Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Ahimsa Means Never Having to Say You're Sorry


During my evening run tonight, a mosquito (at least I hope it was that small) flew down my throat--that reminded me of seeing an image similar to this in a yoga book.


Indian Jain nuns, New Delhi  wearing traditional face masks to prevent the killing of any life - even the accidental inhalation of an insect.  via poculum

Ahimsa means kindness and non-violence towards all living things including non-human animals; it respects living beings as a unity, the belief that all living things are connected. Indian leader Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi strongly believed in this principle. Avoidance of verbal and physical violence is also a part of this principle, although ahimsa recognizes self-defense when necessary, as a sign of a strong spirit. It is closely connected with the notion that all kinds of violence entail negative karmic consequences.-sorry for the little wikipedia blurb-- I do believe in doing as little harm as possible to anything living and will go out of my way to avoid an insect, especially one in my face!

8 comments:

  1. I love Gandhi's work, and would like to see more areas of the globe governed by such peaceful, praiseworthy effort. He is a hero of mine. I keep a quote of his by me when I work:
    "First they ignore you; then they laugh at you; then they fight you; then you win."
    His espousal of Thoreau's teaching of Civil Disobedience stays with me.
    Have a peaceful good evening
    Rose

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  2. Gandhi was courageous and amazing. I wasn't familiar with that particular quote--it's very encouraging.

    My favorite Gandhi quote is "The greatness of a nation can be judged by the way its animals are treated."

    Happy Labor Day weekend!

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  3. Gandhi is one of my heroes along with Martin Luther King.. for the non-violence beliefs.. your post is in the same sort of vein as my Zen post.. revere all life.

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  4. I love all animals but I do remember bad-mouthing about someone when I choked a fly. I guess that insects will sacrifice themselves to teach others lessons.

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  5. Not a good feeling, for the insect or the human!

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  6. How marvellous, I had never seen anything like this before, not an extreme measure to take to not harm another life, but unusual. A few years ago, I was at a picnic and took a bite out of a sandwich which, unbeknownst to me, has a wasp on the end. It stung my tongue which started to swell like an inflated tyre. I killed the sucker, and enjoyed it! Am I bad?
    Di :-)
    X

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