74 Non-Violence
alert because he could see that everyone around him was in a state of intent-death.
What does intent-death mean? It signifies the death of the Self, and the birth of the non-self( the worldly self). In any event or situation, the sense of‘ I am this or that’ is the birth of the nonself and‘ I am the observer of this event’ is the birth of the Self.
Those who commit violence against the physical bodies may find redemption, but there is no hope for those who commit violence against the Self. No one ever explains the subtler facts, only the gross issues.
Ahimsa Increases the Intellect
Everyone including Muslims, Christians and Hindus are in aarta-dhyan( adverse internal meditation) and raudra-dhyan( adverse internal and external meditation). What is the difference between them? Indians experience more of these adverse meditations because they practice non-violence against life-forms at various levels. This is because their intellect increases with such a practice. In this era, an increasing intellect increases sin and the sinful binding of karma. People with an increased intellect take advantage of those with lesser intellect and that is violence.
People of other countries do not use their intellect to hurt others, whereas people of India do. It is only in this time-cycle that such a nuisance has arisen. Intellect is required to hurt. Who are the people with such intellect? They are the people who practice non-violence, those who do not eat edible roots and those who worship the Tirthankars. But what good is such an intellect?
Questioner: You do injustice to these people.
Dadashri: I do them no injustice. It is this increased intellect that harms them and I have written this in my book. If I do not say things exactly as they are, people will move further away from the truth. It is very dangerous to use your intellect to take advantage