Training for military revolt means learning the use of arms, ending perhaps in the atomic bomb. For Civil Disobedience it means the Constructive Program. ~ Gandhi, Constructive Program, forward to 1945 edition, p. iii It is very interesting how Gandhi locates Constructive Program (CP) in a parallel but opposite position to training in the use… read more
Posts by Prof. Michael Nagler
Simple Logic: Daily Metta
“The more we punish, the more persistent crimes become.” ~ Gandhi, Young India, April 30, 1925 Exactly this was said by Chief Justice Herb Yazzie of the Navajo Supreme Court: “You will never have enough jail space if your purpose is to punish” (quoted in Navajo Times Dec. 29, 2011, p. A-3). If only we… read more
Political Aspect: Daily Metta
“I would ask you to forget the political aspect of the program. Political consequences of this struggle there are, but you are not to concern yourself with them. If you do, you will miss the true result, and also the political consequences.” ~ Gandhi, Young India, March 19, 1925 It is easy to forget that… read more
Inner Disposition: Daily Metta
“I can conceive occasions when it would be my duty to vote for the military training of those who wish to take it. …It is not possible to make a person or a society nonviolent by compulsion.” ~ Gandhi, Young India, September 13, 1928 There is a fascinating, subtle difference between Gandhi’s vision, or commitment,… read more
No Escape: Daily Metta
“It is wrong and immoral to seek to escape the consequences of one’s acts.” ~ Gandhi, Young India, March 12, 1925 While this may sound harsh—and the context was artificial methods of birth control —there’s a very uplifting assumption behind it, or rather, two: 1) that the universe is not a punishing place but a… read more
Purification: Daily Metta
“(As the Devil takes advantage of our weaknesses) even so does the government retain its control over us through our weaknesses and vices. And if we would render ourselves proof against its machinations we must remove our weaknesses. It is for that reason that I have called Non-cooperation a process of purification.” ~ Gandhi, Young… read more
Love & Hate: Daily Metta
“If light can come out of darkness, then alone can love emerge from hatred.” ~ Gandhi, Mind of Mahatma Gandhi, 417 You would think that this truth were self-evident, that Gandhi and King (“Hate cannot overcome hate, only love can do that”) would not need to insist on it. But the fact is, every step… read more
Recipe for Right Action: Daily Metta
“Under the ideal conditions the barrister and the bhangi should both get the same payment.” ~ Gandhi, Mahatma, v. 8, p. 63 A bhangi is a sweeper, very low in the Indian caste system. Gandhi knows full well that people are born with different capacities, but he also knows that they are “all men born… read more
Misplaced Pity: Daily Metta
“If I had the power I would stop every sadavrata where free meals are given.” ~ Gandhi, Young India, August 13, 1925 Before we conclude that Gandhi was hard-hearted toward India’s many beggars, consider his reasoning—“It has encouraged laziness, idleness, hypocrisy, and even crime. Such misplaced charity adds nothing to the wealth of the country”—and… read more
Everything We Need: Daily Metta
“If each retained possession of only what he (or she) needed, no one would be in want and all would live in contentment.” ~ Gandhi, From Yaravda Mandir, ch. 9, p. 37 This is part of Gandhi’s unshakeable faith in (or should we say, his awareness of) the moral order of the universe. The world… read more
