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Part 4 of 9

Respect all forms of life. Nonviolence can be practised through our mind, speech and physical actions. If my words are not hurting anyone, my speech is nonviolent; if my thoughts are positive, my thinking is nonviolent and if my physical actions are not hurting anyone, I’m communicating through nonviolent actions. To listen to others and respect others is a quality of understanding. There are two ways of nonviolence — active and passive. Sometimes, we practise passive nonviolence and then we don’t speak up even when somebody hurts us, because we think that we are being dominated. Active nonviolence is when we don’t react in a violent manner but in a nonviolent way, for instance, the Civil Disobedience Movement, launched by M K Gandhi in the 1930s. React, but communicate without aggression. Through our body, speech and mind, we can practise an active way of nonviolence. Peace is possible only through nonviolence.

People fight for possession. Possession is of different kinds — power, politics, and of thoughts or of the material world. Whenever we try to dominate somebody or even ourselves, it becomes possession. We can be attached to anything — to a person, material or to a building. Mahavira said Mucchaha prigraho utto; ‘mucchaha’ means attachment, whatever we are attached to (our desires can be really dominating) could lead us to deviate from the right path. If there are less possessions, there will be less violence. It will result in a peaceful way of living. If it can be practised in our day-to-day routine, it will give us a restful mind and that will help us become more spiritual. Nonpossession doesn’t mean that you don’t keep anything but it means limited possession, having satisfaction that leads to a peaceful lifestyle