Nonviolence And Non Violence Essay

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Ahimsa has come to mean nonviolence and nonviolence is the non-use of physical violence or the absence of war. All of us practice passive violence all the time in many different ways, causing hurt or deprivation to someone somewhere. For instance, our over consumption of natural resources in the world leads to inequitable distribution and poverty. The poor become angry with the rich and the poor attempt to get illegally the essentials of life that they are denied legitimately. This begins the cycles of violence since the perpetrators of crime, we are told, and one must be punished. Anger it is said generates more than 80% of the violence that we experience in our lives. Yet, as a society we have consistently ignored this powerful emotion so …show more content…

It is therefore, passive violence that fuels the dire of physical violence, which means if it is our intention to put out the fire of physical violence and create peace we need to cut off the supply of fuel that ignites the fire. This is why Gandhi said, “ we must become the change we wish to see in the world.” Gandhi’s work in nonviolence was comprehensive and not simply confined to politics or human rights. It was about building positive relationships based on respect, understanding, acceptance, and appreciation; it was about eliminating exploitation of all kinds and creating harmony among people where compassion and commitment to principles would be the ideal by which people live by. To explain every aspect of his philosophy in detail would require a book in itself but suffice it to say there two little known concepts of his philosophy that need some …show more content…

He would say to all those committed to work with him that for a nonviolent transformation of India they must look at themselves as farmers of peace. A conventional farmer prepares his field, plants the seeds, and then hopes and prays that the seeds will all germinate and he will be blessed with a good crop. If the crop fails he starts overs again. Peace workers must likewise go out and prepare society, plant the seeds of peace, and hope and pray that they will germinate and yield a good crop of peace activists. If not, we have to start over again to prepare the soil more carefully. He encouraged people to be creative in identifying conflicts and implementing programs. If we were to promote the culture of nonviolence, then people and profits would assume an equal role; the interest of the people, on occasions, would supersede the need to make profits. An example is the incident that happened in Massachusetts when a textile factory caught fire and everything was lost. The owner of the factory would have been within his legal rights to claim his compensation and insurance money and not care about the futures of his employees. But he was obviously aware that all the money in the world would not buy him happiness if his employees were left in distress. He paid every one of them their full salaries for more than a year until the factory was rebuilt. This is where trusteeship plays a big factor in Gandhi’s philosophical

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