“The proper way to view the present outburst of violence in the world is to recognize that the technique of unconquerable non-violence of the strong has not been at all fully discovered as yet.” ~ Gandhi, Mind of Mahatma Gandhi, p. 147 Gandhi made this statement close to the end of his life, in 1948.… read more
Tag Archives: daily metta
The Nonviolence Effect: Daily Metta
“I do not believe…that an individual may gain spiritually and those around him suffer… I believe in the essential unity of man and, for that matter, of all that lives.” ~ Gandhi, Mind of Mahatma Gandhi, p. 223 The concept of a spiritual “field” operating throughout spacetime in somewhat the way gravity does, or electromagnetic… read more
Humiliation Tactics and Shaming: Daily Metta
“Nonviolence is who we are.” In today’s Daily Metta video, Michael reviews the deeper dynamics of nonviolence and touches on ideas such as humiliation tactics and shaming as well as “work” vs. work while analyzing a long quote from Marshall Frady on Martin Luther King, Jr. Please add your comments below. About Daily Metta Stephanie… read more
Power is of two kinds: Daily Metta
“Nonviolence is who we are.” Michael discusses a quote from Gandhi where he says, “Power is of two kind: fear of punishment or love” as a starting point for understanding nonviolence. Please add your comments below. About Daily Metta Stephanie Van Hook, the Metta Center’s executive director, launched Daily Metta in 2015 as a way… read more
Right Means: Daily Metta
“When there is no desire for fruit, there is also no temptation for untruth or himsa.” ~ Gandhi, Mahatma, vol. 2. p. 311 To revisit the excellent Daily Metta of March 1st: The Gita’s “theory of action” (as we like to call it). It is quite nuanced, but it’s main tenets can be summarized as… read more
Expansive Notion: Daily Metta
“Man is both matter and spirit, each acting on and affecting the other.” ~ Gandhi, Mind of Mahatma Gandhi, p. 80 We might consider that one of Gandhi’s greatest insights was that he saw humanity, life in general, as more than meets the eye. A vision like this cannot but express itself in nonviolent action;… read more
Abiding Joy: Daily Metta
“When a child, my nurse taught me to repeat Rama-nama whenever I felt afraid or miserable, and it has been second nature with me with growing knowledge and advancing years. I may even say that the word is in my heart, if not actually on my lips, all the twenty-four hours.” ~ Gandhi, Mind of… read more
Personal Interest: Daily Metta
“When there is no desire for fruit, there is also no temptation for untruth or himsa.” ~ Gandhi, Mahatma, Vol. 2, p. 311 When Gandhi tells us, based on his adherence to the mystical teachings of the Bhagavad Gita, to let go of the results of our actions, fruit, or phalam in Sanskrit, he is… read more
Victory: Daily Metta
“He then went on solemnly to declare in the name of God that he would never submit to that law, and advised all present to do likewise.” We are, of course, in the Empire Jewish Theater in Johannesburg, South Africa. The date is September 11 (!), 1906, and the speaker being quoted is one Seth… read more
Awakening Compassion: Daily Metta
Here Michael cites the discovery by Rachel MacNair of what she calls ‘Perpetration-Induced Traumatic Stress’–the fact that as the Buddha and the others often said, when we injure another, we feel that injury ourselves, a fact for which there is now scientific proof. Michael emphasizes how the nonviolent actor can awaken awareness of this reflection… read more
