“I am clear that whilst this machine age aims at converting men into machines, I am aiming at reinstating man-turned-machine to his original estate.” ~ Gandhi, CWMG, 62:145
As Martin Luther King said, “We must rapidly begin the shift from a ‘thing-oriented’ civilization to a ‘person-oriented’ civilization.” Not only is dehumanization the main cause and facilitator of violence, nonviolence is itself the most powerful way to achieve rehumanization. For it would seem, and Gandhi said this explicitly, that “Nonviolence is the law [read: “the essential, core principle”] of the human being.” This accounts for the strange, deep feeling of satisfaction reported by many a nonviolent actor even when she or he has to suffer physical or psychological abuse.
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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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By: Prof. Michael Nagler
As the Founder and President of Metta Center, Michael Nagler is also Professor Emeritus of Classics and Comparative Literature at UC, Berkeley, where he co-founded the Peace and Conflict Studies Program. Michael is the author of The Search for a Nonviolent Future and The Nonviolence Handbook: A Guide for Practical Action. His latest book is The Third Harmony: Nonviolence & the New Story of Human Nature. Visit his website: michaelnagler.org.
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WE are a very thing oriented society. Always the next gadget and it’s never enough. Plus people are looked at as things to be used. I’m nota cynic. I’ve just seen and noticed a lot of this. How do you stem the tide of materialism and treating people as disposable.
Good question. I think personal example is certainly the place to start; beyond that, calmly explain ourselves on this point whenever we get a chance.