Ahimsa or Non-violence: the Great Contribution of the Indian Civilization.
The Indian civilization is the oldest of the now surviving ancient civilizations. In the ancient period it gave birth to three great religions: the Sanatan Dharma, now known as Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. All three of them highly emphasized the concept of non-violence or Ahimsa in different degrees. This wider concept of non-violence is not so emphatically found in any other country or faith. It is not to be found in any developed sense in the Old Testament, which is full of violence and 'tooth-for-a-tooth' attitude. Jesus did practice and preach non-violence to a great degree, but his non-violence did not include compassion for the non-human living beings in the way it was found in India. Jesus did not refrain from eating meat, and was not a vegetarian.
The world is realizing today in the midst of mindless violence and terrorism the value of the idea of non-violence. The Indian society itself is moving away today from non-violence essentially due to severing of its links with the Indian culture and civilization and the books that documented and created this civilization. The links need to be restored, and the Bharatiya Chetna Kendra is doing its bit to ensure that those books, especially the Gita, the the Tulsi Ramayan and the Bhagavat Puran reach every home that is ready to welcome them. Join us in this endeavor.
Visit www.bharatiyachetna.org | Or email bharatiyachetna@gmail.com | Or phone +91 8252667070
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