Non-Violence: Ahimsa (In English)

www.dadabhagwan.org

As Expounded by Dada Bhagwan

Non-Violence

Originally Compiled in Gujarati by: Dr. Niruben Amin

Trimantra

The Three Mantras That Destroy All Obstacles in Life

Namo Vitaraagaya

I bow to the Ones who are absolutely free from all attachment and abhorrence

Namo Arihantanam

I bow to the living Ones who have annihilated all internal enemies of anger, pride, deceit and greed

Namo Siddhanam

I bow to the Ones who have attained the state of total and final liberation

Namo Aayariyanam

I bow to the Self-realized masters who impart the Knowledge of the Self to others

Namo Uvazzayanam

I bow to the Ones who have received the Knowledge of the Self and are helping others attain the same

Namo Loye Savva Sahunam

I bow to the Ones, wherever they may be, who have received the Knowledge of the Self

Eso Pancha Namukkaro

These five salutations

Savva Pavappanasano

Destroy all demerit karma

Mangalanam cha Savvesim

Of all that is auspicious

Padhamam Havai Mangalam ||1||

This is the highest

Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya ||2||

I bow to the Ones who have attained the absolute Self in human form

Om Namah Shivaya ||3||

I bow to all human beings who have become instruments for the salvation of the world

Jai Sat Chit Anand

Awareness of the Eternal is Bliss

Who Is Dada Bhagwan?

In June 1958, around 6 o’clock one evening, amidst the hustle and bustle of the Surat railway station while seated on a bench, ‘Dada Bhagwan’ manifested completely within the sacred bodily form of Ambalal Muljibhai Patel. Nature revealed a remarkable phenomenon of spirituality! In the span of an hour, the vision of the universe was unveiled to him! Complete clarity for all spiritual questions such as, ‘Who are we? Who is God? Who runs the world? What is karma? What is liberation?’ etc. was attained.

What He attained that evening, He imparted to others through his original Scientific experiment (Gnan Vidhi) in just two hours! This has been referred to as the Akram path. Kram means to climb up sequentially, step-by-stepwhile Akram means step-less, a shortcut, the elevator path!

He, himself, would explain to others who Dada Bhagwan is by saying, "The one visible before you is not Dada Bhagwan. I am the Gnani Purush and the One who has manifested within is Dada Bhagwan who is the Lord of the fourteen worlds. He is also within you, and within everyone else too. He resides unmanifest within you, whereas here [within A. M. Patel], He has manifested completely! I, myself, am not God (Bhagwan); I also bow down to the Dada Bhagwan who has manifest within me."

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The Current Link to Attain Self-Realization

After attaining the Knowledge of the Self in 1958, absolutely revered Dada Bhagwan (Dadashri) traveled nationally and internationally to impart spiritual discourse and Self-realization to spiritual seekers.

During his lifetime itself, Dadashri had given the spiritual power to Pujya Dr. Niruben Amin (Niruma) to bestow Self-realization to others. In the same way, after Dadashri left his mortal body, Pujya Niruma conducted spiritual discourses (satsang) and imparted Self-realization to spiritual seekers, as an instrumental doer. Dadashri had also given Pujya Deepakbhai Desai the spiritual power to conduct satsang. At present, with the blessings of Pujya Niruma, Pujya Deepakbhai travels nationally and internationally to impart Self-realization as an instrumental doer.

After Self-realization, thousands of spiritual seekers prevail in a state free from bondage and dwell in the experience of the Self, whilst carrying out all their worldly responsibilities.

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Note About This Translation

The Gnani Purush, Ambalal M. Patel, also commonly known as ‘Dadashri’ or ‘Dada’, gave spiritual discourses that were in the form of answers to questions asked by spiritual aspirants. These discourses were recorded and compiled into books by Pujya Dr. Niruben Amin in the Gujarati language.

