"Fear and love are contradictory terms. Love is reckless in giving away, oblivious as to what it gets in return. Love wrestles with the world as with itself and ultimately gains a mastery over all other feelings." - 'From S.S. Rajputana-III' (Letter from M.D.)*, Young India, 1 Oct. 1931 (from The Essential Writings of Mahatma Gandhi edited by Raghavan Iyer)
Fear, I understand. I am a very fearful person and have always been so from my earliest memories. My father used to tell me that there was nothing to be afraid of. This did not help. It only made me feel bad about myself for being weak.
Today, I still have many fears. I fear financial insecurity, even though I have more than enough money. I fear old age and poor health. I fear losing my wife. I fear losing my daughters, biological and foster. I fear strangers. The list goes on and on.
But I have also begun to learn love. I started to learn in my late teens when I decided that for me the most important thing in the universe were children. Much of my adult life has been spent sharing my life with children. This brings me great joy and great sorrow, but mostly great love. I don't know that I have helped any of them, but I know that they have helped me.
It was this love that brought me to non-violence. It takes but a glance at history to see that the greatest victims of violence and greed have always been children. Followed closely, I might add, by the victimization of women.
A world of non-violence, a world of love, would be a world where the least among us would be raised up as the most important and most valued.
* Mahadev Desai published the above extract from a discours given by Gandhi at the evening prayer, during his voyage to London.
Showing posts with label simplicity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label simplicity. Show all posts
21 March 2011
08 March 2011
"I Ever Compromise My Own Ideals"
"Achara means the outward mode of living and it can change from time to time. The rules of inner living must remain the same; that is, one should cling to truth, ahimsa, etc. In trying to follow them, we may change the rules of outward mode of living whenever necessary." A Letter (G.), Mahadevbhaini Diary, Vol. I, p. 364
When I first read Gandhi many years ago, one of the first changes I made was to give up my car and begin riding my bicycle for transportation. I felt then, and I still feel today, that in the United States, transportation by automobile is a form of violence. We fight wars for oil for our cars. Tens of thousands are killed on our highways, and hundreds of thousands are injured annually. Our transportation system sub-divides neighbor from neighbor with dead zones of blacktop. Money that could be spent helping the least among us is spent paving paradise and chrome plates our lives. More can be added to the list.
For ten years my wife and I lived without a car. We cycled everywhere we went. To choose this life in an American city means sacrifices. Our daily lives were circumscribed by our limited method of transportation. We were happy with these limits for many years.
And then my life turned in a different direction. My daughter found out she had a medical condition that precluded her from having children. For many years I have worked with teenagers. The prospect of no grandchildren made us rethink our lives. We decided to become foster parents. Teenage girls began to come and live in our home. The foster care system requires trips to family court, to doctors, to therapists, to various and sundry meetings most of which were not in our city, and teenage girls have needs for social lives that are not local. Being without a car was no longer an option.
We own two now. The truth of sharing our home with children without homes has supplanted the truth of not owning a car. I still try and ride my bicycle to the local store and any nearby meetings, but my life now revolves around my girls and not my transportation.
Do I have mixed feelings about this? Of course, but I am comfortable in this decision. It's not perfect. I have had to compromise, but I can live with the compromise.
When I first read Gandhi many years ago, one of the first changes I made was to give up my car and begin riding my bicycle for transportation. I felt then, and I still feel today, that in the United States, transportation by automobile is a form of violence. We fight wars for oil for our cars. Tens of thousands are killed on our highways, and hundreds of thousands are injured annually. Our transportation system sub-divides neighbor from neighbor with dead zones of blacktop. Money that could be spent helping the least among us is spent paving paradise and chrome plates our lives. More can be added to the list.
For ten years my wife and I lived without a car. We cycled everywhere we went. To choose this life in an American city means sacrifices. Our daily lives were circumscribed by our limited method of transportation. We were happy with these limits for many years.
And then my life turned in a different direction. My daughter found out she had a medical condition that precluded her from having children. For many years I have worked with teenagers. The prospect of no grandchildren made us rethink our lives. We decided to become foster parents. Teenage girls began to come and live in our home. The foster care system requires trips to family court, to doctors, to therapists, to various and sundry meetings most of which were not in our city, and teenage girls have needs for social lives that are not local. Being without a car was no longer an option.
