TODAY, June 6, marks the anniversary of the Allied invasion of Normandy in 1944. It is also, given the time difference, the day in 1893 (June 7th, over there) that Mohandas Gandhi was thrown off a train at Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. The former event marked the beginning of the end of World War II. The… read more
Metta Blog
Nonviolence Lifeline
A Daily (or so) text or SMS with a short inspiration, resource, news item, info, fact, new finding, and more (!) about nonviolence. There are two ways you can sign up: 1. Join our WhatsApp Group at this link. 2. From your US/Canada/Puerto Rico cell number, text: Nonviolence to (888)-505-1025 and be added right away. Note: When… read more
A Palestinian’s Journey to Nonviolence
Renowned Palestinian activist and humanitarian Mubarak Awad on nonviolence, his activism, and insights for action as the conflict in Israel-Palestine continues to smoulder. … read more
2021 Certificate Program
“Nonviolence is the bridge between spiritual practice and social change.” ~Michael Nagler, Metta Center founder We are opening registration for our online 2021 Certificate Program in Nonviolence Studies. This year’s program will be co-taught by Michael Nagler, PhD (UC Berkeley) and Safoora Arbab, PhD (UCLA). Who is this for? This program is open to anyone… read more
Nonviolence Manual In Burmese
Myanmar has been a recurring scene of repression and resistance, and today’s resistance is probably more organized, more courageous — and more costly than ever. This little booklet is offered in the spirit of solidarity and support to the people standing up to the military in the face of severe repression. It contains basics about… read more
A bit of History Offers a Clue for Going Forward
Originally published in Waging Nonviolence On Aug. 24, 410 C.E., Alaric with his army of Goths entered Rome and sacked the capital of the empire. The shock echoed throughout the circum-Mediterranean world and Europe: How could this happen to the “eternal city”? Though the scale of the attack was so much smaller, and it failed,… read more
Let the Healing Begin
Though I pride myself on being familiar with Gandhi’s voluminous writings, there was one aspect of his thinking that never registered with me until I saw the back window of a truck the other day with a death’s head on the rear window and a bumper sticker that read, POLITICALLY INCORRECT / AND PROUD OF… read more
Praying from the Heart
By Annie Hewitt One of the most striking aspects of principled nonviolence is the way in which it compels us to reconsider our understanding of familiar terms and practices. For instance, our commonplace idea of what it means for something ’to work’, or for someone ‘to win’, or how to distinguish ‘ends’ from ‘means’ are… read more
Non-Embarrassment
By Annie Hewitt Winning feels good — so good in fact that it can be easy in the moment to forget how bad losing feels. Losing is especially painful after a conflict in which one is fully committed, when one’s skin is definitively ‘in the game’. Stretching the metaphor, to lose is, in a sense,… read more
Time to Rebuild with Nonviolence
We, the board and staff of the Metta Center, have been in the process of writing something for our friends and followers about the electoral crisis, but the situation has been and remains so fluid that we waited for a definitive outcome at least of the election itself, though there are still dangers and unknowns… read more
