blog 9

How has the religious history of India influenced India ’s tradition of non-violence? The non-violent tradition is deeply rooted in Indian culture and religious history. In Jainism, there’s ahimsa, the concept of “noninjury” to anything living. Jainism follows the extreme of this concept, some even wearing a cloth over their face to avoid accidentally swallowing a fly. Tolerance of all forms of life became a widespread concept in both Hinduism and Buddhism. In Hinduism, whatever bad you do ruins your next few lives. The heritage and ideas of one of the most prominent Indians, Mohandas Gandhi, were greatly influenced by those religions. The basis of his ideas was satyagrana: the concept of non-violent protest. This concept was very effectively used during the Indian struggle for independence from Britain.