“I feel, too, that our progress towards the goal will be in exact proportion to the purity of our means.” ~ Gandhi, “Amrita Bazar Patrika,” September 17, 1933 Here’s where people might balk at Gandhi, call him a “purist” and then reject everything he has ever said about nonviolence. I’m not exaggerating, I’ve heard the… read more
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Predicting nonviolence and violence: Your Daily Metta Weekend Video!
In this video, Michael discusses what we can and cannot be predicted about violence and nonviolence to further explain the concept of “work” vs. work. Violence, he concludes is much more predictable than nonviolence. Find out why… Please add your comments below. About Daily Metta Stephanie Van Hook, the Metta Center’s executive director, launched Daily… read more
Strategy: Daily Metta
“The clearest possible definition of the goal and its appreciation would fail to take us there if we do not know and utilize the means of achieving it.” ~ Gandhi, “Amrita Bazar Patrika,” September 17, 1933 From a strategist’s perspective, Gandhi emphasizes that “how” we achieve our goals needs to be as clear as “what”… read more
Let It Go: Daily Metta
“I am used to misrepresentation all of my life. It is the lot of every public worker.” ~ Gandhi, Young India, May 27, 1926, p. 193 Here Gandhi offers us a warning and a lesson: misrepresentation is going to happen, especially when an ordinary human being attempts to harness the power of nonviolence in the… read more
Common Core: Daily Metta
“The rays of the sun are many through refraction. But they have the same source.” ~ Gandhi, Young India, December 3, 1925, p. 422 One of the root causes of violence in our world is the belief that we are separate, material objects. We see the multiplicity, but not the unity behind our diversity. Gandhi… read more
Relationships: Daily Metta
“It is to me a matter of perennial satisfaction that I retain generally the affection and trust of those whose principles and policies I oppose.” ~ Gandhi, Young India, March 17, 1927, p. 82 Nonviolence is a supreme art, and here, Gandhi points to a hard-won skill: opposing someone without damaging the relationship. Indeed, in… read more
Undue Haste: Daily Metta
“The principle of ahimsa is hurt by every evil thought, by undue haste, by lying, by hatred, by wishing ill to anybody.” ~ Gandhi, Truth is God, p. 36 OK, but “undue haste?” As readers of Daily Metta we’re well aware that lying and hatred tear the fabric on ahimsa, but “undue haste” often looks,… read more
Symbols and Nonviolence: Your Daily Metta Weekend Video
In this video, Michael Nagler continues onward in Search for a Nonviolent Future, exploring the general principle behind symbolic action. He articulates his definition of symbolic action, reviews it in Gandhi’s campaigns, and concludes that symbols alone are not enough. Please add your comments below. About Daily Metta Stephanie Van Hook, the Metta Center’s executive… read more
Distrust: Daily Metta
“Distrust is a sign of weakness and Satyagraha implies the banishment of all weakness and therefore of distrust, which is clearly out of place when the adversary is not to be destroyed but to be won over.” ~ Gandhi, Satyagraha in South Africa, p. 302 What a rich sentence! For now, let’s just savor the… read more
That Which is: Daily Metta
“The world rests upon a bedrock of satya or truth. Asatya or untruth also means non-existent, and satya or truth also means that which is. If untruth does not so much as exist, its victory is out of the question. And truth being that which is can never be destroyed. This is the doctrine of… read more
