“In my opinion [the Gita] is a book which can be put into the hands of a child. It teaches the gospel of love in the place of that of hate. It replaces violence with self-sacrifice. It pits soul force against brute force.” ~ Gandhi, Young India in January 1921 on Hind Swaraj or Indian Home Rule, p. 15

The ancient Greek philosopher Heracleitus (535-475 BCE) said that true knowledge is koinon, or common, something everyone can understand. In this age of technology and technical details, we often forget that the underlying realities are—while often difficult to achieve—simple to understand. The most fundamental reality is the dual tendency, toward harm or help, evil or good, and because this simple truth is somehow elusive the Gita describes it from many angles, including the one that Gandhi elevated to a history-changing power, “soul force.”

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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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