Turning Our Backs on Consumerism By Eknath Easwaran As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world—that is the myth of the “atomic age”—as in being able to remake ourselves. —Mahatma Gandhi In one of my favorite Sanskrit stories from ancient India, an… read more
Tag Archives: gandhi
Building the World We Want
By Michael Nagler The spinning wheel, and the spinning wheel alone, will solve the problem of the deepening poverty of India. —Mahatma Gandhi Corporate domination of the world, or “globalization from above,” has done two things for us. It raised consciousness of world unity; inadvertently awakening “globalization from below,” and… read more
January 8, 2012: Conversation Cafe
Aqus Community and the Metta Center Present a Conversation Cafe: Nonviolence and Nonviolent Conflict Resolution in our Community Sunday Jan 8, 2012 from 5-6pm at Aqus Cafe Foundry Wharf 189 H Street Petaluma 707.778.6060 … 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
Patna Surrender
The Patna Surrender was an event that took place during the time from 1922 to 1924 when Gandhi was in prison. A disagreement among Congress Party members over how to proceed in his absence led to a split that threatened to divide the party. Gandhi surrendered to the opposing side’s views in order to keep… read more
Oceanic Circle
Oceanic circle describes Gandhi’s vision of social organization. Gandhi believed that for a nonviolent society to achieve a lasting peace, it must be organized in a decentralized way. In Gandhi’s own words: “Independence must begin at the bottom. Thus, every village will be a republic or panchayat having full powers. It follows, therefore, that every… read more
Sarvodaya
Sarvodaya is Sanskrit for “universal uplift of all beings.” Sarvodaya was one of the three goals, along with moshka (self-realization) and swaraj (self-rule) of Gandhi’s spiritual approach to social change.… read more
Gandhian economics
Gandhian economics if a term coined by J. C. Kumarappa for Gandhi’s approach to meeting material human needs. It is used as an umbrella term for the following related concepts in Gandhian thought. Namely these principles are: An economy based on needs rather than wants Swadeshi (in the economic sense, localism and material self-sufficiency at… read more
ashram
Since times immemorial in India (with parallels in other monastic traditions), spiritual communities have gathered around a spiritual teacher in intentional communities to carry out strenuous practices (a-shram comes from a root meaning exertion) under ideal conditions. Gandhi founded four such intentional communities throughout his career that also served as training grounds for those preparing… read more
Renunciation
Renunciation is the translation of the Sanskrit term aparigraha, (non-grasping). Renunciation was one of cardinal principles for residents of Gandhi’s ashrams. This attitude of renouncing personal attachment to anything — an object, another person, even an idea or opinion — is the key to self mastery, and also the spiritual key to freedom from coercion by… read more
