“Towards the end of my second year in England I came across two Theosophists, brothers, and both unmarried. They talked to me about the Gita.” ~ Gandhi, Autobiography, p. 67

The Gita, which was as a “mother’s milk” to Gandhi for his adult life, was not something that he drew upon as a child. It wasn’t until two friends in England, theosophists, asked him to read it with them. But given his upbringing and spiritual heritage, it went in more deeply than he might have imagined. In his autobiography, he points out one verse in particular that struck a chord in his heart as he re-acquainted himself with this great poem (often called an Upanishad in India):

If one ponders on objects of the sense, there springs attraction;
From attraction grows desire, desire flames to fierce passion,
Passion breeds recklessness; then the memory—all betrayed—lets
Noble purpose go, and saps the mind, till purpose, mind and man
Are all undone.

“The book,” he writes, “struck me as one of priceless worth.”

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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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