What the West Has Learned from the East in the Twentieth Century

Abstract

Among the changes of the influence of foreign cultural pressures in Western civilisation in the second half of the twentieth century, two deserve special attention: the birth and rapid development of pacifism and the evolution of the cosmovital ideas. Both of these shifts should be traced to the influences of the East, and more precisely, to the cultural tradition of India. Ahimsa, the strict injunction against the use of violence or infliction of injury, constitutes an integral part of the ancient tradition of India. This principle is proclaimed by Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. The Asian respect for life complements an emerging ecological sensitivity condemning the industrial devastation of the natural environment and destruction of whole species.