The Power of Ahimsa

For Mahatma Gandhi, the pursuit of Truth, dedication to the law of love, practice of selfless service, and aspiration for self-liberation, all pave the way to unify the human experience. He steadfastly made an effort to awaken minds and unite hearts to a higher ideal—an ideal that unites Truth, love and service into living practice.

All the religions of the world, while they may differ in other respects, unitedly proclaim that nothing lives in this world but Truth.

Consider Gandhiji’s ashram prayer meetings. Through these prayer meetings, an ideal of devotion was practiced on a daily basis. The prayers, hymns, slokas and bhajans offered inspiration to nourish the mind, heart and soul each and every day. The time given to the thought of that Reality which pervades the whole universe, built a foundation of respect and reverence within each and every participant, and perhaps even in hearts beyond.

If, therefore, we achieve that purity of the heart, when it is emptied of all but love, if we keep all the chords in proper tune, they ‘trembling pass in music out of sight.’ … Our prayer is a heart-search.

Love is the essence of life. It generates in us a continuous source of power which is indestructible, ever-productive and transforming. In our love, we awaken ourselves to the higher principles of life. Our ideal is to manifest this love in its perfection. It is the idea of the oneness of life—that you and I are one, that we are one with the stars and the planets; and that if I harm you or another, I harm myself. 

To slight a human being is to slight those divine powers and thus to harm not only that being but with him the whole world.

One cannot separate one’s love for God or Truth from an all-encompassing love of creation. They are inseparable. This is what Gandhiji tried to express. This is the law of love, of life. Love is more than feeling. It is all-consuming thought and fullness of action. It is absolute oneness.

I believe in the absolute oneness of God and therefore also of humanity. What though we have many bodies, we have but one soul. The rays of the sun are many through refraction. But they have the same source. I cannot, therefore, detach myself from the wickedest soul nor may I be denied the identity with the most virtuous.

Ahimsa, in its subtle power, depends on a cosmic principle — that of the oneness of life. 

Ahimsa, in its positive form, means the largest love, the greatest charity. When ahimsa becomes all-embracing it transforms everything it touches. There is no limit to its power.

Gandhiji understood that power. He made a conscious and constant effort to apply the power of ahimsa in his daily life.  Ahimsa is living so as to realize the oneness of life.

By Srimati Karuna