What does non-violence signify?
It is not merely refraining from causing harm to others.
It also implies refraining from causing harm to oneself.
Whoever desires to observe non violence
must see that he does no violence to himself,
for one who harms himself cannot avoid harming others.
You must constantly examine
whether your conduct is right or wrong.
For instance, in the matter of speech,
one must examine whether one’s words
cause pain to others.
One must see that one’s vision is not tainted
with evil intentions or thoughts.
Nor should one listen to evil talk either.
All these things cause harm to a person.
Hence one should see to it that one gives
no room for bad vision, bad hearing, bad speech,
bad thoughts or bad actions.
And how do you determine what is bad?
By consulting your conscience.
Whenever you act against the
dictates of your conscience, bad results will follow.
divinely sent
