May 5: “What appears as truth to one person may appear as untruth to another.” –Gandhi (Yeravda Mandir, p. 4) Have you heard the story before about the blindfolded men who were standing all around an elephant, each describing what they felt? One man next to a leg says, “An elephant is round and straight,”… read more
Tag Archives: Nonviolence
“Michael wakes up”–Daily Metta
May 4: “Those who know anything of this matchless force should teach their neighbors to bear repression not weakly and helplessly, but bravely and knowingly.” –Gandhi (Harijan, 4-8-1939, p. 80) How did you come to realize the potential of the “matchless force” of nonviolence? My mentor’s story is one of my favorites. If you can… read more
“Facing Repression”–Daily Metta
May 3: “Repression itself affords a training in Satyagraha, even as an unsought war affords a training for the soldier.” –Gandhi (Harijan, 4-8-1939, p. 80) One common misconception about nonviolence is that it will be met with peaceful, gentle words and action by those to whom it is offered. This is rarely, if ever, the… read more
“When we lose hope”–Daily Metta
May 2 “A sincere prayer can work wonders.” –Gandhi (Young India, 3-24-1920, p. 1) Let us be clear: there will be times when we seem to come to the end of our capacity for love, for forgiveness, for service, for nonviolence. There will be days when we want to lose our temper, strike back and… read more
“Nonviolent Non-cooperation”–Daily Metta
April 29 “Non-co-operation is an attempt to awaken the masses to a sense of their dignity and power.” –Gandhi (Young India, 2-1-1920, p. 3) When we hear calls to be “peaceful and non-violent” from government officials during moments of riots and tension, we owe it to ourselves to question their understanding of what nonviolence means.… read more
“The way to Gandhi’s heart”–Daily Metta
April 28 “Ahimsa is our supreme duty.” –Gandhi (Yeravda Mandir, p. 7) Ahimsa means respect of all of life, and as this can seem impossible, Gandhi would always connect the ideal with a practical suggestion. For example: “Look at the flowers–which belong to all of life–that surround the ashram. Why would picking them as an offering… read more
“Sparks of the same fire”–Daily Metta
April 27 “None can be born untouchable, as all are sparks of one and the same fire.” –Gandhi (Yeravda Mandir, p. 19) While working to free India from external oppression, Gandhi also dedicated himself to reform within the Indian culture itself, particularly of what was known as “untouchability,” the doctrine that some people by birth… read more
“Food as Medicine”–Daily Metta
April 25 “Food has to be taken as we take medicine.” –Gandhi (Yervada Mandir, p. 11) Before the pharmaceutical cooptation of our health; before the patenting of seed, and pesticides and packaging stale foods; before making it illegal to feed those without homes, there was food itself–fresh and alive. When Gandhi talks about food as medicine, he’s… read more
“The spirit beneath the act”–Daily Metta
April 24 “It is not any single isolated act which can be called Satyagraha apart from the spirit behind.” –Gandhi (Young India, 9-24-1925) You cannot get far in the world of nonviolence before coming across Gene Sharp’s famous list of 198 methods of nonviolent action. Sit-ins, reverse strikes, pray-ins, they are all listed, and this list is… read more
“The Dance of Nonviolence”–Daily Metta
April 23 “We all know more or less what military training is like. But we have hardly ever thought that nonviolent training must be of a different kind.” –Gandhi (Harijan, 10-13-1940) When training to enter a violent conflict in a nonviolent spirit, what kind of material might you review first? Certainly, it seems wise to… read more
