Find courage to mend fractured friendships

“Ahimsa paramo dharma” is the fundamental tenet of my organization Humane Long Island.   

Attributed to various religious teachers, including Mahavira — the 24th Tirthankara or enlightened spiritual master in Jainism — and popularized by Mahatma Gandhi, “ahimsa paramo dharma” is loosely translated to “non-violence or non-injury to life — requires doing the least harm one can to all living beings, not by action but also by thought and word. An important tenet of many of the Eastern faiths, including Hinduism and Buddhism, Ahimsa is the fundamental tenet of Jainism. “Paramo” means topmost, ultimate, or supreme. “Dharma” has no direct translation into English; however, it can be conceptualized as duty, reality, or righteousness in thought, word, and action.  

Unlike western conceptions of non-violence, ahimsa is not a passive force but implies an active expression of compassion. In the same vein, Humane Long Island does not believe it’s enough to only “go vegan” but rather believes we must “become activists.”   

Taking inspiration from Mahavira, a name meaning “Great Warrior”, Humane Long Island is not your typical animal rights organization. We are strategic campaigners who have shut down petting zoos and illegal backyard butcher operations, stopped massacres of thousands of geese and deer, ended animal circuses and wild animal acts from New York City to Greenport, stopped a slaughterhouse from being built in Islip and a sordid aquarium chain from expanding into Oyster Bay, and done so much more, through the implementation of right thought and action.    

We do not approach animal exploiters with pride or anger, but rather as humane educators with thoughts of consequentialism and equanimity. We recognize that a person’s every action is the result of the disposition they were born with — whether one calls that a soul, a Jiva, or simply their genetic make-up — and how that disposition is influenced by environmental factors, experiences, or karmas. A wicked person is not someone to be feared or loathed, but rather a broken person who needs to be loved and healed.   

Through this mindset, we regularly exchange vegan food for animals at live slaughter markets, have worked with our friends at PETA and Arthur’s Acres Animal Sanctuary to rescue two pigs from an Iowa factory farm, and even worked amicably with a petting zoo owner to shut down his business and retire the animals to reputable sanctuaries.   

Over the last few weeks, I’ve been a part of several contentious animal rescues where people on both sides claimed to care about the animals while slinging mud at one another, with the animals suffering longer as a result. In each instance, my organization is proud to have stepped in as a peacemaker and established treaties that resulted in farmed animal sanctuaries and traditional restaurant owners banding together as well as USDA agents working alongside farmed animal advocates to rescue abandoned domestic ducks and placing them in homes where they will be loved and never eaten.   

With so much passion, it is easy to get swept up in a cause and paint your opposition as villainous, however, we must remember to think kindly and with equanimity. Patience and humane education often go much further than insults and fragmentation.   

For this week’s Anuvrat or small vow, I challenge you to find the courage to be humble and the kindness to mend a fractured friendship or to start one with someone you’ve previously thought of as a foe.

 

 John Di Leonardo is the founding director of Long Island Orchestrating for Nature (LION). He was previously the Senior Manager of Grassroots Campaigns and Animals in Entertainment Campaigns for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). He has a Master’s degree in Anthrozoology from Canisius College. He also earned a graduate certificate in Jain Studies from the International School of Jain Studies (ISJS) in India. John can be reached at [email protected]. 

Image courtesy of Provided

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