“Means must determine ends and indeed it’s questionable in human affairs whether there is an end. The best we can do is to make sure of the method and examine our motive.” ~ Ronald Duncan, Selected Writings of Mahatma Gandhi, p. 14 No matter where you cut him, Gandhi is close to what he called… read more
Posts by Prof. Michael Nagler
Structural Violence: Daily Metta
“I am satisfied that many Englishmen and Indian officials honestly believe that that they are administering one of the best systems devised in the world . . .” ~ Ronald Duncan, Selected Writings of Mahatma Gandhi, p. 144 A well-known admonition of the Buddha was na hante, na hanyate, the wise one “will not kill,… read more
Short of the Ideal: Daily Metta
“I see no courage or sacrifice in destroying life or property for offense or defense.” ~ Gandhi, Mahatma 6.67 I’m revisiting this statement (see yesterday’s post) because in it Gandhi refers offhandedly to something that is quite controversial in contemporary nonviolence practice: property destruction. There are circumstances—for example breaking into a military base and destroying… read more
Sacrifice: Daily Metta
“I see no courage or sacrifice in destroying life or property for offense or defense.” ~ Gandhi, Mahatma 6.67 Naturally, Gandhiji’s point here is to stress two cardinal features of “nonviolence of my understanding” (title of a small book he wrote): the one is that nonviolence is a positive force, which is obvious only to… read more
Our Dignity: Daily Metta
“My goal is friendship with the world and I can combine the greatest love with the greatest opposition to wrong.” ~ Gandhi, Mind of Mahatma Gandhi, p. 424 Every human being has dignity. When we teach ourselves to keep this simple idea in mind, friendship with everyone is no longer hyperbole, but a real (and… read more
Conscious Agents: Daily Metta
“Man is the maker of his own destiny, and therefore I ask you to become makers of your own destiny.” ~ Gandhi, Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, XXVI p. 294 Gandhi’s vision—of life, of human nature—is in so many ways an opposite and a remedy to today’s popular beliefs. He is very much a prophet… read more
Unconquerable: Daily Metta
“The proper way to view the present outburst of violence in the world is to recognize that the technique of unconquerable non-violence of the strong has not been at all fully discovered as yet.” ~ Gandhi, Mind of Mahatma Gandhi, p. 147 Gandhi made this statement close to the end of his life, in 1948.… read more
The Nonviolence Effect: Daily Metta
“I do not believe…that an individual may gain spiritually and those around him suffer… I believe in the essential unity of man and, for that matter, of all that lives.” ~ Gandhi, Mind of Mahatma Gandhi, p. 223 The concept of a spiritual “field” operating throughout spacetime in somewhat the way gravity does, or electromagnetic… read more
Right Means: Daily Metta
“When there is no desire for fruit, there is also no temptation for untruth or himsa.” ~ Gandhi, Mahatma, vol. 2. p. 311 To revisit the excellent Daily Metta of March 1st: The Gita’s “theory of action” (as we like to call it). It is quite nuanced, but it’s main tenets can be summarized as… read more
Victory: Daily Metta
“He then went on solemnly to declare in the name of God that he would never submit to that law, and advised all present to do likewise.” We are, of course, in the Empire Jewish Theater in Johannesburg, South Africa. The date is September 11 (!), 1906, and the speaker being quoted is one Seth… read more
