February 5

 “I shall lose my usefulness the moment I stifle the still small voice within.”

–Gandhi (Young India 12-3-1925, p. 422)

 

Mindfulness has recently gained in exposure–from classrooms to boardrooms to even the military. Many people feel positive about this new culture intended to help us “succeed,” while many others take pause at what they call the “McMindfulness” movement, questioning some of the problematic issues it might take for granted. For example, who is defining success? Are we still teaching people to love money? If so, we are using “mindfulness” as a means toward greed. Are we bringing mindfulness into low-income schools to help students to “not be violent” without any curiosity about why students may not be comfortable within our current educational system? If so, we are using “mindfulness” as a means for passivity and classist exploitation.

Mindfulness–the real deal– is about achieving a sense of conscience, the “still small voice within.” Until what is currently called mindfulness becomes the practice of listening to that voice, it is of little purpose, and sadly, little more than a gimmick to make us feel a bit more comfortable with ourselves while the systems that sustain our problems remain untouched.

 

Experiment in Nonviolence:

Reflect on a time when you courageously listened to the “still small voice within.” How did it change your life?

 

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.