luni, 4 decembrie 2017

ON ANTHROPOLOGY OF AHIMSA





9th International Conference on Peace and Nonviolent Action (9th ICPNA)
Jaipur,  December 17 - 21, 2017


ON  ANTHROPOLOGY  OF  AHIMSA
Dr. George Anca, Romania



 ABSTRACT

 Back from Rajsamand, an essay, Gandhian Jainism in Romania, by present author , included comments on   Gandhi and Sermon on the Mountain – meeting Acharya Mahapragya – Satyagrha, ahimsa and aparygraha statements; Gloss on Ahimsa and translation of Introduction to Jainism may have been a start in Romania - namo arihantaam namo sidhaanam  namo ayariyanam namo loye sava sahunam. It followed   A master courses on energetic nonviolence and non-possesion (anthropology of nonviolence / religion / mediation, Romanian thinkers on the subject). Prsentation of now, in continuation, approaches   Risabhadeva in Gita, Purvas by Lord Mahavira - Mahatma Gandhi and Ahimsa - To believe in science is a form of religion? -  Gandhi vs Machiavelli   - Eliade - Energetic nonviolence and non-possession etc.


 
Namo Arihantanam: mă închin lui Arihanta,
Namo Siddhanam: mă închin lui Siddha,
Namo Ayariyanam: mă  închin lui Acharya,
Namo Uvajjhayanam: mă închin lui Upadhyaya,
Namo Loe Savva-sahunam: mă plec lui Sadhu și Sadhvi.
Eso Panch Namokaro: Aceste cinci plecăciuni
Savva-pavappanasano: distrug toate păcatele
Manglananch Savvesim: printre toate ce sunt de bun augur,
Padhamam Havei Mangalam: acest Navkar Mantra este cea mai importantă.


Jain spirituality

The five vows of Jain religion:  non-violence, devotion to truth, non-stealing, celibacy and non-possession.
Jain Compassion: 1 "Ahimsa parmo dharmah" (Non-violence is the supreme religion); 2. Parasparopagraho jivanam (interdependence);  3. Anekantavada (the doctrine of manifold aspects); 4. Samyaktva (equanimity); 5. Jiva-daya (compassion, empathy and charity).
Teachings of Mahavira:   1. Belief in Soul and Karma;  2. Nirvana;  3. Non-Belief in God; 5. Ahimsa;  6. Freedom to Women.
The Jain community evolved into two main divisions- the Digambara or "sky-clad" monks do not wear clothes and the Svetambara or "white-clad" monks and nuns, who wear white clothes and carry bowls for collecting food.
Major Jain pilgrimage destinations in India are Palitana, Ranakpur, Shravanbelagola, Dilwara Temple, Khandagiri Caves and Udayagiri Caves.

Tirthankaras 

            The kayotsarga posture of the first Tirthankar Risabhadeva  was  found in the ruins of Mahenjo-daro. 
            "In the list of a thousand names of Visnu contained in the Mahabharata are Included Sreyans, Anant, Dharma, Shanti and Sambhav, and in that of Siva are included Risabha, Ajita, Anant and Dharma. Both Visnu and Siva have been given a name as Subrata. All these are the names of the Tirthankars.. It seems that in the atmosphere of synthesis of the Mahabharata, effort was made to present the Tirthankars as Visnu and Siva and thus establish the religious unity in the country. This shows that the tradition of the Tirthankars is very old." Tirthankar Vardhaman, p. 15.
( Indian Religion and Culture by Dr. Budhprakash)
            Of the 101 sons born to king Risabhadeva, at least two, Bharata and Bahubali, are the much-noticed personalities in the Jain Puranas.  Bharata was the eldest and was the first World Monarch (Chakravarti) of this age.  From him, the country has taken its name as Bharata.  We have it in the Shrimad Bhagavat as follows. "The great Yogi Bharata was the eldest of the hundred sons of Risabha and from him this country has taken its name as Bharatavarsa."
(yesam khalu mahayogi Bharato jyesthah sresthagunascti-yenedam varsa bharatamiti vyapadisanti-SrimadBhagavat, 5.4.90
In support of this fact, there is available ample evidence in the Indian classical literature.(Mahapuran, Introduction, p. 27-28) 
            According to the Jain tradition, Rama and Laksmana take their place in the galaxy of 63 illustrious personages. Rama was Balabhadra and Lakshmana was Narayan. Ravana has been considered to be a Prati-Narayan and Hanuman was a Kamdev. Both Rama and Hanuman became, later in life digamber-possessionless monks and attained complete detachment and supreme knowledge. Though not themselves Tirthankars, they are as much worthy of reference as the Tirthankars, and there is hardly any difference between the two.
            Thus we see that Bhagwan Mahavira had been preceded by a long tradition, a long line of Tirthankars, from a venerable past.  Of this long line, Bhagwan Mahavira was the last, as, in this down-swing of the cycle, Adinath was the first, though, needless to add, in the preceding up and down swings of the cycle prior to Adinath, there had been innumerable Tirthankars, as there would be innumerable more after Mahavira in the subsequent up and down swings of the cycle till an infinite time. The first Tirthankar to appear in the upswing following Mahavira would be Mahapadma. So it would be a gross error to call Mahavira the founder of Jainism, as Buddha is called the founder of Buddhism.

