April 2:

“You cannot build nonviolence on a factory civilization, but it can be built on self-contained villages.”

–Gandhi (1-20-1940, p. 423)

As we transition toward a nonviolent future, Gandhi warns us, the way that we do business will need to change. A “civilization” based on the factory is no civilization worth speaking of, because it depends on the multiplication of wants and desires as well as the exploitation of our basic needs in order to strip the earth of her resources and turn it into what is currently thought of as “profit” for a very small number of people. In other words, a factory civilization is a civilization founded on the principles of separation, aka violence.

A nonviolent civilization would mean turning the story that brought us the “industrial revolution” on its head. What kind of “revolution” was that, anyway? No, the earth is not dead and people cannot be held as cogs to serve a machine. No, the creation of wealth in the hands of a few does not lead to the prosperity of the many, and no, villages are not all the same. Instead, we are interconnected; every locality has different gifts and a unique history; the earth is living and her resources are parts of a living system; and human beings, as well as all other forms of life, have dignity and worth that is more precious than even money. With a firm foundation based in reality, instead of greed, we cannot but build something good upon it.

Experiment in Nonviolence:

Consider some of the ways that industrialism could be replaced by localism.

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.