“My effort should never be to undermine another’s faith but to make him a better follower of his own faith.” ~ Gandhi, Mahatma, vol. 2, p. 343 We can take this as a special case of the striking principle we’ve discussed before that Gandhi tried never to insist that anyone follow his (Gandhi’s) ideas but… read more
Posts by Prof. Michael Nagler
Self-evident: Daily Metta
“Truth is self-evident. Nonviolence is its maturest fruit. It is contained in Truth, but is not self-evident.” ~ Gandhi, The Message of the Gita, p. 14 That nonviolence is not self-evident is, alas, too true. But it’s not to hard to infer, if not feel it operating, when we know how and where to look.… read more
Highest Ideal: Daily Metta
“Ahimsa is the highest ideal. It is meant for the brave; never for the cowardly.” ~ Gandhi, Mahatma, vol. 7, p. 128 The courage we’re talking about here is not only the courage to face (the risk of) punishment but the lack of understanding, the scorn and disapproval of others, which can be more difficult.… read more
Freedom From: Daily Metta
“True ahimsa should mean a complete freedom from ill-will and anger and hate and an overflowing love for all.” ~ Gandhi, D.G. Tendulkar, Mahatma, vol. 2, p. 420 What Gandhi called “the nonviolence of the strong” (or brave) and today we call principled nonviolence does mean the attempt (he would say, “prayerful attempt”) to eliminate… read more
Long Term: Daily Metta
“A truthful man (or woman) cannot long remain violent. He will perceive in the course of his search that he has no need to be violent…” ~ Gandhi, Young India, May 20, 1925 One of Gandhi’s startling—and when you think about it, inspiring—characteristics was his ability to accept, even insist upon, others finding their own… read more
Highest Dharma: Daily Metta
“The only thing that separates us from the brute, with which we have so much in common, is the ability to distinguish between right and wrong.” ~ Gandhi, Mahatma vol. 4, 158 And, we might add, the ability to choose between them once distinguished. Not that we always find it easy to exercise that critical… read more
People of Faith: Daily Metta
“A man (or woman) of faith will remain steadfast to truth even though the whole world might appear to be enveloped in falsehood.” ~ Gandhi, Mind of Mahatma Gandhi, p. 47 Please note: might appear to be enveloped in falsehood. That’s where the faith comes in: that despite all appearances, Truth cannot ever be destroyed,… read more
Inner Eyes: Daily Metta
“What the eyes are for the outer world, fasts are for the inner.” ~ Gandhi, Mahatma, vol. 2, 218 Not having myself much experience with fasting (aka virtually none) and not having the context of this remark in front of me, I will take it that what he means is that fasts can cause or… read more
Decentralization: Daily Metta
“Khadi mentality means the decentralization of the production and distribution of the necessities of life.” ~ Gandhi, Mind of Mahatma Gandhi, p. 406 Everywhere the progressive world is struggling today to come up with alternative forms of organization to the hierarchical, top-down model that has been followed by practically every institution in the modern, corporate… read more
Redressing Grievances: Daily Metta
“I do not believe in the accepted Western form of democracy, with its universal voting for parliamentary representatives.” ~ Gandhi, in Louis Fischer’s A Week With Gandhi, p. 56 Well, that’s a shocker. What did he believe in? First of all, a polity informed by the spirit of nonviolence, as we have seen several times… read more