Dadashri had said that it would be impossible to translate His satsangs and the Knowledge about the Science of Self-realization word for word into other languages, because some of the meaning would be lost in the process. Therefore, in order to understand precisely the Akram Science of Self-realization, He stressed the importance of learning Gujarati.

However, Dadashri did grant His blessings to translate His words into other languages so that spiritual seekers could benefit to a certain degree and later progress through their own efforts. This book is not a literal translation, but great care has been taken to preserve the essence of His original message.

Spiritual discourses have been and continue to be translated from Gujarati. For certain Gujarati words, several translated words or even sentences are needed to convey the meaning, hence many Gujarati words have been retained within the translated text for better understanding. Where the Gujarati word is used for the first time, it is italicized, followed by a translation explaining its meaning in parenthesis. Subsequently, only the Gujarati word is used in the text that follows. This serves a two-fold benefit; firstly, ease of translation and reading, and secondly, make the reader more familiar with the Gujarati words, which is critical for a deeper understanding of this spiritual Science. The content in square brackets provides further clarity regarding the matter, which is not present in the original Gujarati content.

This is a humble attempt to present to the world, the essence of His Knowledge. While reading this translation, if there is any contradiction or discrepancy, then it is the mistake of the translators and the understanding of the matter should be clarified with the living Gnani to avoid misinterpretation.

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Special Note to the Reader

The word violence generally conveys some form of physical aggression. However, the spiritual definition of himsa, which is roughly translated as violence, is much broader. Any speech or thought that hurts any living being is also considered violence. Similarly, ahimsa, or non-violence, is defined as the practice of not hurting any living being even to the slightest extent, through thoughts, speech, and action. Thus, rather than using the English words ‘violence’ and ‘non-violence’ in this book, the respective Gujarati words himsa and ahimsa have been used.

The Self is the Soul (Atma) within all living beings.

The term pure Soul is used by the Gnani Purush for the awakened Self, after the Gnan Vidhi. The word Self, with an uppercase ‘S’, refers to the awakened Self which is separate from the worldly-interacting self, which is written with a lowercase ‘s’.

Wherever Dadashri uses the term ‘we’, ‘us’, or ‘our’, He is referring to Himself, the Gnani Purush.

Similarly, the use of You or Your in the middle of a sentence, with an uppercase first letter, or ‘You’, ‘Your’ in single quotes at the beginning of the sentence, refers to the state of the awakened Self or Pragnya. This is an important distinction for the correct understanding of the difference between the awakened Self and the worldly-interacting self.

Wherever the name ‘Chandubhai’ is used, the reader should substitute his or her name and read the matter accordingly.

The masculine third person pronoun ‘he’ and likewise the object pronoun ‘him’ have been used for the most part throughout the translation. Needless to say, ‘he’ includes ‘she’ and ‘him’ includes ‘her’.

For reference, a glossary of all the Gujarati words is either provided at the back of this book or available on our website at:

http://www.dadabhagwan.org/books-media/glossary/

Editorial

In the ocean of himsa (violence), there is nothing but himsa; however, if a person wants to attain [the state of] ahimsa (non-violence) amidst the ocean of himsa, then it is only possible if he reads, contemplates on, and follows the speech on ahimsa spoken by the absolutely revered Dadashri. Otherwise, there are people who practice ahimsa at the gross level to great lengths, but it is difficult to even know about the subtle, subtler, and subtlest levels of ahimsa. So forget about the point of even achieving those levels!

If the right understanding does not prevail about the himsa towards visible living beings as well as the subtlest of subtle living beings, such as vayukaya (one-sensed, non-mobile, air-bodied living beings), teukaya (one-sensed, non-mobile, fire-bodied living beings), and so on, all the way to bhaav himsa (violence committed towards the state as the Self) and bhaav maran (death of the state as the Self by believing, ‘I am the relative self,’ ‘I did it,’ ‘It happened to me’), then it will not yield results and the ahimsa will be limited to just words or actions.

