Acharya Mahaprajna
Both violence and nonviolence have been in existence from time immemorial. It is also true that a householder who has to resort to various activities for his survival cannot abstain from violence in its entirety. It was why Lord Mahavira– the 24th Tirthankar of the nonviolent Jain Tradition - prescribed the middle path for himself. Personally, he should at least refrain from inessential and intentional violence. But man’s deviation from the path of dharma as enunciated by the self-illumined sages has plunged the world into the abyss of violence and hatred.
The Jain ecology is based on the realization that all life forms inhabiting our planet are ‘bound together by mutual support and interdependence.’ It means that all living beings, big or small, are bound in a physical as well as a metaphysical relationship. Each life is a gift of togetherness, accommodation and cooperation in a universe teeming with jivas (souls). The question that agitates the minds of positive thinking people across the world is how the extreme forms of violence that mark the world today; in the form of terrorism, ethnic, religious and political wars, vandalism and killing for money, can be avoided.
The 20th Century will be remembered for ghastly wars, racial frenzy untold human suffering and hatred. It was believed that the 21st Century would usher in an era of peace and happiness but the hope was belied in the first decade of the century itself. The terrorist strikes in different parts of the world, the wars of Iraq and Afghanistan, unabated killings in the Middle East, incidents of shooting classmates, teachers and parents by teenagers, communal violence and ever-increasing violence at family level have disappointed peace and nonviolence crusaders alike. Way back in 1997, the Nobel Peace Laureates, appalled by this gruesome situation, signed an appeal for the children of the world and called for an International Decade for Peace. The UN General Assembly endorsed their appeal and declared the decade from 2000 to 2010 as a Decade of a Culture of Peace and Nonviolence for the Children of the World. These efforts have, of course, generated an environment across the globe but nothing concrete has emerged so far to prevent violence among teenagers. However some organizations have launched independent initiatives to train the young and the old in nonviolence in different parts of the world. What is disheartening is that in the name of training in nonviolence only training in theory is being imparted to trainees by these groups.
His Holiness Acharya Mahapragya, who is known for his Anuvrat Movement and Ahimsa Yatra, is of the view that attitudinal changes can occur only if the trainees are also exposed to practical exercises. According to Acharya Mahapragya questions relating to peace, the lack of peace combined with violence and nonviolence are linked with human mind and human consciousness. Hence it is not possible to solve the problem by mere thinking. It makes it imperative for us to go in for the training of the mind and transformation of human consciousness. Acharya Shri has been in the forefront of nonviolence training campaign for the last two decades. In 1991 Acharya Shri and his predecessor, Acharya Tulsi instructed ANUVIBHA to organize the first ever International Conference on Training in Nonviolence. The objective was to share their joint visions with nonviolence thinkers at global level. It was held at Children’s Peace Palace Rajsamand, India from Feb. 17 to 21, 1991 and was attended by leading Gandhian and Sarvodaya thinkers, professors, peace educators and nonviolence grassroots workers hailing from 30 countries. They issued Rajsamand Declaration on Training in Nonviolence, which among others, expounds the strategies and tools of nonviolence training. The Declaration reads: “Training in nonviolence has both its individual and social dimension. It should employ such methods as meditation to bring about a change of heart and attitude in the individuals, by persuasion, personal example, willingness to suffer rather than injure another, moral uprightness, practice of sharing one’s resources with the other, faith in the essential goodness of all humans and regard for the basic human rights of all. The other tools of training may include regular classes, lectures, self-study, workshops, panel discussions, community living, games and sanitation.”
Later in 1992 a dialogue on Nonviolence Education and Training was organized at Ladnun, India, in which eminent nonviolence thinkers of the world including Acharya Mahapragya, Acharya Tulsi, Prof. Johan Galtung and the Dalai Lama took part. All agreed that the only antidote to the rapidly increasing culture of hatred is nonviolence training. The Dalai Lama’s optimism about human nature and global vision stood out. Acharya Mahapragya didn’t stop there. He continued to think and gave a concrete shape to his plan of nonviolence training. He developed a globally acceptable course module, which is being followed in hundreds of nonviolence training centers across the country today. In continuation to our search for ways to enrich our approach to ahimsa prashikshan we organized the First International Nonviolence Leadership Training Camp at Rajsamand from Dec. 26 to 28, 2007 under the auspices of Acharya Shri Mahapragya and Yuvacharya Mahashraman. It was attended by more than 100 trainees including 30 overseas participants hailing from 13 countries. It was preceded by the 6th International Conference of Peace and Nonviolent Action, which began on December 23 and was concluded on December 25. His Holiness Acharya Mahapradya delivered seven highly inspiring discourses during his stay at the Peace Palace on this occasion. It was then we decided to bring out a complete manual for nonviolence trainees and trainers based on our experiences during the period. In addition to the discourses we also selected some other important discourses on the conceptual background of nonviolence training delivered by Acharya Shri on different occasions. Before the commencement of this nonviolence leadership training camp Acharya Shri prepared some background material in which Prof. Muni Mahendra Kumar participated commendably. It has also been included in this highly informative and illuminating resource book “Training in Nonviolence - Theory and Practice.” It contains not only Acharya Shri’s insightful writings but also practical tools to train the trainees. At the conclusion of the Camp, a complete course module prepared from a western perspective had been given.
I hope this resource book will fill the vacuum in this area and will prove useful to nonviolence trainers as well as trainees.
– Dr. S.L. Gandhi
