Ahimsa

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## Contents

* 1 Vegetarianism
* 2 Violence defined as thoughts, words or deeds
* 3 On self-defence
* 4 Notes

In Jainism, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Sikhism, ahimsa (Sanskrit for 'nonharm') is the ethical principle of not causing harm to other living beings.[1]

## Vegetarianism[edit]

Believers in ahimsa are generally vegetarian. Although one of the ten commandments shared throughout Christianity is thou shalt not kill, a majority of Christian clergy interpret that commandment as applying only to other human beings, but not necessarily to the animals. Thus, followers of Christianity can be meat-eaters.[2]

## Violence defined as thoughts, words or deeds[edit]

Ahimsa's precept that humans should 'cause no injury' to another living being includes one's deeds, words, and thoughts.[3] Indeed, the Buddha taught that, since thought is prior to action, it is of paramount importance to cleanse one thoughts of harmful impulses. The Buddha also considered words capable of inflicting great harm; thus, the priority of attention to ahimsa, in Buddhisms, is in this order: 1) thoughts, 2) words, 3 deeds.

Sikhism also is not completely non-violent in philosophy, allowing for self-defense and the defense of others, and permitting or even encouraging its followers to join military forces as their livelihood.

## On self-defence[edit]

Classical Hindu texts like the Mahabharata and the Ramayana, as well as modern scholars,[4] disagree about what the principle of ahimsa dictates when one is faced with war and other situations that require self-defence, as reflected in theories of just war.[5] While both the Buddha and Jesus advocated complete non-violence even when personally attacked[6], Christian leaders have a long history of support for wars, and even Buddhist monks have sometimes become involved in political protests that resulted in self-immolation (suicide).

## Notes[edit]

1. ↑ Encyclopedia Britannica [https://www.britannica.com/topic/ahimsa article on ahimsa, last access 12/4/2020
2. ↑ A mostly vegetarian exception among Christians is the Seventh-day Adventist Church; since it's beginning in the 1860's, that group has advocated for its members to eat a vegetarian diet, although possibly not mainly for ethical reasons but based at least in part on the recommendations for the consumption of kosher foods described in Leviticus 11, meaning abstinence from pork, rabbit, shellfish, and other animals proscribed as "unclean".
3. ↑ Kirkwood, W.G. (1989). "Truthfulness as a standard for speech in ancient India". Southern Communication Journal 54: 213–234. DOI:10.1080/10417948909372758. Research Blogging.
4. ↑ Struckmeyer, F.R. (1971). "The 'Just War' and the Right of Self-defense". Ethics 82: 48–55. DOI:10.1086/291828. Research Blogging.
5. ↑ (2012) "Violence in the Vālmı̄ki Rāmāyaṇa: Just War Criteria in an Ancient Indian Epic". Journal of the American Academy of Religion 80: 659–690. DOI:10.1093/jaarel/lfs036. Research Blogging.
6. ↑ The Buddha said that if someone cuts off one of your arms, offer them the other arm to be cut off. Jesus said, if someone strikes you on the face, turn your cheek so the other side could be struck.