We own two now. The truth of sharing our home with children without homes has supplanted the truth of not owning a car. I still try and ride my bicycle to the local store and any nearby meetings, but my life now revolves around my girls and not my transportation.
Do I have mixed feelings about this? Of course, but I am comfortable in this decision. It's not perfect. I have had to compromise, but I can live with the compromise.
06 March 2011
Progress not Perfection
"Faith is not a thing to grasp, it is a state to grow to. And growth comes from within." - A Letter, Mahadev Desai's Diary (MSS), 3 May 1935
I am not a deep spiritual person. My mother used to say, "Deep down inside, I'm really very shallow," and I believe that describes me. I don't have strong convictions and even though I pray regularly and meditate often, I rarely feel in touch with the Great Spirit, a power greater than myself, God, the creator, or whatever of the thousand names you prefer.
And I don't worry about that. I know that my feelings are all on the inside and have nothing to do with what's really going on in the universe (and by universe, I do not mean what physicists mean by 'universe.' I mean everything, whatever that means.)
My feelings are not what are important. My actions are what are important. "Simplicity, service, living so as not to hurt others," to quote Gandhi.
I try and practice a simple faith by doing what other spiritual people do and I leave the outcome up to God.
I am not a deep spiritual person. My mother used to say, "Deep down inside, I'm really very shallow," and I believe that describes me. I don't have strong convictions and even though I pray regularly and meditate often, I rarely feel in touch with the Great Spirit, a power greater than myself, God, the creator, or whatever of the thousand names you prefer.
And I don't worry about that. I know that my feelings are all on the inside and have nothing to do with what's really going on in the universe (and by universe, I do not mean what physicists mean by 'universe.' I mean everything, whatever that means.)
My feelings are not what are important. My actions are what are important. "Simplicity, service, living so as not to hurt others," to quote Gandhi.
I try and practice a simple faith by doing what other spiritual people do and I leave the outcome up to God.
25 February 2011
Difficult Times
"These are difficult times. If all want power who will render silent service?" Notes to Baba Raghavdas (H.), Hindustan, 16 Apr. 1946
This morning I did the dishes, kissed my wife, took the girls to school. I realized that I needed to find some way to give each a morning affirmation before the pain and boredom of their daily grind was fully upon them. They are so weary, broken, and angry before their days in class. It's hard to watch them get out of the car and drag themselves toward the entrance. It makes me sad.
I planned dinner for friends tonight and shopped. I cleaned the girl's bathroom so that our guests would not know what slobs we are.
I checked my email.
I listened to the latest news from Libya. I wonder if I could stand, non-violently, when a madman's thugs show up with machine guns to kill all who protest against him.
And if a man broke into my house to rape my daughters, or kill my wife, or just to steal my TV, what would I do?
I'm glad these are not decisions I have to make today. I'm glad my choices are cleaning floors, and cooking meals, and having lunch with a friend.
Difficult times, indeed.
This morning I did the dishes, kissed my wife, took the girls to school. I realized that I needed to find some way to give each a morning affirmation before the pain and boredom of their daily grind was fully upon them. They are so weary, broken, and angry before their days in class. It's hard to watch them get out of the car and drag themselves toward the entrance. It makes me sad.
I planned dinner for friends tonight and shopped. I cleaned the girl's bathroom so that our guests would not know what slobs we are.
I checked my email.
I listened to the latest news from Libya. I wonder if I could stand, non-violently, when a madman's thugs show up with machine guns to kill all who protest against him.
And if a man broke into my house to rape my daughters, or kill my wife, or just to steal my TV, what would I do?
I'm glad these are not decisions I have to make today. I'm glad my choices are cleaning floors, and cooking meals, and having lunch with a friend.
Difficult times, indeed.
