“Somehow we refuse to believe in the evidence of our senses, that we could not possibly have any attachment for the body without the soul, and we have no evidence whatever that the soul perishes with the body.” ~ Gandhi, Letter to Meera Behn, May 4, 1933, p. 148

I very much enjoy the inescapable logic of this ancient teaching: how could we even fear death or mourn the passing of others without a soul, in other words consciousness? How could the body even be animated without a non-physical force? One could say that science today, for example in the study of near-death experiences, even has a bit of positive evidence that the soul does not perish with the body. It is on the basis of these glimpses into our soul-being that on the one hand we can face the risk of our own “death” (the third phase of our escalation curve) in extreme circumstances that may demand such a sacrifice, but on the other hand venerate and protect all life—to emphasize, all life and the life-support system of the miraculous planet on which we find ourselves.

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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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