Martin Luther King, Jr. 511 words, 40K views, 32 comments
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On Nov 17, 2011Somik Raha wrote :
AtoZ, I half-agree with you. I totally agree with you write that protesting with physical nonviolence while hating those we protest against is not really an example of nonviolence. Gandhi's nonviolence was at the level of the mind - even a thought of negativity or hatred against another had to be watched carefully and not allowed to take hold. For that thought is the grandfather of action.
On trying nonviolence with animals, in India's age-old tradition of monks, we have heard of monks who have offered themselves to hungry animals out of compassion. Turns out the animal refused to eat em at times, and at others they did. Made no difference to the monk.
The reason one would practice nonviolence, according to MLK and Gandhi, is not to strategically manipulate others, but to fill oneself with love and transcend the "us vs them" duality. Gandhi himself wrote that he was mistaken when early on, he proclaimed nonviolence as a weapon of the weak and the coward. Later on, after he had experimented with it, he remarked that nonviolence is a weapon of the bravest of the brave. Cowards should resort to violence, according to him, so that they get brave enough to try nonviolence.
In my mind, the action is secondary - it is the thought that is primary. The surgeon's knife performs violence on a patient but with the intent to heal. Sometimes in life, we may be called upon to resist with our bodies. The real test of nonviolence is whether, whatever action has been in front of us, was carried out without a trace of hatred. That is what the ancients refer to as "fight like a yogi." Practically speaking, most of the time, when I uproot hatred, a larger repertoire of actions becomes available that do not involve physical violence. Of course, I remain open about this, as it is an ongoing experiment.
On Nov 17, 2011 Somik Raha wrote :
AtoZ, I half-agree with you. I totally agree with you write that protesting with physical nonviolence while hating those we protest against is not really an example of nonviolence. Gandhi's nonviolence was at the level of the mind - even a thought of negativity or hatred against another had to be watched carefully and not allowed to take hold. For that thought is the grandfather of action.
On trying nonviolence with animals, in India's age-old tradition of monks, we have heard of monks who have offered themselves to hungry animals out of compassion. Turns out the animal refused to eat em at times, and at others they did. Made no difference to the monk.
The reason one would practice nonviolence, according to MLK and Gandhi, is not to strategically manipulate others, but to fill oneself with love and transcend the "us vs them" duality. Gandhi himself wrote that he was mistaken when early on, he proclaimed nonviolence as a weapon of the weak and the coward. Later on, after he had experimented with it, he remarked that nonviolence is a weapon of the bravest of the brave. Cowards should resort to violence, according to him, so that they get brave enough to try nonviolence.
In my mind, the action is secondary - it is the thought that is primary. The surgeon's knife performs violence on a patient but with the intent to heal. Sometimes in life, we may be called upon to resist with our bodies. The real test of nonviolence is whether, whatever action has been in front of us, was carried out without a trace of hatred. That is what the ancients refer to as "fight like a yogi." Practically speaking, most of the time, when I uproot hatred, a larger repertoire of actions becomes available that do not involve physical violence. Of course, I remain open about this, as it is an ongoing experiment.