Pearson Edexcel Level 3 Advanced GCE in Religious Studies – Anthology
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Direc tly he takes to the wrong path he stumbles, and is thus redirec ted to the right
path. Therefore the pursuit of Truth is true bhakt i (devotion). It is the path that
leads to God. There is no place in it for cowardice, no place for defeat. It is the
t alisman by whic h deat h it self bec omes t he port al t o life et ernal.
Ahimasa or Love.
We saw last week how the path of Truth is as narrow as it is straight. Even so is
that of ahimsa. It is like balanc ing oneself on t he edge of a sword. By c onc entration
an acrobat can walk on a rope. But the c onc entration required to tread the path of
Truth and ahimsa is far great er. The slightest inattention brings one tumbling to the
ground. One c an realise Truth and ahimsa only by c easeless st riving.
But it is impossible for us t o realise perfec t T rut h so long as we are imprisoned
in t his mort al frame. We c an only visualise it in our imaginat ion. We c annot,
through the instrumentality of this ephemeral body, see face to fac e Truth whic h is
eternal. That is why in the last resort we must depend on faith.
It appears t hat t he impossibilit y of full realisat ion of T rut h in t his mort al body
led some ancient seeker after Truth to the apprec iat ion of ahimsa. The question
whic h c onfronted him was: ‘Shall I bear with those who c reate diffic ulties for me, or
shall I dest roy t hem?’ The seeker realised that he who went on destroying others
did not make headway but simply stayed where he was, while the man who
suffered those who created difficulties marched ahead, and at time even took the
others with him. The first ac t of destruc tion taught him that the Truth whic h was
the objec t of his quest was not outside himself but within. Hence the more he took
to violence, the more he receded from Truth. For in fighting the imagined enemy
without, he neglec ted the enemy within.
We punish thieves, bec ause we think they harass us. They may leave us alone;
but they only transfer their attentions to another vic t im. T his ot her vic t im however
is also a human being, ourselves in a different form, and so we are c aught in a
vic ious c irc le. The trouble from thieves c ontinues to inc rease, as they think it is
their business to steal. In the end we see that it is better to endure the thieves
than to punish them. The forbearance may even bring them to their sense. By
enduring them we realise that thieves are not different from ourselves, they are our
brethren, our friends, and may not be punished. But whilst we may bear with the
thieves, we may not endure the inflic tion. That would only induc e c owardic e. So we
realise a furt her dut y. Sinc e we regard the thieves as our kith and kin, they must
be made to realise the kinship. And so me must take pains to devise ways and
means of winning them over. This is the path of ahimsa. It may entail c ontinuous
suffering and the c ultivating of endless patienc e. Given these two c onditions, the
thief is bound in the end to turn away from his evil ways. Thus step by step we
learn how to make friends with all the world; we realise the greatness of God – of
Truth. Our peace of mind increases in spite of suffering; we become braver and
more enterprising; we understand more clearly the difference between what is
everlasting and what is not: we learn how to distinguish between what is our duty
and what is not. Our pride melts away, and we become humble. Our wordly
attac hments diminish, and the evil within us diminishes from day to day.