Training In Nonviolence - Theory & Practice: Service to Humanity

I did introspection today. Gurudeva’s first instruction was to serve humanity. The greatest problem of the present is that man is scared, frightened. He who is the richest is frightened most. Some of the rich persons are always apprehensive of the raids by income tax officials while there are others who are frightened of robbers and dacoits or their own employees. Even those who are at the helm of administration or political power are frightened. There is a fear in their hearts as to what will happen in the next elections. Everyone seems to be in the grip of fears and apprehensions. If the people elect them again, it will be no less than a miracle. Even saints and sadhus are frightened. They are frightened because many of them are now millionaires or even billionaires. They live a life of luxury and have an abundance of wealth. They are worried about their safety and security. I find that fear pervades all the three spheres of life today i.e. social, political and religious. In my view the greatest service to humanity is to create an environment of fearlessness in society. It is very necessary, but the question that arises is when it can become possible. With the development of high moral character and a change in our moneydominated outlook fear goes on subsiding. With the decadence in ethical values and predominance of money-oriented outlook fear goes on increasing.

(i) The Result of Service to Humanity

We talk of cultural and humanitarian values. We also talk of moral and spiritual values but we haven’t yet moved towards that direction. Our attention is focussed on how the other should be. No one thinks how he should be. The greatest problem today is our propensity to discover weaknesses in others.

It will not be in fitness of things if I talk at length of what we have done in the course of the last six years of Ahimsa Yatra but with the help of introspection and self-testimony I can say that we have tried our best during this period to carry out Gurudeva’s first directive to serve humanity. Here, I would like to make a mention of one incident. When Gujarat was burning with communal riots in the wake of Godhara catastrophe, we were working among the affected people. The Hindu leaders said, “We cannot share the dais with Muslims.” The Muslim leaders said, “We cannot sit with the Hindus but we can sit together in your presence.” What is surprising is that the leaders of the two communities who were fiercely opposed to one another could sit together in my presence and it happened not once but many times. I believe that it was the result of our service to humanity. It is an uphill task to create confidence. The greatest asset of a society or that of a political authority is its ability to create confidence in the hearts of the people. The greatest asset of religious leaders is their ability to strengthen the faith of religious people and create confidence in them.

(ii) It is Difficult to Preserve Faith

Once TAO Confucius was asked what he thought was necessary for running a country or a society. He replied, “Three things are needed to run a state i.e. weapons, food and faith. Weapons are necessary for our security, food is necessary to satisfy the hunger of the people and faith is necessary to keep them peaceful. 

Question	Of these three things if one of them is to be abandoned, what should we abandon?
Confucius	If one thing is to be abandoned, abandon arms first.
Question	If it becomes necessary for us to abandon one more thing, what should we abandon?
Confucius	Abandon food.
Question	Should we abandon faith then?
Confucius	No, if you abandon faith, your very existence will come to an end.

(iii) Ahimsa Yatra and People’s Faith

The work that has been done to serve humanity during the last six years by means of Ahimsa Yatra has generated confidence in people. I can notice its impact and the people have also begun to feel it. They have reposed faith in me because my character reflected the formative influence of ahimsa from the childhood itself, which matured in the company of Acharya Tulsi. I never give any importance to caste. I know the significance of Jainism and the principles it stands for. According to Jainism there can be no caste on the basis of one’s birth but the profession one chooses can define it. Lord Mahavira has said– ekka manuss jai (human race is one). On account of my irrevocable faith in it we do not have any problem of casteism. The problem that our society faces today is that of communalism or sectarianism. It is a big obstacle. I have never believed in it too since most years of my life were spent in proximity to Acharya Tulsi. We have remained free from this problem. I have a right to project my religion as a world religion but I have no right to refute the other world religions. I received a request from the Ramkrishna Math of Chennai to write on those principles of Jainism that make it a world religion. I wrote the article and sent it to them. It was published in their journal. Not only that but also printed five thousand copies of the article separately and distributed them among the people across the world.

Everyone has a right to make his religion a world religion but no one has a right to compel the entire world to be initiated into it. It is false ego, which is responsible for the problems in the world today. Such religious fundamentalism is adding fuel to the fire of violence. The reason why we have succeeded in our project to serve humanity is that neither the problem of caste prejudices nor that of communalism ever gripped our dharma sangha. We are guided solely by truth. It alone is the basis of our work. As a result people are coming forward to join our mission. In the course of my journeys into Gujarat, Maharashtra, Punjab, Haryana etc I met intellectuals and thinkers who frankly acknowledged that they didn’t consider me a Jain Acharya but rather they thought of me as the Acharya of the whole humanity. I am heartened by their observation. It has been possible because we could spend some moments in the service of humanity. My introspection has led me to conclude that to some extent we have been able to carry out the first directive of Gurudeva.