WHAT WOULD GANDHI THINK?

I watched a news clip this morning where our President said the following: "Saddam must disarm himself or, for the sake of peace, we will disarm him." This is absolutely stupidly beautiful—threatening violence for the sake of peace!

The President’s words inspired me to read up on what Mahatma Gandhi, the most well respected practitioner of non violence of all time, had to say. Following my tour in Vietnam I read Gandhi’s books. Although I’ve since forgotten most of the details, I remember being inspired by his truth seeking and his struggle to try to always do what is right. Once again I am inspired to read Gandhi’s words. I have always wanted to understand the principles of non-violent behavior, which Gandhi discovered only by years of daily practice.

Gandhi said, "non-violence is the greatest force at the disposal of mankind. It is mightier than the mightiest weapon of destruction devised by the ingenuity of man. Destruction is not the law of the humans."

I think one of the reasons I’m interested in the idea of non-violence is because I have been an angry person myself. Lessening my anger is something I’ve worked on for more than a decade but even now I am nowhere near cured. Anger is something I have to deal with on a daily basis.

One of the things I like most about Gandhi is that he is so human; he admits his fallibility: "I am but a seeker after Truth. I claim to have found a way to it. I claim to be making a ceaseless effort to find it. But I admit that I have not yet found it. To find Truth completely is to realize oneself and one’s destiny, i.e., to become perfect. I am painfully conscious of my imperfections, and therein lies all the strength I possess, because it is a rare thing for a man to know his own limitations."

This is certainly not true of the people in charge of our government. I am very sure that some of them, like me, have a problem with anger. As a humble gift for our leaders, I will type out a few more of Mahatma Gandhi’s words: "It is non-violence only when we love those that hate us."