June 15:

“Nonviolence to be a potent force must begin with the mind.”

–Gandhi (Young India, April 2, 1931)

One day a young man approached Gandhi and told him that someone  hit him, and he felt humiliated but did not fight back. Wouldn’t “Bapu” (a term used to address Gandhi, meaning father) be proud of him for his nonviolence? Like a good teacher of his subject, Gandhi challenged the young man, “If you felt humiliated, you should have hit him back; but why did you feel humiliated? If he struck you, that was his problem.”

I like this story because it highlights the difference between passivity and nonviolence. In passivity to violence, we lack a sense of respect for ourselves. In nonviolence, we train the mind to have a strong, healthy sense of who we are and the greatness–and limitations– of our capacities (well… some of them, when we learn how to access them, are infinite, like compassion and love).  We know ourselves; we see ourselves as equal — to one another, and to whatever’s facing  us — and our actions are the expression of our awareness of our dignity, knowing that the road of violence will ultimately degrade us.

Experiment in Nonviolence:
Have you ever confused passivity for nonviolence? Think of a situation where you were passive, and imagine what you might have done differently had you tried nonviolence?

Daily Metta 2015, a service of the Metta Center for Nonviolence, is a daily reflection on the strategic and spiritual insights of Mahatma Gandhi in thought, word and deed. As Gandhi called his life an “experiment in truth,” we have included an experiment in nonviolence to accompany each Daily Metta. Check in every day for new inspiration. Each year will be dedicated to another wisdom teacher.