who are bound by the Mahavrata " Great Vows ".

Hinduism preaches ahimsa ( or ahinsa, non-violence ), but also teaches that the soul cannot be killed and death is limited only to the physical body.

It is primarily vegetarian, in order to keep with the general Buddhist precept of ahimsa ( non-violence ).

Parts of Ancient India and Nepal where Buddhism originated were also for long periods Buddhist, and whether as a result of the Buddhist, Jain or Hindu promotion of the principle of ahimsa ( harmlessness ) many Indians remain vegetarian.

In these latter cases the faiths do not promote deference, as happens in monotheisms ; rather each suggests a path of action that will bring the practitioner into conformance with the divine law: ahimsa — ' no harm ' — for Buddhist and Hindu faiths ; de or te — ' virtuous action ' — in daoism ; and any of numerous practices of peace and love in new age thinking.

Jains refrain from all violence ( ahimsa ) and recommend that sinful activities be avoided.

" He called on all Congressmen and Indians to maintain discipline via ahimsa, and Karo ya maro (" Do or die ") in the cause of ultimate freedom.

For more on the first precept, see ahimsa.

There are three main reasons for this: the principle of nonviolence ( ahimsa ) applied to animals ; the intention to offer only " pure " ( vegetarian ) food to a deity and then to receive it back as prasad ; and the conviction that a sentient diet is beneficial for a healthy body and mind and that non-vegetarian food is detrimental for the mind and for spiritual development.

In one view ( in India, known as ahimsa or satyagraha ) it could be said that it is compassion in the form of respectful disagreement.

For instance, they were to express no anger, never retaliate, submit to the opponent's orders and assaults, submit to arrest by the authorities, surrender personal property when confiscated by the authorities but refuse to surrender property held in trust, refrain from swearing and insults ( which are contrary to ahimsa ), refrain from saluting the Union flag, and protect officials from insults and assaults even at the risk of the resister's own life.

Human and animal sacrifice became less common during the post-Vedic period, as ahimsa ( non-violence ) became part of mainstream religious thought.

The Chandogya Upanishad ( 3. 17. 4 ) includes ahimsa in its list of virtues.

Many traditions of Eastern religions ( Buddhism and Jainism ) embrace the doctrine of ahimsa ( non-violence ) which imposes vegetarianism and outlaws animal as well as human sacrifice.

In Hinduism, the principle of ahimsa was prescribed as early as in the Maurya period Manu Smrti.

In the 19th and 20th centuries, prominent figures of Indian spirituality such as Swami Vivekananda, Ramana Maharshi, Swami Sivananda and A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami emphasised the importance of ahimsa.