“All religions teach that two opposing forces act upon us and the human endeavor consists in a series of eternal rejections and acceptances.” ~ Gandhi, Mahatma, Vol. 2:45 In Judaism these two forces were called yetsir ra and yetsir tov, “the evil urge and the urge to good;” St. Augustine called them “two loves” (amores)… read more
Tag Archives: michael nagler
Beyond crisis-mode–Daily Metta
“We are lurching from crisis to crisis.” In today’s video, Michael, continuing on from February 6, underscores how our common way of thinking has no way to understand the dynamic of Karen Ridd’s heroic act and its effect. He adds a contemporary example of how the prevailing worldview, or “old story,” prevents us from acknowledging… read more
She saved her friend’s life–Daily Metta
“Nonviolent actors have to find the residual humanity in their opponent and awaken it.” In today’s Daily Metta, Michael analyzes a dramatic story that took place in El Salvador when a Canadian volunteer with Peace Brigades International risked her life and ended up saving herself and her friend. Add your comments below. About… read more
Enemy #1: Daily Metta
“No man could look upon another as his enemy unless he first becomes his own enemy.” ~ Gandhi, Mahatma Vol. 7, p. 204 We make no apology for revisiting this quote from a Daily Metta in April of last year because of its inexhaustible profundity. After all, 1500 years earlier Augustine had said, “Imagine someone… read more
Being Zero: Daily Metta
“My mission is to convert every Indian, even Englishmen, and finally the world to nonviolence for regulating mutual relations, whether political, economic, social, or religious.” ~ Gandhi, Mahatma Vol. 5, p. 2 We can’t fault Gandhi for lacking ambition! His greatest ambition, however, in his own opinion, was quite different: “to make myself zero.” What… read more
What makes us human-Daily Metta
“We are very limited in our ability to grasp what nonviolence is by the limitations on our image of who we are.” Having no agreed upon definition of who we are creates a vacuum and so a very reductionist image comes in as the lowest common denominator. The discovery of nonviolence and the rebuilding of… read more
A Lesson (Still) Not Learned
Thanks to Counter Punch, Pace e Bene, and The Sierra County Prospect for publishing this essay on their sites. I was deeply saddened to read last week of the death by suicide of Cmdr. Job Price who was with a Navy SEAL team in Afghanistan. I was even sadder when I realized that the… read more
A Higher Happiness: Daily Metta
“The opinions I have formed and the conclusions I have arrived at are not final, I may change them tomorrow.” ~ Gandhi in Mahatma, Vol. IV, 1936 The Buddha once said, “when a person, clinging to a lower happiness, beholds a higher one, let him or her let go of the lower and hold onto the… read more
Violence is No Help: Daily Metta
“I think Tolstoy called [truth force] also soul force or love force and so it is. . . [T]his force is independent of pecuniary or other material assistance; certainly even in its elementary form of physical force or violence.” ~ Gandhi in Indian Opinion, 1914 Occasionally there is something new under the sun. In just… read more
Simple Ideas: Daily Metta
“Khadi has been conceived as the foundation and the image of ahimsa. A real khadi wearer will not utter an untruth. A real khadi wearer will harbour no violence, no deceit, no impurity.” ~ Gandhi, in Mahatma Vol. 4, pg. 217, courtesy of Mumbai Sarvodaya Mandal Gandhi was a genius at using simple ideas, household… read more
