Non-Violence
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Sacrifice of Life-Forms in Religion
Questioner: In many temples, people offer animal
sacrifices to deities. Is that a sin or virtue?
Dadashri: If you asked the person making the sacrifice,
he would declare that he is carrying out merit karma. But he is a
murderer according to the animal being sacrificed. The deity would
tell you that he does not accept anything for itself, nor can he
refuse the offering to be blessed laid at his feet. So leave the issue
of sin and virtue, merit karma and non-merit karma alone! The
liability of everything you do falls on your shoulders, so think before
you act. You can make whatever offerings you want, but
understand that you are whole and sole responsible for all your
actions.
Prayer Filled with Non-Violent Intent: Ahimsa
From now on, your deep inner intent and prayer should be
to promote non-violence towards helpless animals and to spread
this belief as much as you can. If a person’s religion allows him to
eat meat, while yours does not, there should not be any friction or
conflict over the issue. With such intent from within, your prayers
will produce a non-violent society. This intent should remain within
you day and night.
Does your deep intent for salvation of the entire world not
remain with you at all times? Likewise you should have the same
intent for non-violence.
Questioner: We can at least pray for that, can we not?
Dadashri: Yes, yes, do all the prayers you can, keep the
intent and encourage others to do the same. It is important that
you make others understand this. Violence is not something new,
it has been occurring all along.
Having heard about the reputation of the saint Kabir, the
sage Tulsidas, who was a Brahmin, set off to visit him in Delhi.