As Michael moves forward in his “Search for a Nonviolent Future,” he comments on the way that heart unity and leadership in a nonviolent movement have to work together. He also corrects a statement that he made in the book, thanks to the late Narayan Desai. About Daily Metta Stephanie Van Hook, the Metta… read more
Tag Archives: heart unity
Heart Unity: Daily Metta Weekend Video
If we are to challenge inequality, we have to find commonality. How to begin to conceive of doing this? Gandhi maintained that “heart unity” was the key. Not uniformity; rather, mutual respect and shared vision. About Daily Metta Stephanie Van Hook, the Metta Center’s executive director, launched Daily Metta in 2015 as a way… read more
Unity of Purpose: Daily Metta
“To me I seem to be constantly growing. I must respond to varying conditions and yet remain changeless within.” ~ Gandhi, Mahatma vol 2, p. 265 With characteristic humility, Gandhi says that he “seems” to himself to be constantly growing. He was, of course. Because his firm grasp on the unvarying principle of nonviolence allowed… read more
“We are not machines”–Daily Metta
December 6: “After all, men are not machines.” –Gandhi (Harijan, April 14, 1946) Stephen Lewis worked as a drone operator for the United States Air Force. From a military base, in a comfortable chair sitting in front of a computer screen, he held a joystick and targeted and killed human beings because he was following… read more
Unity in Diversity
Unity in diversity (the term seems to have been coined by the philosopher Hegel) is a central aspect of the nonviolent worldview. In nature, unity in diversity is an essential organizing principle of Life. At first appearance, of course, it is a bit paradoxical: on the one hand the mystics of all ages, along… read more
The “Real Wheel”
That man came back from South Africa, having realized God, and quietly set about solving every problem in the modern world. When Michael Nagler heard this quiet, dramatic statement by his meditation teacher, Sri Eknath Easwaran of the Blue Mt. Center of Meditation, it changed his life. These two pictures are an attempt to illustrate… 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
Heart Unity
Heart unity is a critical pillar of Gandhi’s system that holds out the vision of unity-in-diversity. Gandhi recognized and cherished unity at the heart or spiritual level of being. He equally valued diversity on the surface level, in differences of race, gender, worldview, and even of status, wealth, and power. This valuation of surface diversity differentiates… read more
