“Mere withdrawal of the English is not independence. It means the consciousness and the average villager that he is the maker of his own destiny, he is his own legislator through his chosen representative.” ~ Gandhi, Young India, February 13, 1930 We are familiar by now with the key doctrine that “no man loses his… read more
Tag Archives: freedom
Freedom & Agency: Daily Metta
“There would be no one to frighten you if you refuse to be afraid.” ~ Gandhi, Mahatma, 2. 302 Because of his spiritual orientation, Gandhi was often able to reorient us; for we constitutionally look at the outer world—other people, difficult circumstances—as inhibiting us. But however dire they may be, he discovered, we are always… read more
Freedom-in-Action: Daily Metta
“This government of ours is armed to the teeth to meet and check forces of violence. It possesses nothing to check the mighty forces of nonviolence.” ~ Gandhi, Young India, February, 1921 Nonviolence, when we maintain it in the face of repression and provocation, can be called freedom-in-action because we realize our highest freedom by… read more
The Secret: Daily Metta
“Everyone should realize the secret that oppression thrives only when the oppressed submit to it.” ~ Gandhi, Mahatma vol. 7, p.192 This is where Gandhi’s vision overlaps with that of the “strategic” school of nonviolence that emphasizes the withdrawal of consent as the major power of nonviolence, and traces the idea back to the French… read more
What the World Needs Most: Real Freedom
What the world needs most at this time is free human beings—for each and every one of us to fully realize that we’re not mere consumers, or wage/wealth slaves, or pawns in geopolitical games; that we’re free to find peace and happiness. That we’re free to love ourselves, as we are. That we’re free to… read more
“As long as thou canst”–Daily Metta
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… read more
Compassionate Design
Originally published as “September 11 and Satyagraha” on Tikkun.org on September 8, 2011 by Michael N. Nagler As the news of Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination spread through India on the first day of February, 1948, an American journalist was stunned by the intensity of the grief swirling around him. An Indian friend explained to him, “You… read more
