“War … has got to go. I firmly believe that freedom won through bloodshed or fraud is no freedom.” ~ Gandhi, Young India, September 13, 1928

Wherever we turn in Gandhi’s writings or his life, the law that “means are ends in the making” greets us. If only we could grasp the simple idea that there are two kinds of energy in the world—harmful and constructive, violent and nonviolent—and the one we choose determines the outcome of our words and deeds! The other change we need (and it would follow from the first) is for our shallow concepts of “freedom” and “security” to get deeper, more realistic. Familiarize yourself with “freedom to” instead of “freedom from,” “total security” and “joint security.” If we’re prepared to explain this to people who argue, in their fear, that in order to be secure and free we have to defeat “them” (whoever the latest “them” has become), it will be a powerful assist to our nonviolent efforts.

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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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