Conflict is natural and healthy. Violence is avoidable. In this podcast I talk about a practical approach for understanding conflict as a necessary part of developing our most humane qualities and the art of engaging conflict without resorting to violence. Podcast time: 5 minutes. Listen here or at with the player below the bio… read more
“Not to believe in the possibility of permanent peace is to disbelieve in the Godliness of human nature.” ~ Gandhi, Truth is God, 144 Which is just the problem. Many people today do not believe in the Godliness of human nature, even if they profess to believe in God. The besetting problem in the West… read more
When Michael Nagler told a young friend that he was going to start a new think tank, he thought she’d be very impressed. Instead, she looked at him squarely and said, “We don’t need another think tank. We need a hope tank.” So we began hosting Hope Tanks, a gathering of friends seeking to deepen their… read more
December 8: “A mere belief in ahimsa or the charkha will not do. It should be intelligent and creative.” –Gandhi (Harijan, July 21, 1940) Once when Gandhi was asked about Hitler, he said we should look seriously at the efforts he was putting forward. It was partly to stress, I think, that violence isn’t “natural;”… read more
December 5: “Ill-digested principles are, if anything, worse than ill-digested food.” –Gandhi (Mahatma, vol. 4, p. 154) Food is to the body what principles are to the spirit. When food is rotten, it can harm the body; when our principles are corrupted, they harm us and conceivably the world around us. Thus Gandhi maintains that… read more
The Values of Peace & Freedom Living our truest values, individually and collectively, asks us to let go of systems and processes that interfere with our ability to create peace and freedom. To be who we truly are—to discover who we can really be—that’s what freedom is all about. May we all be free, may… read more
July 4: “Real Swaraj will come, not by the acquisition of authority by a few, but by the capacity by all to resist authority when it is abused.” –Gandhi (Young India, January 29, 1925) When Gandhi met with the British Viceroy Lord Irwin after his imprisonment following the 1930 Salt Satyagraha, they shared a pot… read more
June 26: “I can say with confidence that if the world is to have peace, nonviolence is the means to that end and no other.” –Gandhi (Harijan, July 20, 1947) According to his grandson, Arun, Gandhi enjoyed telling the following story about peace: Once there was a great king and he wanted with all of… read more
I just returned from Philadelphia, where I was invited to talk about peace at the Humor Academy lunch at the Association for Applied Therapeutic Humor (AATH) annual conference. The AATH is an organization of professionals from various fields who integrate humor into their lives and work to promote health and well-being. My talk was entitled… read more
May 12 “If God ever sent me to the West, I should go there to penetrate the hearts of the masses, to have quiet talks with the youth (…) and have the privilege of meeting kindred spirits–lovers of peace at any price save that of truth.” –Gandhi ( Mahatma, vol II, p. 417) In his… read more
