Editing Nonviolence (section)

==Origins==

Nonviolence or ''ahimsa'' is one of the cardinal virtues<ref name=evpc/> and an important tenet of [[Jainism]], [[Buddhism]], and [[Hinduism]]. Jain and Buddhist thoughts have explored nonviolence very deeply, not limiting it to humans but extending it to the animal world as well as nature, in a very explicit fashion. In Jainism, it is the very core idea of very 'way of life' practicing it in mun (thoughts), vachan (spoken word) and karm (action). It is a multidimensional concept,<ref name=arapura>{{cite book|first1=John|last1=Arapura|editor-first1=K. R. |editor-last1=Sundararajan|editor-first2=Bithika|editor-last2=Mukerji|year=1997|title=Hindu spirituality: Postclassical and modern|isbn=978-81-208-1937-5|chapter=Chapter 20|pages=392–417|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publ. }}</ref> inspired by the premise that all living beings have the spark of the divine spiritual energy; therefore, to hurt another being is to hurt oneself. It has also been related to the notion that any violence has [[Karma|karmic]] consequences. While ancient scholars of Hinduism pioneered and over time perfected the principles of ''ahimsa'', the concept reached an extraordinary status in the ethical philosophy of Jainism.<ref name=evpc>{{cite book|first1=Stephen H. |last1=Phillips|display-authors=etal|year=2008|title=Encyclopedia of Violence, Peace, & Conflict|edition=Second|isbn=978-0-12-373985-8|publisher=Elsevier Science|pages=1347–1356, 701–849, 1867}}</ref><ref name=chapple1990>{{cite book|last1=Chapple|first1=Christopher|title=Nonviolence to animals, earth and self in Asian Traditions|chapter=Chapter 1|publisher=State University of New York Press|year=1993}}</ref>