Ahimsa

Last updated on: July 4, 2011 at 3:00 pm by Niki Whiting

Ahimsa 2011-07-04T15:00:32-08:00 Niki Whiting

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Ahimsa is the Sanskrit word meaning ‘nonharming.’ It’s one of the moral precepts (yama) of Yoga. I’ve been thinking a lot about this term as I debate whether or not to stick with vegetarianism.

Georg Feuerstein has this to say about ahimsa:

“…[O]ur life is built on the sacrificial death of others. We are voluntarily murdering creatures with every breath… [W]e constantly annihilate billions of invisible microbes so that we may live. We ourselves are a link in the great food chain of life, destined to die and be food for microbic creatures.

We need not stop breathing or feeding ourselves, or constantly ‘turn the other cheek,’ but we must appreciate how we owe our life to other beings and how they owe their lives to us. When we truly see this vast interconnectedness, it becomes easy for us to cultivate an attitude of reverence for life, which is essentially an attitude of nonharming and of ego-transcending love.” (From his chapter ‘Is Nonharming (Ahimsa) an Old-Fashioned Virtue?’ in The Deeper Dimension of Yoga, 2003.)

I don’t consider myself a pacifist; I like hitting things too much. But nonharming is a virtue and, like all virtues, its consistent application is part of advanced living. I don’t think eating meat makes one less committed to nonharming than being a vegetarian makes a person more committed to the same virtue. It’s a virtue I aspire to – in my relations with others, in the food I eat, in my purchases. If I tried to live without ever harming another person I would be immobilized with inaction, particularly in a world where I do not make my own clothes or even fully understand where and how the many products I use are made. Rather than obsess I choose to start where I am, with the more obvious things that I can control. For my dinner, I can choose happily raised animals from small farms. For my clothes, I can buy many things used, or trade with friends. I can choose the lowest environmentally impacting cleaning supplies. Et cetera.

(Wow, I just revealed my middle class Western upbringing and status, didn’t I? What can I purchase?)

Nonharming is much more than not contributing to slave labor or not eating meat, just as nonviolence is about much more than not hitting. Nonharming is also about what’s going in my head and heart. Am I taking out my frustrations on others? Is what I’m about to say harmful? A pitfall of this sort of thinking can be the extremity of political correctness – acting as if any criticism or negative expression is harmful, which I don’t think is true – or helpful. Nonharming is not about passive-agressive, milqetoast, ‘everybody let’s just get along’ thinking.

Nonharming is also not only about not harming other living creatures, but is equally about not harming myself. At worst, I can ask myself if I am remaining in positions where others are harming me. At best, I can see if I am mentally beating up on myself. Am I sabotaging myself by not eating well or getting enough sleep or engaging in other behaviours that I know are detrimental to my best?

I like this philosophy. It’s not about being nice. Sometimes there are moments when I struggle to be loving toward myself and others. In those moments I may not be able to be loving, but I can focus on not harming. If I can’t love myself right now, I can at least not harm myself.

There are of course many situations that might require harming another being: self-defense, eating, letting a loved one know that their partner is cheating on them, etc. I don’t want to go into all the what-ifs. In the end, ahimsa is a great philosophy, and one shared, more or less, by all the great world religions.

Previous Post

July 1, 2011

Challenges on the path

Next Post

July 9, 2011 In which I trust that my confusion is actually a good thing

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Alaska altar altars Ana Ancestors Anderson witchcraft Arddu Bhairava Biography bodies books Christianity Christmas community current events death Delphic Maxims Dhumavati dual observance Durga Faery family life feminism Feri Feri tradition Feri witchcraft food ganesha gratitude Guest Post guru health Hinduism holidays Jesus Kali Lakshmi land links magic Many Gods West movie review movies music my heart mystery myth Navratri Orthodoxy pagan pagan culture paganism pantheacon parenting Place politics polytheism practice pratice prayer Red Goddess review ritual sacred arts Samhain Saraswati Shinto Shiva singing Star Goddess Tantra tarot the Gods theory Uncategorized values virgin mary wales washington winter witchcraft year in review yoga

Select a Month September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

For it is by _____ you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.

Select your answer to see how you score.

Faith Love Jesus' Blood Grace