August 29: “We must, therefore, purge ourselves of hatred.” –Gandhi (Quit India Speech, August 9, 1942) In St. Francis of Assisi’s famous prayer he begs, “where there is hatred, let me sow love.” This comes immediately after his plea, “make me an instrument of thy Peace.” Gandhi contextualizes this for us in nonviolent action and… read more
Tag Archives: Nonviolence
“Faith in our capacity to choose”–Daily Metta
August 28: “An act bears a good fruit only when it is done with sincerity and an awareness of its purpose and meaning.” –Gandhi (Day to Day with Gandhi, vol. 6, p. 33) In Gandhi’s spiritual guide book, The Bhagavad Gita, Sri Krishna, an incarnation of Lord Vishnu, reveals to Arjuna, who represents you and… read more
“The Zero Effect”–Daily Metta
August 27: “But I know that I have still before me a difficult path to traverse. I must reduce myself to zero. So long as one does not of his own free will put himself last among his fellow creatures, there is no salvation for him.” –Gandhi (Autobiography) In many cultures around the world, people… read more
“Neither greater nor less than”–Daily Metta
August 25: “Act like brothers and sisters and never suffer from a superiority or inferiority complex.” –Gandhi (Day to Day with Gandhi, vol. 7, p. 154) Equality to Gandhi was something that had to be actively pursued, as the problem of inequality had sunk its roots in deep into the psyches of society. He felt… read more
“I ask you to give up nothing.” –Daily Metta
August 24: ”I don’t ask you to renounce any of your pet pursuits–poetry or music or literature. No, I ask you to give up nothing. All I want from you is to add to your occupation half an hour of spinning. Nobody has ever pleaded before me that he cannot spare even that half hour.”… read more
“A way out of hell”–Daily Metta
August 23: “Every other thing has been tried and failed. Brute force has had the fullest chance and no one is happier or more moral or more courageous for it.” –Gandhi (Day to Day with Gandhi, vol. 7, p. 42) Gandhi had the insight early on that we have to pay attention to more than… read more
“Gandhi’s lesson about Christ”–Daily Metta
August 22: “Whether you profess one religion or another is of no consequence.” –Gandhi (Day to Day with Gandhi, vol. 7, p. 50) The year was 1925. Gandhi sat (due to a health challenge at the time) before a college for Christian missionaries in India. The topic he had been invited to address was how… read more
“Should I have said that?”–Daily Metta
August 21: “The reader can have no idea of the restraint I have to exercise from week to week in the choice of topics and my vocabulary. It is a training for me.” –Gandhi (Young India, July 2, 1925) Gandhi exercised a great deal of self-discipline in all areas of his life, including the… read more
“Our Nonviolent Earth”–Daily Metta
August 20: “I want to show that what is useful can also be beautiful.” –Gandhi (Harijan, April 7, 1946) As I took a long walk this evening with my neighbor’s dog, Fancy, beneath the oaks and redwoods, I thought about nature, her forces, her weather, and how it is often described as violent. I’ve… read more
“A glance at Gandhi on Marxism”–Daily Metta
August 19: “If you believe in true communism, you would have to give up violence.” –Gandhi (Mahadevbhai ni Diary, vol. 19) Both men of the 20th century, Gandhi and Marx sought the well-being of the world, and the Socialists and Gandhi worked together for various efforts, including the effort to prevent partition. But there were… read more