24 February 2011
The Beginning of My Understanding
"That is why I can take the keenest interest in discussing vitamins and leafy vegetables and unpolished rice. That is why it has become a matter of absorbing interest to me to find out how best to clean our latrines, how best to save our people from the heinous sin of fouling Mother Earth every morning. I do not quite see how thinking of these necessary problems and finding a solution for them has no political significance and how an examination of the financial policy of Government has necessarily a political bearing." - 'A Fatal Fallacy,' Harijan, 11 Jan. 1936
I believe this is the statement that began my understanding of Gandhi.
I am not a political creature. I know that many of you are.
The grand scheme of things is not my focus. The dark and dirty corners of my life are.
I have organized and lead mass protests, but the energy and time I spent doing so were not as valuable as the time I spend each morning doing my dishes. Even if the results of the protest were positive and productive, my own household clean and well organized, living a life of service to my family and friends, helping those around me who struggle to joyously accomplish the very valuable day to day tasks that we are all faced with, brings me closer to an understanding of what God is calling me to do.
When I read about Gandhi's vision of non-attachment to the things of the world, I begin to understand when I think about all the things I am responsible for maintaining in my family's life. Simply keeping that much stuff clean often seems like a nearly overwhelming burden. Less stuff means more time to contemplate my navel and less time sweeping the floor.
But this is what I have been given, right now. And least you misunderstand me, I love driving my kids to school, and picking up the trash they leave in the living room, and cooking the meals even when they hate what I have cooked and dig into the pantry for the Hot Cheetos®.
18 February 2011
Quibbling
"Our besetting sin is not our differences but our littleness. We wrangle over words, we fight often for shadow and lose the substance." Letter to G.S. Arundale, Young India, 6 Aug. 1919
I'm afraid anything I say will only muddle or obscure this simple analysis of what besets modern politics, modern life.
I'm afraid anything I say will only muddle or obscure this simple analysis of what besets modern politics, modern life.
16 February 2011
Our Hybrid Lives
"I saw in the recitation, the beautiful recitation that was given to me, that God is with them whose garment was dusty and tattered. My thoughts immediately went to the end of my garment; I examined and found that it is not dusty and it is not tattered; it is fairly spotless and clean. God is not in me." Speech at Government High School, Bangalore, 1915
I'm a recycler. Yea, I put stuff in the can on the curb to avoid the dump, but I that's only a small, and I think insignificant, part.
My mother's mother died thirty or more years ago. My wife and I were recently married. We were poor and had little furniture. More than a bit of the furniture in my grandmother's home was shipped to us. We still use most of what we received then in our current home. Bookshelves, bed frames, a table, lamps, stuff I've forgotten belonged to her. I cherish this stuff.
My desk and my desk chair were bought second hand. I have my old desk, also bought second hand, in the garage.
I collect not just my old photos, but the old photos from my family and my wife's family.
I buy a lot of my clothes second hand.
We have used cars and furniture collected from family and friends. We have old dishes and old mismatched silverware and pots and pans and serving platters collected from family.
It's not that I hate wasting stuff. I do, but that's not it.
I know this will sound new agey. Yuck...
But I love going to the old places in old cities. I feel like I can feel all the people that have lived there. It's not like I see ghosts or can feel 'old Mrs. Grundy's' spirit, but these places have an energy for me. There's a heart beat, a soul in these places.
My tatters come second hand. I choose tatters. I don't earn tatters.
God is not in me. But I have decided to choose God.
(Title from Chances Are by Sheryl Crow. One of my favorite songs.)
I'm a recycler. Yea, I put stuff in the can on the curb to avoid the dump, but I that's only a small, and I think insignificant, part.
My mother's mother died thirty or more years ago. My wife and I were recently married. We were poor and had little furniture. More than a bit of the furniture in my grandmother's home was shipped to us. We still use most of what we received then in our current home. Bookshelves, bed frames, a table, lamps, stuff I've forgotten belonged to her. I cherish this stuff.
My desk and my desk chair were bought second hand. I have my old desk, also bought second hand, in the garage.
I collect not just my old photos, but the old photos from my family and my wife's family.
I buy a lot of my clothes second hand.
We have used cars and furniture collected from family and friends. We have old dishes and old mismatched silverware and pots and pans and serving platters collected from family.
It's not that I hate wasting stuff. I do, but that's not it.
I know this will sound new agey. Yuck...