Mahavira 

“Some foolish men declare that creator made the world. The doctrine that the world was created is ill advised and should be rejected. If God created the world, where was he before the creation? If you say he was transcendent then and needed no support, where is he now? How could God have made this world without any raw material? If you say that he made this first, and then the world, you are faced with an endless regression. If you declare that this raw material arose naturally you fall into another fallacy, For the whole universe might thus have been its own creator, and have arisen quite naturally. If God created the world by an act of his own will, without any raw material, then it is just his will and nothing else — and who will believe this silly nonsense? If he is ever perfect and complete, how could the will to create have arisen in him? If, on the other hand, he is not perfect, he could no more create the universe than a potter could. If he is form-less, action-less and all-embracing, how could he have created the world? Such a soul, devoid of all morality, would have no desire to create anything. If he is perfect, he does not strive for the three aims of man, so what advantage would he gain by creating the universe? If you say that he created to no purpose because it was his nature to do so, then God is pointless. If he created in some kind of sport, it was the sport of a foolish child, leading to trouble. If he created because of the karma of embodied beings [acquired in a previous creation] He is not the Almighty Lord, but subordinate to something else. If out of love for living beings and need of them he made the world, why did he not take creation wholly blissful free from misfortune? If he were transcendent he would not create, for he would be free: Nor if involved in transmigration, for then he would not be almighty. Thus the doctrine that the world was created by God makes no sense at all, And God commits great sin in slaying the children whom he himself created. If you say that he slays only to destroy evil beings, why did he create such beings in the first place? Good men should combat the believer in divine creation, maddened by an evil doctrine. Know that the world is uncreated, as time itself is, without beginning or end, and is based on the principles, life and rest. Uncreated and indestructible, it endures under the compulsion of its own nature.



Jain poets 



NAVKAR  MANTRA
NIITTHAAR PERUMAI
Hitendra Mehta
Pandita Sanchez
Sanket Jain
Satish Verma
Itsogole o Solomon
Yesha Shah
Atour Tamrazov

Pandita Sanchez

JAINA DHARMA

Jaina Dharma, my divine path to Moksha or salvation
to achieve my soul’s ultimate liberation;
through self-effort, non-violence, non-absolutism, non-possessiveness,
renunciation, retrospection, introspection, serenity, and stillness.


I bow in veneration to those already liberated,
traveling on the prescribed paths Lord Jina advocated.
My soul deeply yearns to break through enslaving barriers
of worldly attachments and material desires.



Seeking freedom from the enduring bondage of Karma,
I desire release from the cycle of reincarnation and achieve Nirvana;
to transform to a bodiless state of enlightenment attaining perfection,


