May 25:

“It is not possible to make a person or a society nonviolent by compulsion.”

–Gandhi (Young India, September 13, 1928)

Freedom–an opposite of compulsion– and nonviolence go hand in hand. Yet any society like ours that has dedicated itself through and through to the force of violence, aka compulsion, to resolve its problems is not going to be willing or able to “convert” to nonviolence in a heartbeat, as wonderful — and necessary — as that might be! That is because nonviolence is a living practice that requires enormous strength of mind. Forcing someone to be nonviolent is, let’s face it, a contradiction in terms; one must be psychologically, and yes, spiritually, persuaded that nonviolence works.

George Fox, founder of the Society of Friends (aka Quakers) was once asked by William Penn if he should go on wearing his sword now that he had adopted the Quaker vision.  He said to Penn, “Wear thy sword as long as thou canst” — as long as it has not become instinctively repugnant.  And in his footsteps Gandhi urged Indians not to abstain from fighting in World War II if their objection to warfare was not yet deeply established, second nature.  But he undertook to bring them along to that place where they could say no to violence by their own will, in full freedom.

Experiment in Nonviolence:

Try to show someone the nonviolent path without forcing them, or leaving them without a choice, to take it.

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.