“Ahimsa is one of the world’s great principles, which no power on earth can wipe out.” ~ Gandhi, Mind of Mahatma Gandhi, p. 147

In the modern “scientific” age, this is a fact that needs constant repetition, and Gandhi accordingly repeats it: there are unseen, non-physical forces in the universe. They are not abstract, non-living forces like gravity and electricity but are the operant forces of what he also called the “moral law.” When Socrates, in his last address to his fellow citizens after they condemned him to death said, “no harm can befall a good man,” unaware that he was echoing Sri Krishna’s final assurance to Arjuna at the end of Chapter Six of the Bhagavad Gita, he too was bearing witness to this active law which, as Sri Easwaran says, cannot be broken: we can only break ourselves against it. Or, of course, bring it to life in our own thought, word, and deed.

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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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