“It is no nonviolence if we merely love those who love us. It is nonviolence only when we love those who hate us.” ~ Gandhi in a letter dated December 31, 1931, from All Men Are Brothers, pg. 78

Nonviolence challenges us to cleanse our heart of all resentment, bitterness, and hatred. If we merely love those who love us, as Jesus also said, how do we grow?  When they stop loving us, then, do we have to stop loving them? Do we lose our capacity for love? No. We can actually grow and expand it.

By extending love to those who don’t seem to really “deserve” it, we create the conditions that can help that person change. Remember the Buddha’s advice about “clinging to a higher happiness?” If we don’t show people that higher happiness, that higher truth, who will? No one said nonviolence was the easy way. But it’s the more effective way forward.

Would you like to offer any insights on extending love for the enemy? The comments section below awaits!

About Daily Metta

Stephanie Van Hook, the Metta Center’s executive director, launched Daily Metta in 2015 as a way to share Gandhi’s spiritual wisdom and experiments with nonviolence.

Our 2016 Daily Metta continues with Gandhi on weekdays. On weekends, we share videos that complement Michael Nagler’s award-winning book, The Search for a Nonviolent Future: A Promise of Peace for Ourselves, Our Families, and Our World. To help readers engage with the book more deeply, the Metta Center offers a free PDF study guide.

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