Listening – Ahimsa Attentiveness 241what is displeasing and disagreeable to me?^19717.4 ‘Deep Listening’ in Dialogue as a Process
of Practising Ahimsa
It is said that participating in a process of ‘deep listening’ in dialogue
means searching for, understanding and practising spiritual value in
one’s own religion. That is to say, all partners in the process need to
have attitude and display loving kindness, honesty, a broad and open
mind, patience, self-criticism and above all, ‘Ahimsa.’
Ahimsa is a popular concept in Hinduism and Jainism, Buddhism
accepts this notion as well. It refers to non-injury, nonviolence. Ones
who can have attitudes and behavior in the light of nonviolence are sup-
posed to have spiritual wellbeing and love.
He who entertained hate in his heart on that account would
not be who followed my teachings.
Majjima 21
Hate begets hate and the cessation of hate is through non-hate
alone. This is an eternal truth.
Dhammapada,Yamaka Wagga5
Talking more about Ahimsa, in its negative form it means not injur-
ing any living being whether by body or mind. Therefore, hurting the
person of any wrong-doer or bear any ill-will to her / him is not sup-
posed to be done. “Ahimsa requires deliberate self-suffering, not a suf-
fering of the supposed wrong-doer.”
In this way, it is similar to one idea of ‘culture of peace’ that is alt-
hough ones hate evil which performed by wrong-doers, ones still need to
respect their human values and dignity. Personally, this concept needs to
197
SN V 55.7. For the English translation see: Bodhi, B. (2000) (Ed.) The Con-
nected Discourses of the Buddha. A Translation of the Samyuta Nikāya Boston:
Wisdom Publications, 1799.