This post is the second part of a two-part series. Part 1 looks at the outward aspects of strategy: creating a proactive, long-term nonviolent movement. This part turns to the inner aspects of strategy: exploring who we are as human beings and building meaningful lives. Man appears to be the embodiment of want. Want is… read more
Michael Nagler, still in Chapter Six of Search for a Nonviolent Future, discusses some insights he has had about the development of the inner spark as it relates to the outer fire. About Daily Metta Stephanie Van Hook, the Metta Center’s executive director, launched Daily Metta in 2015 as a way to share Gandhi’s spiritual… read more
Michael Nagler reviews some suggestions he offers for the “rubber hitting the road” in the path of deepening nonviolent action. About Daily Metta Stephanie Van Hook, the Metta Center’s executive director, launched Daily Metta in 2015 as a way to share Gandhi’s spiritual wisdom and experiments with nonviolence. Our 2016 Daily Metta continues with… read more
“Swaraj of a people means the sum total of the swaraj of individuals.” ~ Gandhi, Harijan, March 25, 1939, p. 64 “Person power” is a term coined by the Metta Center for Nonviolence to describe the vision of swaraj, or self-rule, that Gandhi propounded. Large masses of people do make an impact and can uproot… read more
Tools for Person Power is a two-part series (attend one or both) exploring two interrelated concepts about our individual and interpersonal dynamics. Join us for this interactive online workshop! When: June 7 & 14 10:30am-12:00pm PST Where: Google Hangouts (online) Cost: Sliding scale (suggested payment $25-50) Register here! Metta takes a broad spectrum approach to… read more
This past weekend, the Metta Center hosted our Person-Power Yoga Retreat. As a yoga teacher, I’m constantly exploring links between our individual mind-body health and societal health. I had planned to speak about creating greater peace and happiness within ourselves and around us by consciously hacking our nervous systems. Toward the end of the retreat,… read more
As the founding director of The Global Media Center for Social Impact (GMI) at UCLA’s Fielding School of Public Health, Sandra de Castro Buffington passionately analyzes where mass media and positive social change meet. I was curious about Sandra’s take on how mass media might play a role in creating nonviolent culture, so I interviewed… read more
May 28: “The only real and reliable guarantee for khadi would be honesty, truthfulness and sincerity of khadi workers.” –Gandhi (Mahatma, vol. 7, p. 20) The khadi–or home-spun cloth–campaign was a key constructive program for the Free India movement. It meant that if you were part of the struggle, you would not only wear the… read more
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
January 19 “A small body of determined spirits fired by an unquenchable faith in their mission can alter the course of history.” -Gandhi (Harijan, 11-19-1936, pp. 341-2) Nonviolence is sometimes referred to as “people power.” This is a perfectly valid idea, but we should not think of nonviolence solely as the power of large masses… read more
