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Ahimsa in Buddhism
Though the Buddhist concept of ahimsa may often be misinterpreted as being purely concerned with physical pacification, in reality the ideal encompasses both a peaceful attitude towards others as well as an attention to one's own positive and non-violent mental state. In short, ahimsa incorporates non-injury towards others as well as non-injury towards the self through negative mental ideations (tying in, of course, with the Buddhist tenets of reincarnation and karma). It is important to stress the inclusion of harmful "thought[s], word[s], or deed[s]" in what ahimsa opposes in order to form a dichotomy between this concept and that of himsa (Sivananda, 2009). The latter incorporates any form of "harshness," be it through direct means or through the "sin of omission" (Sinvananda, 2009).
It's curious, with this in mind, to consider how ahimsa relates to the concepts of strength; after all, the two seem diametrically...
In reality, however, Buddhism stresses the "fearlessness" and "bravery" required in order to practice non-violent and non-harmful means of living (Sinvananda, 2009). Consider, for instance, the strength required in order to hold oneself back from violence when one is in the midst of great pain at the hands of others and, consequently, the infuriation inflicted on the violent party upon seeing such non-action. Ahimsa underscores the Buddhist stress on the importance and strength of the mental realm over the physical one -- the belief that the forcing out of violence from the mind leads to a united, Advaitic consciousness (Sinvananda, 2009).
Though this crucial precept of Buddhism has been adapted by numerous "freedom fighters" in the past -- including those who (realistically so) had to resort to self-defense, the ideal concept of ahimsa remains stolidly against harm against a living creature…
Works Cited:
Molloy, M. (2006). Experiencing the world's religions: tradition, challenge, and change.
McGraw-Hill Humanities Social Sciences Languages.
O'Sullivan, T. (2010). Ahimsa. Encyclopedia of Psychology and Religion, doi:
10.1007/978-0-387-71802-6_16
Sivananda, S. (2009). Bliss divine [Chapter "Ahimsa"]. Retrieved from http://www.dlshq.org/teachings/ahimsa.htm
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