Gentleness : A Strong Hand with a Soft Touch
A man thinks that irrespective of his conduct, his worship of God shall wipe out all errors, that is truly a wrong act. Religious consciousness and moral consciousness are two different things.
By Lalit Garg
The quality of gentleness is colloquially understood to be that of kindness, consideration and amiability. Gentleness is a strong hand with a soft touch. In other words we can say gentleness means sweetness. It is a secret behind a successful living. Gentleness is the virtue of doing your good with the least possible harm to others. Gentleness is an inner peace that resists war, cruelty, brutality, aggressiveness, barbarism, coarseness, insult, violence, and other violations of another’s sanctity. A man possessed of gentleness is capable of instantaneous adjustment in every kind of situations. Gentle behavior is the essence of moral consciousness.
Some people are very cruel. Their treatment and behavior towards animals or men is so ruthless. When a man treats the animals so cruelly, how can there be any development of morality in him? According to me hunger of dowry is also a ruthless conduct of humans. Every year thousands of innocent girls suffer through this mental trauma. In Jainism it is a belief that if you torcher someone mentally, it also comes in violence. Only physical abuse is not under the category of violence; mental abuse plays the same thing or we can say equally harm a person. With all these ruthlessness going on, any talk of morality sounds quite meaningless.
We have committed a big error to discriminate between morality and religion. We think it is necessary to become a more religious person than a humble one. We think that a religious person is capable of doing the right thing in life. We think it is necessary to be religious for achieving salvation or gaining entry into paradise. If a man has no moral values but he is quite religious, then he must not be a good human being. A man thinks that irrespective of his conduct, his worship of God shall wipe out all errors, that is truly a wrong act. Religious consciousness and moral consciousness are two different things. What we need today is a radical transformation of consciousness.
Man has three weaknesses- cruelty, incongruity and the tendency to harm himself. Cruelty plays a major role in all of them. All the incongruities, all the contradictions, all the problems today, whether economic, political or sociological, are basically rooted in men’s cruelty. If a man wants to book a ticket in an urgent situation he has to offer some bribe to get the ticket, any government official work cannot be completed by these kinds of works. Weapons business industries play a vital role in terrorism. A businessman adulterates the feed with the result that cattle start dying after consuming it. The whole story of economic corruption is the story of cruelty.
Let our behavior towards another be free from cruelty. We have to develop our empathy for another’s situation and point of view. If cruelty and selfishness is removed from the earth, then the earth has become itself a paradise. We have to respect and preserve the dignity of all people.
The spirit of goodwill and friendship is the starting point of universal brotherhood. Gentleness is a constant strength born from serenity and patience that contrasts with a strong personality. A good life means the development of gentleness and straightforwardness. One who practices equanimity, comes to realize himself, and with realization comes the awakening of eternal consciousness.
