“Seek Within Humanity”–Daily Metta

by

March 27

images“If I could persuade myself that I could find [God] in a Himalayan cave, I would proceed there immediately. But I know I cannot find [God] apart from humanity.”

—Gandhi (Harijan, 8-29-1936, p. 226)

 

Gandhi was known as a karma-yogi, meaning that his spiritual path was one of engagement and selfless action. Does this mean that everyone must be on this path? That no one can find respite and deeper truth about the world through physical isolation, such as moving into a Himalayan cave? I’m not sure. Perhaps for some, that is their path. However, when I told my mentor one day that I wanted to retire to such a life, he told me instead to seek that “Himalayan cave” within myself.

The point that my mentor, and Gandhi, made is that for the vast majority of us living in families, commitments, jobs, and so forth, we need not renounce all of these relationships in order to attain spiritual wisdom. Indeed, when we resort to isolation we have to question whether we are running away from difficult situations and other obligations out of a sense of giving up on others and ourselves, out of a negative view that “people are the problem and I want to get as far away from them as possible, then I will be happy.” We may go to the far reaches of the most isolated corners of the world, it is true, but if we go with resentment or fear in our hearts, we are simply taking our problems with us, and they will still be with us when we return. If we want to grow spiritually, we must learn to live together. Is this not one of the greatest promises of nonviolence? And now imagine the wonder of it: we can find the resources we need to do that within our own–and one another’s–hearts.

 

Experiment in Nonviolence:

Seek to serve that living force in the human heart today.

 

 

Daily Metta 250x250Daily 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.