“A man of charity does not even know that he is doing charitable acts, it is his nature to do so, he cannot help it.” ~ Gandhi, The Gita According to Gandhi, p. 185

Gandhi firmly believed that our nature is good. We do not need to prove it to ourselves by having others affirm it. When we do something charitable towards others, therefore, we should not even notice it. It should be like our blinking or breathing. There is no need to draw attention to ourselves in such a situation; when we do, our act stands to lose its power, redirecting its energy toward our own upliftment rather than that of others—in which our own good is necessarily included. Others will take notice, but it does not need to affect our security.

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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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