“The greatest tragedy is a hopeless unwillingness of the villagers to better their lot.” ~ Gandhi, Harijan, January 9, 1937 It is indeed a tragedy: that people who have been belittled and oppressed so often take on the message of their own unworthiness put forward by their oppressors. But at the same time, this does… read more
Tag Archives: buddha
Higher Ideals: Daily Metta
“I set a high value on my experiments.” ~ Gandhi, Autobiography, p. 503 After the Buddha attained nirvana, it is said that he asked himself what he did, what he ate, what was his state of mind, that led to him at last to achieving that blessed state. If we set our eyes on a… read more
Invisible Force: Daily Metta
“A violent man’s activity is most visible, while it lasts. But it is always transitory… Hitler, Mussolini, and Stalin are able to show the immediate effectiveness of violence… But the efforts of Buddha’s non-violent action persist and are likely to grow with age. And the more it is practiced, the more effective and inexhaustible it… read more
Structural Violence: Daily Metta
“I am satisfied that many Englishmen and Indian officials honestly believe that that they are administering one of the best systems devised in the world . . .” ~ Ronald Duncan, Selected Writings of Mahatma Gandhi, p. 144 A well-known admonition of the Buddha was na hante, na hanyate, the wise one “will not kill,… read more
“A way out of hell”–Daily Metta
August 23: “Every other thing has been tried and failed. Brute force has had the fullest chance and no one is happier or more moral or more courageous for it.” –Gandhi (Day to Day with Gandhi, vol. 7, p. 42) Gandhi had the insight early on that we have to pay attention to more than… read more
“Was Gandhi political or spiritual?”–Daily Metta
August 5: A [person] who aspires after [Truth] cannot keep out of any field of life.” -Gandhi (Autobiography) Gandhi had a little “anarchist” tendency in him, in spite of his deep commitment to democratic governance and the rule of law: he did not like being labeled. Any label, however convenient for some purposes, would be… read more
“The real victory of the Salt Satyagraha”–Daily Metta
June 24: “The moment we are able to ensure nonviolence, even under circumstances the most provoking, that moment we have achieved our end, because that is the moment when we can offer complete non-cooperation.” –Gandhi (Young India, January 19, 1921) One of the most pivotal moments of the Indian Freedom Struggle was the great Salt Satyagraha… read more
Meditation
Meditation is the method of training the mind. The classical definition of meditation, dating to the time of the Buddha, is “the obstruction of thought waves in the mind.” According to this definition, written by the sage Patanjali in his Yoga Sutras, a “thought wave” is any mental event: not only a linguistic thought, but… read more
