March 19:

“Life is but an endless series of experiments.”

—Gandhi (Young India 9-25-1924, p. 313)

When we approach life in the spirit of nonviolence, we must do so in humility. It is a seeming impossible goal, yet the promise is that in striving and doing our level best, we can indeed move closer to becoming–and effecting–a positive force to create healing, understanding and reconciliation. On this path, we must become experimenters in wisdom: we make a hypothesis, test it out, and refine it.  Even Gandhi called his autobiography, “The Story of My Experiments with Truth.” It is a conscious approach to living, and a secret to human happiness: when we are satisfied only by higher and higher degrees of freedom throughout the passage of life from childhood on, we can eventually take that passage into our own hands. We are not doomed to any one single course of action imposed on us by circumstances or by ourselves. In fact, as the existentialists would argue, we are responsible for doing so. In other words, like the roots of a plant that will seek nourishment from where it exists in the soil, or turn its head to face the sun in whatever direction that may be, nonviolence tells us that if we have the daring, in whatever situation we find ourselves we can change the direction of our life and try a new way.

Experiment in Nonviolence:

Choose your own experiment in nonviolence today!

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.