Gandhi vs Machiavelliâ

            In his book  The Gandhian Mode of Becoming, (Gujarat Vidyapith, Ahmedabad, 1998.) Dr. Catalin Mamali adds to the “simple list” of comparison terms -   Socrates, Jesus, Buddha, Confucius, Martin Luther, Thoreau, Ruskin, Tolstoy, Steiner, Marx, Tagore, Freud, Mao, Lenin, Savarkar, Martin Luther King Jr., and Mother Teresa -  one more frame of reference: Niccolo Machiavelli. A special feature for a book on Gandhi published in India may be also the large number of Romanian authors in bibliography: Badina O, Blaga L, Botez M, Brucan S, Constante L, Draghicescu M, Eliade M, Gusti D, Herseni T, Ierunca V, Istrati P, Mamali C, Neculau A, Preda M, Zapan G.
            “As a thinker and practioner of politics Machiavelli had a profound influence on European
political life. Seeking power through any means was the major principle of his philosophy.
As against this Gandhi preached and practiced ethical principles of purity of means for
attaining his objectives. One can hardly imagine two completely opposite view points and
their paths of life.” (Govindbhai Raval, Vice Chancellor, in “Foreword”)
            “Mamali’s book has one organizing axis a comparison of Gandhi with Machiavelli, for understanding both of them better, as each other’s contrast, dialectionally – not to end up telling the reader whom he should follow. Interestingly, they were both fighting for freedom of their lands. But to Machiavelli such giant tasks accrued to the Prince. To Gandhi the liberation could only be done by those who should be liberated; the people, not the way Machiavelli (and the Marxist tradition) saw them, as “masses,” as superficial admirers of success: hence to be led by feeding them with successes.” (Johan Galtung in “Introduction”).
            Gandhianism is a spiritual-political doctrine embedded in nonviolence, ahimsa. Mahatma Gandhi, the father of the Indian nation, was taken as a model outside of India, and Martin Luther King was among the classics and martyrs, like the master. Mrs. Usha Mehta, the custodian of the Gandhi (Nani) Museum in Bombay, told me how Dr. King had asked her, and she accepted, to allow him to sleep a night where Gandhi slept to receive some of his experiences , the vibrations of that one. Wishing to pronounce "gandhianism" in America, in a public context, I felt an electrical impulse bearing both of them, and I think I was silent in  jain spirit .
            Lucian Blaga about Gandhi: "In this man, everything was reduced to essence, even in appearance; Even the number of teeth, the useless  had fallen. Gandhi gives the strong impression to a man who is in a constant inner concentration but for whom concentration is no longer an effort, but an organic state. His figure is accompanied by movements strictly necessary to appear rigid. No nervous or useless gesture. No word too much. Everything is mastered without being artificial. "
             

Eliade

 For most of traditional humanity, linear history is profane, and sacredness lies in cyclic time. But, in Buddhism, Jainism, and some forms of Hinduism, even cyclic time has become profane. The Sacred cannot be found in the mythical age; it exists outside all ages. Thus, human fulfilment does not lie in returning to a sacred time, but in escaping from time altogether, in "a transcendence of the cosmos." ( The Myth of the Eternal Return, pp. 151–52). In these religions, the "eternal return" is less like the eternal return in most traditional societies (for whom time has an objective beginning, to which one should return) and more like the philosophical concept of eternal return—an endless cosmic cycle, with no beginning and, thus, no inherently sacred time.
            About ahimsa  (nonviolence) in Romania spoke, for the first time, Mircea Eliade, in articles, novels, journals and memoirs: "The first flower offered to it is ahimsa, in its own sense it means non-violence "(" Introduction to Secret Tantrism "); "This extraordinary insanity of India, to come unarmed in front of European tanks and machine guns"; (in jail:) "I was also asked to improvise a course on the history of religions and to talk about Gandhi and the Indian nationalist movement"; "The Chief of Iron Guard had chosen the way of non-violence"; "What national and social revolution, apart from Gandhi's, crossed by the Christian and the Tolstoyan spirit - dared to do" propaganda "by asking people to approach the monks and to be near death at all times? The significance of the revolution wanted  by Mr. Corneliu Codreanu is so profoundly mystical that its success would once again mean the victory of the Christian spirit in Europe. "
            Young Eliade recorded "the profound unity of the Indian aboriginal culture and that of the Romanian folk traditions." After Cicerone Poghirc and Amita Bhose,  Romania-India read Mioriţa-ahimsa.





            What distinguishes the science of religion: science reveals the theoretical reason (the effort of knowledge), religion belongs to the practical reason; The postulate of the objectivity of science related to the belief of religion.
(Jacques Monod, Le Hasard et la nécessité, Seuil, pp. 184-195).  
            What science religion brings: Referencing to faith; Their connection to metaphysics; The relationship with illusion.
            Science and religion differ in purpose and means: there are two orientations on two different planes: for the revealed religions, the truth is in a founding discourse; For science the truth is infinite (Husserl); For religion, the truth is given, for truth, the truth must be conquered forever; Is the subject of their own discourse? (
Cf. Religion http://www.philagora.net/philo/religion.htm)
           

