“Service and not bread becomes with us the staff of life. We eat and drink, sleep and wake for service alone. Such an attitude of mind brings us real happiness.” ~ Gandhi, from Yeravda Mandir, p. 4 Gandhi is turning the propaganda wing of militarism, the commercial mass media, on its head by emphasizing that… read more
Posts by Stephanie Van Hook
Real Power: Daily Metta
“The real rulers are the toiling millions.” ~ Gandhi, Harijan, June 15, 1947 All revolution has to begin with one strategy: change and transform our vision of what makes someone powerful. For Gandhi, real power came from work and labor: spiritual and societal. Those who reap the fruits of the work of others for their… read more
Uplifting for All: Daily Metta
“All obstacles in our path will vanish, if only we observe the golden rule that we must not be impatient with those whom we may consider to be in error, but must be prepared, if need be, to suffer in our own person.” ~ Gandhi, from Gandhi’s Dialogue with Christianity, p. 5 (published by Swaraj… read more
Openness: Daily Metta
“Experience has taught me that it is a mistake hastily to imagine that anything that we cannot understand is necessarily wrong.” ~ Gandhi, from Gandhi’s Dialogue with Christianity, p. 4 (published by Swaraj Peeth) Gandhi teaches us that approaching life with an open heart and an open mind is not just to make us feel… read more
Law of Love: Daily Metta
“The law of love could be best understood and learned through little children.” ~ Gandhi, Mind of Mahatma Gandhi, p. 423 To learn great life lessons from children, we have to shift our view of who they are and what they are capable of. We cannot let ourselves assume a “power over” attitude, using coercion… read more
Your Path: Daily Metta
“Truth is the exclusive property of no single religion.” ~ Gandhi, Young India, 9-25, 1924 “Spiritual monoculture” is an oxymoron. Any state or organization that tries to create this unnatural environment will only make itself, and its participants, insecure. Gandhi demonstrated in his own life that you can be true to a single path without… read more
Unity in Diversity: Daily Metta
“We want to reach not the dead level, but unity in diversity.” ~ Yeravda Mandir The world is beginning to reawaken to the foundations of indigenous wisdom in agriculture, what some call “permaculture”: diversity is the expression of a thriving, healthy system. Monocultures weaken the environment, thus reducing security for everyone. Human beings are not… read more
Concentration: Daily Metta
“In heartfelt prayer the worshipper’s attention is concentrated on the object of worship so much that he is not conscious of anything else besides.” ~ Gandhi, Ashram Observances in Action, p. 38 What Gandhi is calling “heartfelt prayer,” others might refer to as meditation. The classic definition of meditation comes from the ancient sage Patanjali,… read more
Putting Others First: Daily Metta
“Man is not omnipotent. He therefore serves the world best by first serving his neighbor.” ~ Gandhi, Ashram Observances in Action, p. 114 It has been said that when it comes to putting others first, most people ask, “Why should we,” while only a few get straight to the point: “How?” We can practice this… read more
Principled Nonviolence and its Power: Daily Metta Weekend Videos
In this first video, Michael Nagler continues onward in The Search for a Nonviolent Future with insights into the paradox of nonviolence: rising above oneself and becoming more of oneself, truer to oneself. He then shares the origin of the term “person power,” coined by the Metta Center. In this next video, he describes the… read more