Only the Ones who have completely conquered himsa, and are dwelling in the state of complete ahimsa, have the exact understanding of himsa and can disclose it to others! When One becomes steady in the Real form of the Self (Atma Swaroop), that is the only one state in which complete ahimsa prevails! And only the Tirthankar Lords (the absolutely enlightened Lords who can liberate others) and the Gnanis (Those who have realized the Self and are able to do the same for others) prevail in such a state! The Gnani Purush,who prevails in complete ahimsa amidst the ocean of himsa, has elaborated upon the exact understanding regarding himsa, from the gross level of himsa and ahimsa to the subtlest levels of himsa and ahimsa. This speech has been compiled and published with the inner intention that may the perspective of the people of this era, who are immersed in terrible himsa, change to some extent and may they be able to improve this life as well as their future lives.

Besides, who can refrain from committing himsa at the gross level? Even for the Tirthankar Lords Themselves, when They exhaled Their last breath before attaining nirvana (ultimate liberation from all karma, from the physical body, and the worldly cycle of birth and death), so many vayukaya ended up dying! If such offenses of himsa were applicable to Them at that moment, then They would undoubtedly have to take another birth somewhere else to clear off the demerit karma bound [through that act]. So then, would liberation ever be possible? Thus, what must They have beheld, through which They remained free from all demerit karma, merit karma, and all actions, and eventually attained ultimate liberation? All those mysteries can only be revealed by the manifest Gnani, in whose heart the Knowledge that resided in the heart of the Tirthankar Lords has become illuminated exactly as it is, and that is being published here as it is. The speech that has flowed forth from absolutely revered Dadashri, the Gnani of this era, has been compiled in this book on ahimsa. For those who desire the path of liberation, it will prove to be an extremely straightforward guide to practice ahimsa.

- Dr. Niruben Amin

Non-Violence

Progress Towards ‘Ahimsa Parmodharma’

Questioner: ‘On the path of ahimsa (non-violence), there is religious and spiritual progress.’ Could you please elaborate on this topic?

Dadashri: Ahimsa is itself the religion and ahimsa is itselfthe spiritual progress. However, here, ahimsa means to not hurt any living being, even to the slightest extent, through the mind, speech, or body. This should remain in your awareness, it should remain in your conviction, then religious and spiritual progress will be possible.

Questioner: How is the mantra ‘Ahimsa Parmodharma’ (‘Non-violence is the ultimate religion’) beneficial in one’s life?

Dadashri: Well for that, in the morning, before leaving home, you should recite the following intention five times, May no living being in this world be hurt, even to the slightest extent, through the mind, speech, or body. If you end up hurting someone thereafter, you should take a note of that and repent for that.

Questioner: How is it possible in this era of the time cycle, to live life without hurting anyone?

Dadashri: You simply have to maintain this intent and ensure that you apply that. Where you are not able to do so, you should repent for that.

Questioner: Is it really possible to live life without hurting a single living being amongst the many living beings around us? Is it possible to ever satisfy every single living being around us, in every circumstance?

Dadashri: The one who wishes to do so, can do everything. Even if it is not accomplished in one lifetime, it will nevertheless certainly be accomplished in two or three lifetimes! Your goal should be decided, the attention should simply be towards that, then it will definitely be accomplished.

Himsa Can Be Stopped Through Ahimsa

Questioner: What should I do to stop himsa (violence)?

Dadashri: You should constantly have the intent of ahimsa. People ask ‘us’, "For how long should I practice himsa and ahimsa? ‘We’ tell them, Lord Mahavir has given the distinction between himsa and ahimsa. ‘He’ was aware that the Dushamkaal (the current era of the time cycle, characterized predominantly by misery and almost no happiness) was approaching." Would the Lord not have known what is considered himsa and what is not considered himsa? Lord Mahavir has said, "Maintain ahimsa in the face of