But I love going to the old places in old cities. I feel like I can feel all the people that have lived there. It's not like I see ghosts or can feel 'old Mrs. Grundy's' spirit, but these places have an energy for me. There's a heart beat, a soul in these places.
My tatters come second hand. I choose tatters. I don't earn tatters.
God is not in me. But I have decided to choose God.
(Title from Chances Are by Sheryl Crow. One of my favorite songs.)
15 February 2011
Maladjusted
"...there are some things in our social system to which all of us ought to be maladjusted... It may be that the salvation of the world lies in the hands of the maladjusted." Dr. Martin Luther King
The temptation to anger about...our political system, the environment, the economy, the starving millions, the way we treat animals, the war...the list is endless, leads generally to only to one of two things. Violence - lashing out at the perceived institution responsible for the injustice, and make no mistake, these are injustices. O inertia, apathy, at the size and number of things that need to be fixed in this world.
Most of us choose apathy.
Oh, we recycle or become vegetarians or vote or use energy-saving light bulbs or stop wearing fur, small gestures that soothe our conscience, but have little effect on our actual ways of living.
Don't get me wrong - these things are better than nothing.
But...How many of us are willing to stop driving? How many of us are willing to stop paying taxes? Hell, how many of us are willing to stop voting Democratic or Republican and look for an alternative to these two sad sacks.
I am not maladjusted. I drive. I pay my taxes. I eat meat. I have stopped voting for either of the two parties, but I put no money or time into the effort to make a third party viable.
I want to be maladjusted.
The temptation to anger about...our political system, the environment, the economy, the starving millions, the way we treat animals, the war...the list is endless, leads generally to only to one of two things. Violence - lashing out at the perceived institution responsible for the injustice, and make no mistake, these are injustices. O inertia, apathy, at the size and number of things that need to be fixed in this world.
Most of us choose apathy.
Oh, we recycle or become vegetarians or vote or use energy-saving light bulbs or stop wearing fur, small gestures that soothe our conscience, but have little effect on our actual ways of living.
Don't get me wrong - these things are better than nothing.
But...How many of us are willing to stop driving? How many of us are willing to stop paying taxes? Hell, how many of us are willing to stop voting Democratic or Republican and look for an alternative to these two sad sacks.
I am not maladjusted. I drive. I pay my taxes. I eat meat. I have stopped voting for either of the two parties, but I put no money or time into the effort to make a third party viable.
I want to be maladjusted.
11 February 2011
Collateral Damage
"We should understand that the less violence a religion permits, the more is the truth it contained in it." The Essential Writings of Mahatma Gandhi, edited by Raghavan Iyer, p 103
Translations of the Bible vary on what exactly is meant by the Sixth Commandment. Many scholars say that the intent was not "thou shall not kill," but rather, "thou shall not murder." The difference makes killing in self-defense or defense of kingdom or kin acceptable.
Faced with the choice of killing or being killed, I don't know how I would react. If someone attacked my wife or daughters, I would defend them. I would like to think that if a neighbor was attacked I would go to their aid. But what of a total stranger?
And what kind of aid would I provide? What kind of defense would I put up? I don't own a gun, but their is a baseball bat next to my bed and on more than one occasion when a noise has waked me in the night, I have taken it with me when I investigated.
And then there is the whole question of the food I eat? Is it murder to eat a steak for dinner? I know that I didn't kill the cow, but the cow died for my sins. I'm trying to reduce the meat I eat, but I'm not vegetarian yet.
But what if the commandment really is "thou shall not kill?" I don't see any 'if, ands, or buts' in that statement.
My money supports the killing of thousands in far away lands. People who intend no harm to me, my kin, and my country . Women and children caught in the crossfire. I am responsible for their deaths. Directly responsible.
Translations of the Bible vary on what exactly is meant by the Sixth Commandment. Many scholars say that the intent was not "thou shall not kill," but rather, "thou shall not murder." The difference makes killing in self-defense or defense of kingdom or kin acceptable.
Faced with the choice of killing or being killed, I don't know how I would react. If someone attacked my wife or daughters, I would defend them. I would like to think that if a neighbor was attacked I would go to their aid. But what of a total stranger?
