Michael Nagler offers a personal reflection on Pittsburgh, and how it is helping him to deepen his commitment to nonviolence.
Yesterday’s headline in our local paper (The Santa Rosa Press Democrat) boasts PITTSBURGH MASSACRE DETAILED. We could not ask for a more eloquent reason not to let the mass media rule our thinking, as it does that of millions. Dwelling on the details of the horror is a two-edged sword, both edges severely harmful: readers will relive the experience vicariously, thus increasing the high level of fear, insecurity, and rage they already endure (I am not referring to Halloween specifically), and be completely distracted from the cause of this and so many other acts of violence that are steadily tearing apart our society. The cause? In one ominous sentence uttered in a moment of reflection by my teacher, Sri Eknath Easwaran, many years ago, “No nation is so strong that it cannot be destroyed by hate.”
Though I am of Jewish origin, as Stephanie kindly pointed out yesterday I am not speaking of this crime as one of anti-Semitism, which it is secondarily. Of course it has a particular poignancy for me and my fellow Jews, but in the footsteps of my other great teacher, Gandhi, I must regard it as a crime against the human image, the semel elohim or ‘image of God’ that we are. Every one of us.
So what can we do about this? Shun the mass media, of course, getting whatever news and entertainment we need from other sources (see our website, listen to our podcasts if you wish) and do everything possible to eradicate the sources of hate that may lurk in the remote corners of our own mind. You will say, ‘but I’m just one person.’ I would say, “just”? One person is one microcosm of this universe.
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By: Prof. Michael Nagler
As the Founder and President of Metta Center, Michael Nagler is also Professor Emeritus of Classics and Comparative Literature at UC, Berkeley, where he co-founded the Peace and Conflict Studies Program. Michael is the author of The Search for a Nonviolent Future and The Nonviolence Handbook: A Guide for Practical Action. His latest book is The Third Harmony: Nonviolence & the New Story of Human Nature. Visit his website: michaelnagler.org.
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What happened in Pittsburgh touches everyone, regardless of faith or culture, for it attacks our humanity, our connection w/the sacred that is w/in each of us. Thank you, Michael, for speaking out as you have. As a Jewish woman by choice who has embraced unity consciousness, any attack on another for reasons having to do w/prejudice, discrimination, touches me, too, & offers an opportunity to say kaddish for those in Pittsburgh (this time), as well as prayers for perpetrator(s) that the errors in their thinking be corrected.
I also call upon others to un~plug from media, & look to alternative sources for information. Each of us needs periods of silence, & unplugging from tv/papers, social media, allows for time to reflect, time to be, time to listen~in the silence, & to receive guidance from that still, small Voice w/in. Here, in the silence, are we able to connect w/a peace that flows deep w/in; healing occurs here, wisdom is received.