June 21: “The object of the various exercises [of Hatha Yoga] was to strengthen and purify the body in order to secure control of the mind.” –Gandhi (Harijan, October 13, 1940) Before yoga was a quasi-spiritual, multi-billion dollar global industry of pants and other products, it was a sacred practice, developed to move the body… read more
Tag Archives: Nonviolence
“World Refugee Day”–Daily Metta
June 20: “I will give you a talisman. Whenever you are in doubt, or when the self becomes too much with you, apply the following test. Recall the face of the poorest and the weakest man [woman] whom you may have seen, and ask yourself, if the step you contemplate is going to be of… read more
“Debunking innate aggression”–Daily Metta
June 19: “No one should dogmatize about the capacity of human nature for degradation or exaltation.” –Gandhi (Mahatma, Vol. V, April, 1940) Human beings are naturally violent. It’s our nature. We’ve all heard this a time or two. It’s called “innate aggression theory,” the school of popular psychology that maintains that human beings are just… read more
“The ideal and the practice”–Daily Metta
June 18: “The propositions from which I have drawn my arguments are as true as Euclid’s definitions, which are none the less true because in practice we are unable to even draw Euclid’s line on a blackboard.” –Gandhi (Young India, October 8, 1925) Remember the story from June 17th’s Daily Metta about the scorpion and the… read more
“Begin with the mind”–Daily Metta
June 15: “Nonviolence to be a potent force must begin with the mind.” –Gandhi (Young India, April 2, 1931) One day a young man approached Gandhi and told him that someone hit him, and he felt humiliated but did not fight back. Wouldn’t “Bapu” (a term used to address Gandhi, meaning father) be proud of him… read more
“A love story”–Daily Metta
June 14: “True happiness comes from health and true health is impossible without a rigid control of the palate.” –Gandhi (Guide to Health, 1930) Gandhi and his wife, Kasturba, were married as children, at 13 years old, in an arranged marriage. In many ways they grew up together, and as Gandhi grew in his understanding… read more
“Diversity and Democracy”–Daily Metta
June 13: “How can there be room for distinctions of high and low where there is this all embracing fundamental unity underlying the outward diversity?” –Gandhi (Young India, September 24, 1921) The word ‘unity’ can make some people cringe. It can make it possible to overlook the experiences of those who have been systematically oppressed,… read more
“Go Deeper, Woodcutter”–Daily Metta
June 12: “I am but a seeker after Truth.” –Gandhi (Young India, June 17, 1926) Hindu mystic, father of the modern Vedantic movement, Sri Ramakrishna of Dakshineswar, often shared stories with his devotees to illustrate principles important for understanding the nature of Reality, what Gandhi would call, Sat, or Truth with a capital T. The… read more
“In my country”–Daily Metta
June 11: “ My faith in truth and nonviolence is ever growing.” –Gandhi (Harijan, May 1, 1937) In 2005 I lived in the West African country of Benin as a volunteer with the Peace Corps. I had access to a small video screen to watch films from time to time, and in care packages from… read more
“I am because you are”–Daily Metta
June 10: “I believe in the essential unity of humanity, and for that matter, all that lives.” –Gandhi (Young India, September 3, 1925) In order to make nonviolent institutions possible, they have to be built on a solid cultural foundation that embodies respect and even reverence for the human experience. Not a reverence with our… read more
