An Ahimsa Crisis: You Decide: Where Should One Go For Practical Training In Ahimsa?

This is a real question that was posed to me in Houston. In late November 2010, I was invited to listen to a talk by a visiting scholar from Costa Rica. She was going to speak about practical application of non-violence, which she teaches there, and how she has been successful in reducing violence and the school dropout rate in Costa Rica.

I have been to Costa Rica three times, on vacation. It is a beautiful country. In the early 1940s, Costa Rica abolished their Department of Defense and the military. I think Costa Rica is the only country of its size in the world that does not have any army. In the 1980s, the United Nations opened a Peace University there—again, the first of its kind. In 2010, due to this culture of peace, Costa Rica established a full-fledged Department of Peace. How impressive—again, the first in the world.

Now, Costa Rica is facing a new challenge. Since there is peace and tranquility there and Costa Rican enjoy a comparatively higher standard of living, many drug lords from neighboring countries (including Guatemala, Colombia and Mexico) are now moving in and threatening the peace and stability of that country; this brings a new problem for the government.

The government is at a loss regarding how to deal with this situation in a peaceful way. This speaker (from Costa Rica) and I had a long private chat. She knew very little about Jainism and its ahimsa. I took the opportunity to give her a much bigger and detailed picture of Jainism and its philosophy. She got very curious. She asked me “are there teaching and training centers run by Jains in India where I can get practical training in how to apply ahimsa?” She also wondered aloud about the possibility of arranging for many government officials, including the Minister of the Department of Peace—to come to India and get practical training how to apply ahimsa in this kind of situation. You all probably can imagine the reaction on my face. I had to say, “Sorry.”

Is this not a pity?