March 30: “The motive will determine the quality of the act.” –Gandhi (Selected Writings pp. 336-44) The word nonviolence is a very rough translation of the Sanskrit ahimsa, which literally means “the negation of the desire or intent to harm.” Beyond focusing on the act alone, we must look at the state of mind in… read more
Tag Archives: Nonviolence
“He who has no enemies”–Daily Metta
March 29: “For one who follows this doctrine [Ahimsa] there is no room for an enemy.” –Gandhi (February 16, 1916, Selected Writings, pp. 377-390) In the classic Indian epic The Mahabharata, one of the heroes, Yuddhisthira, has the epithet Ajatashatru, meaning, “he who has no enemies.” After his death, he arrives in heaven. The inevitable… read more
“No means no–and yes means yes”–Daily Metta
March 28: “In our Ashram we make it a rule that we must say ‘No’ when we mean ‘No,’ regardless of the consequences.” –Gandhi (February 16, 1916, Selected Writings, pp. 377-390) How many resentments begin when we are not clear with our boundaries and limits, when we say ‘yes’ out of a feeling of fear… read more
“Seek Within Humanity”–Daily Metta
March 27 “If I could persuade myself that I could find [God] in a Himalayan cave, I would proceed there immediately. But I know I cannot find [God] apart from humanity.” —Gandhi (Harijan, 8-29-1936, p. 226) Gandhi was known as a karma-yogi, meaning that his spiritual path was one of engagement and selfless action.… read more
“Boundless Patience”–Daily Metta
March 25: “Those who believe in the justice of their cause need to possess boundless patience.” –Gandhi (Young India, 4-28-1929, p.4-8) In Arabic one word for nonviolence is sabr, ‘patience’. Even though it has been statistically proven by Erica Chenoweth and Maria Stephan that nonviolent transitions to democracy, contrary to popular belief, are three times… read more
“Knowing our limitations”–Daily Metta
March 24: “I have wisdom enough to know my limitations.” –Gandhi (Harijan, 7-23-1938, p. 193) While violence asks us to think of the limitations of others and ourselves as weaknesses, knowledge of our own limitations is a strength in nonviolence, because the discipline of nonviolence, when understood as a broad ‘experiment with truth,’ gives us… read more
War, what is it good for?–Peace Paradigm Radio
“Why haven’t I been learning about nonviolence my whole life? The more we learn about nonviolence, the more we can see opportunities to apply its principles in our daily lives.” –Metta intern, Mercedes Mack. On this episode of Peace Paradigm Radio, Michael Nagler shares exciting stories of nonviolence in the news. We talk to… read more
“Increase the Good”–Daily Metta
March 23: “Ahimsa is the highest duty. Even if we cannot practice it in full, we must try to understand its spirit and refrain as far as humanly possible from violence.” –Gandhi (Mahatma, Vol. 7, p. 61) Ahimsa is often thought of as a negative concept: a-being a negation and -himsa, meaning harm (or, technically,… read more
“The power of anger”–Daily Metta
March 21: “I have learnt through bitter experience the one supreme lesson to conserve my anger, and as heat conserved is transmuted into energy, even so our anger controlled can be transmuted into a power which can move the world.” –Gandhi (Young India, 9-15-1920, p. 6) In a recent weekend workshop with the Metta… read more
“Not afraid to die”–Daily Metta
March 20: “I am not afraid to die in my mission, if that is to be my fate.” –Gandhi (Harijan, 4-27-1947, p. 127) Michael Nagler learned a lesson one day on campus at Berkeley when speaking before the military affairs class, he put the “escalation curve” model on the chalkboard. At the far end of… read more
