August 18: “Moral authority is never retained by any attempt to hold onto it. It comes without seeking and is retained without effort.” –Gandhi (Young India, January 29, 1925) This evening I read a message from the Sierra Club’s Executive Director on why they do the work they do, and this is what it came… read more
Posts by Stephanie Van Hook
“Is nonviolence selfish?”–Daily Metta
August 17: “Selflessness may be the purest form of selfishness.” –Gandhi (Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, vol. xxvi) While there is much selflessness in the world today, thank goodness, there is nothing about nonviolent action that guarantees selflessness or altruistic intent. Most people would actually admit to engaging in such action for some personal reason:… read more
“Cleaning latrines”–Daily Metta
August 16: “Let me not be misunderstood. I do not discount the value of intellectual labor, but no amount of it is any compensation for bodily labor which every one of us is born to give for the common good of all.” —Gandhi (Young India, October, 15, 1925) When Jhaver Patel was a young… read more
“Gandhi on Independence Day”–Daily Metta
August 15: “In concrete terms, the independence should be political, economic and moral.” –Gandhi (Harijan, May 5, 1946) When the flag was raised on a free India on August 15, 1947, Mahatma Gandhi was not a part of the celebrations and he did not want to be. In many ways, the “victory” to him was… read more
“Civil Disobedience and Conscience”–Daily Metta
August 14: “To put down civil disobedience is an attempt to imprison conscience.” –Gandhi (Young India, January 5, 1922) Gandhi rarely spoke of rights, always opting in favor of duties from which our rights emerge. This, according to Sushila Nayyar, is due to the curious fact that Sanskrit has no word for “rights.” It is… read more
“Tend and befriend”–Daily Metta
August 13: “Having flung aside the sword, there is nothing except the cup of love which I can offer to those who oppose me.” –Gandhi (Young India, April 2, 1931) When there is a conflict, the brain goes into an instinctual response pattern. We’ve all heard of it. (Can you guess?) Fight or flight! It… read more
“Nonviolent Response to Stealing”–Daily Metta
August 12: “Not to think badly of anyone, not to wish ill to him though we have suffered at his hands, not to hurt him even in thought, this is an uphill task, but therein lies the acid test of nonviolence.” –Gandhi (Ashram Observances in Action) When Gandhi was a little boy he stole money… read more
“Nonviolence: more than a word”–Daily Metta
August 11: “Nothing that is violent can be of lasting benefit to mankind [sic].” –Gandhi (Gandhi’s Correspondence with the Government 1942-1944) More times than I can count, I have have been engaged in passionate discussions around replacing the word ‘nonviolence.’ Why should we define ourselves negatively?’ People ask; should we really be talking about a… read more
“Teaming up”–Daily Metta
August 10: “If it is [our] privilege to be independent, it is equally [our] duty to be interdependent.” –Gandhi (Young India, April 25 1929) A friend recently offered an approach to peacebuilding and nonviolent resistance that I thought fascinating: working together in teams of two. The idea is ancient, he said, thinking about the Jewish… read more
“Shared power and leadership”–Daily Metta
August 9: “The truth is that power resides in the people and it is entrusted for the time being in those whom they may choose as their representatives.” —Gandhi (Mahatma, vol. VI. “Constructive Program,” December, 1941) “Shared power” is a basic concept in the field of nonviolence that encapsulates the dramatic shift that must take… read more
