Week 2 -- Non-Violence
“My religion is based on Truth and nonviolence.” – Mahatma Gandhi
Affirmation:
“I renounce all thoughts and acts of violence. I express the peace of God as I walk and work in ways of gentleness.”
Study Questions: - Ahimsa, Nonviolence (Review in the book Gandhi the Man, Chapter 2, The Way of Love, pages 41 - 103, pages 115 - 118; and pages 153 – 156. Read Isaiah 2)
What is your understanding of the concept of nonviolence? Notes for discussion:
“Ahimsa means literally ‘lacking any desire to kill.” (p. 152)
“Not to hurt any living thing is no doubt a part of ahimsa. But it is its least expression. The principle of ahimsa is hurt by every evil thought, by undue haste, by lying, by hatred, by wishing ill to anybody. It is also violated by our holding on to what the world needs.” – (p. 154)
Gandhi applied ahimsa to every walk of life: domestic, institutional, economic, and political. (p. 153)
Ahimsa begins at home, and must be practiced in one’s relationships with others. (p. 153)
Ahimsa . . . “does not mean meek submission to the will of the evil-doer, but it means pitting of one’s whole soul against the will of the tyrant.” – (p. 154)
Ahimsa teaches love and respect for all persons, complete self-reliance, and fearlessness. “He who trembles or takes to his heels the moment he sees two people fighting is not nonviolent, but a coward. A nonviolent person will lay down his life in preventing such quarrels.” – (p. 91)
Nonviolence calls for love in action – for the strength and courage to suffer without retaliation. In what areas of your life are you able to practice non-violence? Discuss.
In what areas of your life do you find it difficult to practice non-violence? Discuss.
Gandhi called the mantram, or Holy Name, his “staff of life” and a powerful tool in his spiritual transformation. People of all religions and times have used a mantram, such as “Jesus, Jesus”, or “My God and My All” (the mantram of St. Francis of Assisi), or Gandhi’s mantram, “Rama, Rama”. After reflecting on the reading for this week, do you feel that a mantram would be a practical spiritual tool for the “renewing” of your mind? Notes for discussion:
The name of the Lord, Holy Name, or mantram, “is a spiritual formula which seekers from all traditions have found can transform what is negative in the personality into what is positive: anger into compassion, ill will into good will, hatred into love. By calming the mind, it gradually integrates divided and opposing thoughts at a deeper and deeper level of consciousness.” (p. 117)
“The mantram becomes one's staff of life and carries one through every ordeal . . . Each repetition . . . has a new meaning, each repetition carries you nearer and nearer to God.” – (p. 117)
“Over the years, as the mantram penetrated below Gandhi’s deepest doubts and fears, he became established in joy. It was a habit of mind which no surface turbulence could shake, no threat of violence destroy.” (p. 118)
When would you use a mantra as you go through your day? If so, what mantra would you feel comfortable using, one from the Christian tradition or one from one of the Eastern traditions – Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism or Zen Buddhism? How would you decide? Notes for discussion:
Gandhi used his mantram as a spiritual tool to help calm his mind throughout the day, and to stay aligned with God Mind when walking, when falling asleep, when fear, anger, greed, resentment, envy, judgment, ill-will and other negative emotions were about to overtake him; and at the moment of his death. (pp. 117, 118, 140)
Isaiah 2 speaks of the transformation of the “people of the house of Jacob” and is the locale of the passage “they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks.” Read metaphysically, this chapter speaks of the transformation of our own worldly, “reasonable” thoughts to spiritual thoughts (metaphysically Israel represents spiritual thoughts). Discuss how the description of this transformation conforms to Gandhi’s conception of ahimsa. Notes for discussion: