What Ahimsa Means - Gurudev Rakeshbhai
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Bhagawan Mahavira expounded ahimsa as the ultimate dharma. One may ask why a negative word, ahimsa, meaning non-violence, was used. Should religion not denote some-thing positive? In truth, though non-violence sounds negative, it is an extremely positive state. It is the state of absolute and complete love. What can be more positive than love itself? It is only because we are familiar with the state of violence, that this term has been used. It is to ease our transition from the known state of violence to the unknown state of love that the term non-violence has been used. In order to obliterate darkness, the presence of light is necessary. Likewise, the darkness of violence is dispelled only in the positive light of love.... Not Just Love- If ahimsa were substituted by love, we would mistake it to be that which we know as love, leading to the delusion that our interpretation of love is religion. We have a deep-rooted association with the word love and whenever we use the word, it is full of attachments, passion, conditions and expectations. We have mistakenly taken the relational aspect of love, rather than its pure unconditional state. This state is so pure, so fulfilling and established in the wellness of one's being that you cannot think of causing harm to anybody, including yourself. You have become love itself! So now, only love can emanate from you. It does not matter if there is another to receive your love, as that no longer is of consequence. A lamp in the dark will radiate light, even if there is no one to witness it; a flower will emit fragrance everywhere, irrespective of whether anyone imbibes its fragrance or not!.
Ahimsa is a state of active positivism - or of being proactively positive. It means consciously extending love to one and all. The meaning of love is, 'I wish others well, I pray for their well-being, I will be instrumental in bringing joy to their lives and will offer flowers on their path.' This is the real meaning of ahimsa. If it was merely negative, then ahimsa would read as, 'I will not cause unhappiness to others, nor cause them injury' and this would be its restrictive or myopic meaning, as it would constitute no positive element. To put no thorns on anyone's path - that is not all, but going beyond that to decorating their path with flowers is the essential meaning. To restrict oneself to non-violence alone is not the definition of ahimsa, but to make others truly happy is ahimsa. If a person is not full of love and restricts himself to only not harming others - thus believing himself to be an ahimsak person - then one may question why he wants to be non-violent. The Real Intention - Let us say that he loves animals, then it is understandable that he does not want to cause them any harm. But if he has no real love for them and still does not want to harm them, then his abstaining from violence is surely due to some other reason. In reality, he does not want to step on them, as he thinks that, 'If I cause them harm, I will accrue sin, and I will go to hell. But I do not want to be unhappy, so I don't want to harm them.' He is only being selfish.The real intention behind not wanting to harm others actually stems from not wanting to make oneself unhappy. Here, the other is not important for the 'i' is enlarged. How can one be religious with such ulterior motives? Where there is love, selfishness cannot exist as the 'i' has become unimportant. Dissolution of the 'i' is true religion and that is only possible with love. This is the true meaning of ahimsa and it is the ultimate dharma.
When a person expands into the state of loving consciousness, all beings become the object of his love. He becomes incapable of harming anyone. To expand in love is the way to becoming truly non-violent. When the entire universe becomes the object of your love, you will no longer try to acquire happiness from others; rather, you will make every effort to bring happiness to them. You will take care to support all forms of life. So, ahimsa is the paramount state of unconditional love. Outward observance of rules or vows is only an expression of non-violence. True ahimsa is achieved by attaining the internal state of absolute unconditional love and it is only through this form of love, that we can dissolve negativity and violence. May all beings be filled with such absolute, unconditional love.
About Gurudevshri Rakeshbhai- Gurudevshri Rakeshbhai, who is lovingly addressed as 'Gurudev', 'Saheb', or 'Bapa' is an embodiment of spirituality, an overflowing ocean of selfless compassion. His life is an incessant endeavour to spread Shrimad Rajchandraji's message throughout the world and lead it towards eternal peace and infinite bliss. Born on the auspicious day of 26th September,1966 in Mumbai, to Smt. Rekhaben and Shri DilipbhaiJhaveri, He showed signs of divinity at a very young age. Pujyashri Gurudev's extraordinary brilliance enabled Him to effortlessly master profound subjects like the Six Schools of Thought, Jain Scriptures, Logic, Philosophy and Sanskrit in a very short span of time. Observing long periods of silence, delving deeper into meditation resulted in His attaining greater heights of spirituality. Academically having passed M.A. (Philosophy) with a gold medal, He wrote an extensive research treatise on Shrimadji's finest literary creation, 'ShriAtmasiddhiShastra' for which the University of Mumbai conferred on Him the degree of Ph.D. in 1998. In 2001, Pujyashri Gurudev's boundless compassion manifested in the form of the glorious Shrimad Rajchandra Ashram, Dharampur, where thousands of aspirants congregate to imbibe His teachings and elevate themselves. The Shrimad Rajchandra Love and Care Programmewas launched with the aim of selflessly serving all living beings. This growing movement of sadhana and seva, took the form of Shrimad Rajchandra Mission Dharampur in 2010.
His unconditional love and extraordinary virtues, His ability to endear everyone, be it a small baby or an 80-year-old, to relate to child and scholar alike - at their own level, His cheerful disposition; His personalised and simple, yet effective guidance to each devotee has spiritually transformed their lives. A visionary and contemporary sage, Pujyashri Gurudev is uplifting humanity through inner augmentation and societal service.
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Article Courtesy :" Shrimad Rajchandra Mission Dharampur"
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