“The art of nonviolence”–Daily Metta

October 31:

“Just as one must learn the art of killing in the training for violence, so one must learn the art of dying in the training for nonviolence.”

–Gandhi (Harijan, September 9, 1940)

Gandhi expected that those who were totally committed to nonviolence would be willing to face death when necessary while at the same time, never willing to take life from others. It’s a powerful formula. Some of the most powerful and transformative moments in nonviolence history describe people who take on the threat of death, in full consciousness of what they are doing, without lifting a finger in retaliation. They are not “doing nothing”; on the contrary, they are expressing a deep inner conviction and performing a very difficult form of self-restraint, which takes a lot of training and discipline.

In 1930, after Gandhi’s arrest for picking up salt on the beach in Dandi (known famously as the Salt March, or Salt Satyagraha), Sarojini Naidu led the nonviolent resisters in their march to raid the Dharasana Salt Works. She began with prayer which led to her pleading with the resisters to fulfill their duty to remain nonviolent:

“Gandhi’s body is in jail but his soul is with you. India’s prestige is in your hands. You must not use violence under any circumstances. You will be beaten but you must not resist; you must not even raise a hand to ward off blows.”

The cheering crowds expressed their readiness to move forward. Hundreds of people arrived before the Salt Works and set themselves up: some in lines to approach the entrance, others on the sides as medical assistance, as well as some on the sidelines leading the event and reminding people to maintain nonviolent discipline. It was an important feature, because when the lathis started coming down and people were injured, bleeding and unconscious due to the blows, the resisters were, naturally, getting agitated.

Journalist Webb Miller, who noted that watching the spectacle was very, very difficult and he had to run away several times, unable to withstand the suffering he was witnessing, shared what he saw,

“Several times the leaders nearly lost control of the the waiting crowd. They rushed up and down, frantically pleading with and exhorting the intensely excited men to remember Gandhi’s instructions. It seemed that the unarmed throng was on the verge of launching a mass attack on the police.”

Not only that, but as the “raiders” were not striking back, the police, overcome by the frustration, started acting more violently. Yet the satyagrahis held firm, and won India’s freedom.

Does that sound like “doing nothing”? Don’t you see the immense strength it must have taken to be present at that event and not strike back?

Experiment in Nonviolence:
Try to imagine what the Indians were going through — and how much preparation they must have had — to take such punishment without hitting back. Can you identify three strategic factors that led to success in this event? (Hint: what roles did people have, and who was present?)