Energetic nonviolence and non-possession 

            Lord Mahavira has classified people in three categories: having many desires (Mahechha), having few desires (Alpechha), having no desires (Ichhajayi). The economy of nonviolence, along with poverty eradication, applies also Mhavira's concept of vrati (dedicated) society. He gave three directions regarding production: not to be manufacturated weapons of violence (ahimsappyane), not to be assembled weapons (asanjutahikarne), not to be made instruction for sinful and violent work (apavkammovades). Following anekanta, the philosophy of Mahavira synthesizes personal fate and initiative.
            The anthropology of non-violence may deal with Jain ahimsa, Buddhist karauna, Christian mercy, Gandian nonviolence; Principles of relativity (anekanta). According to United Nations Conflict Prevention NHDR Thematic there are three level of conflict prevention: a) systemic prevention: factors of the global conflict (the unfairness of globalization, the negative effects of globalization, arms trafficking, international organized crime); b) structural prevention: weak, falling or predatory states, group identities, horizontal inequalities, inequity, insecurity; c) operational prevention: conflict accelerators and detonators (resource poverty, small arms influx, public health emergencies, military dismantling, sudden immigration or population deployment, redistribution of land, severe inflation, contentious choices, etc.
            (Master Course: Psycho-sociology of Deviance, Victimology and Social Assistance / Discipline: Anthropology of Violence: Coordinator: Prof. Dr. George Anca)  
            Main themes of the master course in psychology-sociology on energetic nonviolence and non-possession:
            Exploring social violence. Motivation of violent behaviour (protection, „fight or flight”, groups and identity). Conflict prevention – systemic (globalization, international crime), structural (predatory states, horizontal inequities), operational (accelerators and detonators of conflict – e.g. Poverty of sources, influx of small guns, elections).  
            Among the objectives of the "anthropology of violence" program for the master courses  in sociology were: deepening the theories, concepts, socio-anthropological solutions and awareness of the conflict dynamics; The appropriation of critical reflection on social violence, history and humanity; Enhancing the capacity to use instruments of nonviolence, reconciliation, peace; Developing collaborative abilities, learning and creative teamwork, as well as individuals, in the perspective of doctorate.
            Violence is investigated by socio-biology, ethology, psychoanalysis, media studies, irenology, philosophy etc. Even if the successive trends of social anthropology - evolutionism, functionalism, diffusionism, structuralism, etc. - it does not provide theories or methods of study of violent practices; at present, violence is central to theories on the nature of society, from a comparative, intercultural perspective, to case studies on war, state violence, sexual violence, genocide, ethnic conflict, etc. Reconsidering subjectivity as intersubjectivity in a postmodern context addresses themes such as: alterity, transcendence, responsibility, language, community, politics, divinity, futurism. On a small scale, anthropology analyzes the causation, experimentation and justification of violence (in families, villages, suburbs, gangs, combat groups, committees, counseling groups) on a large scale, the aggression (inborn or not) Species of mankind as a whole. Thus, violence seems to be the true secret of social life, more than death or sexuality.
            Instead of violence, Origen and Tertullian recommended martyrdom. Hermeneutical exercises of Origen of Alexandria faced torture and martyrdom. As “decisive means for politics is violence” (Max Weber), a post second World War example is given by torture of political prisoners during Communist regime in Romania oposed by poems prayers, perhaps in tune  with non-resistance, nonviolence, ahimsa, soul force, and satyagraha.
            “Gandhi was particularly concerned with how one might confront physical violence in the very moment it was being practiced. He discerned that one might be able to engage in“conscious suffering” (or tapas) where certain actions were taken with the expectation of provoking physical punishment from others. This kind of suffering, unlike the suffering of people resigned to their fate, could be used to one’s political advantage. For political campaigns that might involve putting one’s body at risk, he coined the term satyagraha, or 'holding fast to the truth.'The term avoided the negative, inactive, and 'passive' connotations of non resistance and non violence while acknowledging that refraining from violence in the face of the violence of others is difficult. Gandhi also continued to employ the term
ahimsa to refer to the broad range of practices (satyagraha among them) that he wished to cultivate in himself and encourage in others.” (Dustin Elis Howes, The Failure of Pacifism and the Succes of Nonviolence, in  Political             Research  Quarterly, June 2013 / www.academia.edu/2634432) 
           
            Some  modules:

