January 25: “All activity for stopping war must prove fruitless so long as the causes of war are not understood and radically dealt with.” –Gandhi (Harijan 2-11-1939) My friend Tom Hastings had a New Yorker cartoon on the door to his Portland office. It depicted several individuals throwing a plastic bottle into a trashcan overflowing… read more
Posts by Stephanie Van Hook
The Art of Nonviolence-PPR
(Gandhi’s only possessions at the time of his samadhi) On this episode of Peace Paradigm Radio, we talk with Josef Helfenstein, curator of a Houston exhibit (in the Menil Collection), and book published by Yale and Menil, entitled Experiments with Truth: Gandhi and Images of Nonviolence. Helfenstein spent decades researching the subject and brought together an amazing… read more
“The power of a choice”–Daily Metta
January 24 “We had lost the power of saying ‘no’. It had become disloyal, almost sacrilegious to say ‘no’ to the Government.” –Gandhi (Young India, 6-1-1921, p. 173) Our ability to say ‘no’ to what we regard as wrong is as necessary to a democratic society as our ability to say ‘yes’ to the things… read more
“Nonviolence and patriotism.”–Daily Metta
January 23 “My patriotism is not exclusive.” –Gandhi (Young India, 3-4-1924) Gandhi often said that if nonviolence were to have any value, it lies in its universal applicability–what is true for individuals is also true for nations. He also said that they are no real lovers of freedom (as the British claimed to be) who… read more
“Education of the Heart”–Daily Metta
January 22 “I do not believe that an education of the heart can be imparted through books. It can only be done through the living touch of the teacher.” –M.K. Gandhi (Young India, September 1, 1921) A nonviolent education requires the integral development of the whole person. Gandhi’s vision of a new education or “nai… read more
“The Gita Theory of Action”–Daily Metta
January 21 “I cannot attain freedom by a mechanical refusal to act, but only by intelligent action in a detached manner.” -Gandhi (Young India, 9-17-1921) Gandhi read the spiritual classic the Bhagavad Gita every day. He said it was to him as a “mother’s milk,” nourishing and nurturing him in times of joy and great… read more
“Ending Class Consciousness”–Daily Metta
January 20 “The practice of law ought not to mean taking more daily than, say, a village carpenter’s wage.” –Gandhi (Harijan, 7-13-1940) Did thinking alone ever cook a meal? While both have their place in the healthy functioning of a culture, society teaches us that some work is “naturally” more important and more valuable than… read more
“Determination and Faith”–Daily Metta
January 19 “A small body of determined spirits fired by an unquenchable faith in their mission can alter the course of history.” -Gandhi (Harijan, 11-19-1936, pp. 341-2) Nonviolence is sometimes referred to as “people power.” This is a perfectly valid idea, but we should not think of nonviolence solely as the power of large masses… read more
“Across time and space”–Daily Metta
January 18 “The law of love knows no bounds of space or time.” –Gandhi (Young India, 1-8-1925) Modern science is only now catching up to the insights shared by the world’s great mystics. In quantum physics for example, we have the theory of nonlocality, demonstrating that a quantum event can take place in one region… read more
“Understanding Crime”–Daily Metta
January 17 “No one commits crime for the fun of it.” –Gandhi (Harijan, 11-2-1947) In order to inflict violence on someone, we must first dehumanize them. For this reason, Gandhi maintained that words like “crime” and “criminal” should be erased from our vocabulary. These words help us write off the dignity of the human being… read more
