The lion kills all his life, but he cannot be called violent. He cannot be called non-violent either. He is just doing what his physical conditioning compels him to do. He has no option. Man has the option to kill and not to kill. Man has the option to choose what he wants to eat. And therefore, only man can be violent or non-violent. The most fearsome carnivore is not violent at all.
The mosquito is not violent, even if it survives only on your blood. But if you can avoid killing the mosquito and still kill it, then you are violent. It is the human form that has a choosing consciousness. The word ‘consciousness’ itself implies choice.
What is non-violence? When you make the right choice, it is called non-violence.
This article has been created by volunteers of the PrashantAdvait Foundation from transcriptions of sessions by Acharya Prashant