1.1 Explaining social violence over time: symbolic and structural violence, violence in war and peace, cataclysmic violence of the prolonged past in the modern world - the persistence of prisons, campuses, ghettos, world wars, genocides, terrorism;
2. motivating violent behavior through: a) the need to protect self-respect, b) the inborn "fight or flight" response, and c) the human tendency towards group and identity formation;
3. conflict prevention at three levels: a) systemic prevention: factors of the global conflict (the unfairness of globalization, the negative effects of globalization, arms trafficking, international organized crime); b) structural prevention: weak, falling or predatory states, group identities, horizontal inequalities, inequity, insecurity; c) operational prevention: conflict accelerators and detonators (resource poverty, small arms influx, public health emergencies, military dismantling, sudden immigration or population deployment, redistribution of land, severe inflation, contentious choices, etc. (Cf United Nations, Conflict Prevention NHDR Thematic).
            Within their three volumes (2009-2011, Anthropology of violence, Anthroplogy of religions, Religion conflict and Mediation) ), papers by  master students on Anthropology of violence /religiology / mediation make room too ahimsa: Violence, another kind of religion; Nonviolence and Ahimsa Jaina – Martin Luther King and nonviolence – Rituals in Judaic, Buddhist and Zoruba religions; Rites of passage in life of a Hindu; Vegetarianism and violence; Violence and sacred.   Along with themes and bibliography suggested (14) there were also approached updated happenings such as: Pilgrimage on the Way of Saints,  in Bucharest; destruction of  monuments from the Jewish Cemetery; words about God said by parents to the children ("sees you and punishes you if you are evil"); fraudulent real estate transaction between the Vatopedi Monastery on Mount Athos and the Greek State; “Nymfos" site, translated with tendency to "Christian Nymphomania";
Vatican's suspension of 58-year-old Bishop John Thattungal from the Kochi Diocese of India to adopt a 26-year-old woman ("Spiritual Power"); Religious / satanic verbiage in electoral polemics.

            Religious Conflict and Mediation

The paradox of religion as a source of division and conflict, on the one hand, and aspirations of peace and compassionate service, sacrifice, on the other.
Ambivalence of the sacred. Religion, violence, reconciliation. What is a religious terrorist and a peacemaker? "Religion causes peace," but it can mobilize for war, attacking religious targets, or converting the enemy.

Authority, autonomy and religious conflict. Politics of religion, cause of conflict. The intensity of politicization is greater in monotheistic religions. Secularization, religious revivalism, modern fundamentalism. Human rights, religious conflict and globalization. Geopolitics of the main religions of the world. Ultimate values in the new world order.

Ethnic-religious conflict within states and in the international context. Ethnic and religious conflicts in Southeast Europe and the Black Sea region. Confessional confrontation between Protestants and Catholics, Muslims and Hindus, etc. Islam in Europe and the world. Soldiers fighting against the same religions (American soldiers come from 700 religions). "Cosmic War". "Peace Negative".

It was religious extremism. Extremist movements, escalating conflicts. "Violence, a debt". From fanaticism to terrorism in the name of religion. Holy war, holy peace. Suicidal attacks, martyr operations. "Brainwashing" and the movement of new religions. Satanic ritual abuse. The diabolical authority. Limits of victimization.

Religion, conflict and reconciliation. The contribution of religion and culture to mediating peace and conflict. Narrative, ritual, context and symbol. Religious reconciliation, in accordance with the rule of law, but also with the principles of justice included in the scriptures (love, forgiveness, reconciliation). The experience of mediation and prayer.

Religion defined as mediation between finite and infinite (Hegel). Christ, mediator between God and man, but also between the exorcist and the evil spirit. The spiritual charismatic leader as a mediator of conflicts and intereligious dialogue. "Demos and Deus".

Religious construction of peace. Transforming the conflict through spiritual services. Inner Peace and exterior Peace. The roles of religious actors, peace-makers, the typology of pacifist activities. Sacred texts and conflict mediation / transformation. Forgiveness and enemies. Healing and reconciliation.



            Meeting Acharya Mahapragya, listening to His Words, reading his books, and especially understanding, all the way through, what happens with one’s mind and actual Ahimsa path of transformation of heart and thus of mankind itself were among life term achievements. Post-Gandhian career of non-violence appeared as a global re-foundation of urgent ahimsa practice, from a non-violent life style to economics – e.g. hunger and poverty as sources of violence -, and spirituality in the light of Ahimsa Prashikshan. Instead of formal declarations we shared, tens and thousands of us, an intimate, almost silent consciousness change helped by most qualified trainers, under the guidance of Acharya Mahapragya and Uvacharya Mahashraman. 
  
Photos 6th ICPNA, 2007, Rajsamand:
 





ACHARYA MAHAPRAGYA


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