“The truth is that cowardice itself is violence of a subtle type and therefore dangerous and far more difficult to eradicate than the habit of physical violence.” ~ Gandhi, CWMG, 25:437

That cowardice is a form of violence can be counterintuitive. I have had people tell me that they ran away from a fight: wasn’t that nonviolent of them? In Gandhi’s view, no, because in running away from violence we affirm its power over us; or more simply, it’s power. The nonviolent way is to defy it, to, if as far as possible, master our fear of it.  Once again what’s true on this level of principle is also what’s effective on the level of strategy: people who cringe under tyranny only perpetuate it; when we master our fear and defy it—without causing injury to those carrying it out—we dissipate its power by the exercise of our own very different one.

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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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