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Non-Violence
potatoes dulls your mind and intellect. This is because there are
infinite subtle life-forms in root vegetables. In fact, root crops are
nothing but a storehouse of life-forms, which is why when they
are eaten, there is violence against these life- forms, and as a
result dullness and laziness sets in. This lack of awareness results
in an increase in one’s kashayas (anger, false pride, greed and
illusion). It is better if you do not eat these vegetables because
they dull your awareness. That awareness is especially needed
after you acquire the Lord’s path and if your awareness becomes
dull, how will you achieve liberation?
Whatever the Lord has said is true. If you cannot abide by
His teachings, do not worry, but just do your best. It is good if
you are able to follow the Lord’s teachings.
Kashaya: The Ultimate Violence
People have ruined everything. On the one hand they are
obsessive about observing ahimsa towards life-forms in the root
crops and yet at the same time they do kashayas. This is like
making a profit of three rupees on the one hand and a loss of ten
million rupees on the other! People are adamant about trivial issues,
but they commit endless violence through their kashayas. The
greatest violence in the world is kashaya. There is more sin in
kashayas than in killing a life- form.
Understand This…
Whatever the Lord has said is intended for your
understanding and not to be followed dogmatically. Do the best
you can. The Lord does not tell you to exceed your limits.
The Gnanis, the Enlightened Ones, do not tell you to be
rigid in practicing your beliefs. Only the ignorant people will tell
you to be uncompromising. The Gnani will tell you to look
objectively from the perspective of overall profit and loss. If eating
onions has a twenty-five percent benefit and a loss of five percent
for the subtle violence, there is a net gain of twenty percent. This