by Claudette Vaughan
Ahimsa, or 'Dynamic Compassion' is a principle of non-harming and non-violence. Human behaviour that violates this ethical principle is seen, not only as morally wrong, but also as its original perspective as negative karma that reverts back onto the person responsible for the harm or violence done.
Ahimsa, or 'Dynamic Compassion' is a principle of non-harming and non-violence. Human behaviour that violates this ethical principle is seen, not only as morally wrong, but also as its original perspective as negative karma that reverts back onto the person responsible for the harm or violence done.
Possibly the most famous exponent this century was Mahatma Gandhi who was profoundly influenced by and propagated the Jain doctrine of Ahimsa. The first Jain spiritual father lived between 599 and 527 BC. He exhorted his followers to "regard every living being as thyself and hurt no one." It was this statement that Gandhi acknowledged as pivotal to human ethics and it led him to adopt the principle of the harmless life. Ahimsa says that we have no right to inflict suffering and death onto another living creature and, that if harmlessness were the keynote of our lives, then this would do more to produce harmonious conditions than any other discipline.
Throughout the industrial revolution, the Western world is increasingly institutionalized violence towards both human and non-human species. Intensive agricultural practice (factory farming), in terms of the large number of sentient beings involved, is probably the most glaring example. For decades there has been an ongoing campaign for the abolition of battery egg production because of the cruelty to the caged hens. These animals have been deprived o their most fundamental needs such as soil and grass and are exposed to artificial light to deceive them into laying more eggs that they would do under natural conditions. Kept in these conditions the birds become aggressive because of their increased requirements for food and water and the interruption of their natural pecking order. Heat build-up in egg factories further aggravates this situation. The hens are de-beaked without the use of painkillers and unwanted male chicks are simply disposed of by gassing or suff9cation.
Anyone concerned about the welfare of animals must often feel overwhelmed by the sheer volume of negativity that assaults their sensibility on a daily basis. It is precisely at these times of disillusionment where corruption, inhumanity and chaos is ever evident that G