And what kind of aid would I provide? What kind of defense would I put up? I don't own a gun, but their is a baseball bat next to my bed and on more than one occasion when a noise has waked me in the night, I have taken it with me when I investigated.
And then there is the whole question of the food I eat? Is it murder to eat a steak for dinner? I know that I didn't kill the cow, but the cow died for my sins. I'm trying to reduce the meat I eat, but I'm not vegetarian yet.
But what if the commandment really is "thou shall not kill?" I don't see any 'if, ands, or buts' in that statement.
My money supports the killing of thousands in far away lands. People who intend no harm to me, my kin, and my country . Women and children caught in the crossfire. I am responsible for their deaths. Directly responsible.
10 February 2011
Lucky Man
"(Modern Civilization's) greatest achievements are the invention of the most terrible weapons of destruction, the awful growth of anarchism, the frightful disputes between capital and labour and the wanton and diabolical cruelty inflicted on innocent, dumb, living animals in the name of science..." The Essential Writings of Mahatma Gandhi, edited by Raghavan Iyer, p. 83
I am a lucky man. I don't have to think about these things if I don't want to. I can indulge myself with wonderful food, mass entertainment, and tons of stuff to make my life easier, softer.
And I do.
http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/373116/february-07-2011/exclusive---the-seven-deadly-sins---gluttony-mash-up
FYKSYAR4G3GH
I am a lucky man. I don't have to think about these things if I don't want to. I can indulge myself with wonderful food, mass entertainment, and tons of stuff to make my life easier, softer.
And I do.
http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/373116/february-07-2011/exclusive---the-seven-deadly-sins---gluttony-mash-up
FYKSYAR4G3GH
07 February 2011
Freedom from Attachment
My Mother-in-Law, Jean, died last week after a long slow deterioration. There was sadness and relief in her finally letting go. The burdens of life had been set down and whatever is beyond accepted.
Jean spent years letting go of the many things that cluttered the life of a upper-middle class mother and wife. She gave away many of the things she loved to family and friends. When she died there was not much left to deal with. Odds and ends.
My life is buried in the things I own. The amount of time I spend cleaning and organizing the things of my life comes close to exceeding the times I actually "use" those things. If I was actually a well organized person rather than a slob, keeping track of my things might take more time than the time I spend putting the things to use.
And it's more than I just using these things for some apparently valued purpose, I have an attachment to these things. I like my things. I invest some part of myself in my plastic coffee filter holder that I have used for years to make coffee every morning.
How does this happen? Why is a part of my soul owned by an old copy of Cyrano de Bergerac and my TV remote and a teeny tiny bottle of olive oil I bought in a Paris shop filled with sand I collected from the Egyptian desert?
I don't want freedom from these things. I'm not sure I agree with Gandhi on this subject. There is something sacred in some of these things.
Jean spent years letting go of the many things that cluttered the life of a upper-middle class mother and wife. She gave away many of the things she loved to family and friends. When she died there was not much left to deal with. Odds and ends.
My life is buried in the things I own. The amount of time I spend cleaning and organizing the things of my life comes close to exceeding the times I actually "use" those things. If I was actually a well organized person rather than a slob, keeping track of my things might take more time than the time I spend putting the things to use.
And it's more than I just using these things for some apparently valued purpose, I have an attachment to these things. I like my things. I invest some part of myself in my plastic coffee filter holder that I have used for years to make coffee every morning.
How does this happen? Why is a part of my soul owned by an old copy of Cyrano de Bergerac and my TV remote and a teeny tiny bottle of olive oil I bought in a Paris shop filled with sand I collected from the Egyptian desert?
I don't want freedom from these things. I'm not sure I agree with Gandhi on this subject. There is something sacred in some of these things.
02 February 2011
"Kicking the tires and lightin' the fires"
"My patriotism is all-embracing and I should reject that patriotism which sought to mount upon the distress or the exploitation of other nationalities." Speech at a Public Meeting, Rangoon, 9 March 1929
I wrote in my very first blog post that I was a veteran. I am a veteran because Ronald Reagan made all Cold-War military personnel veterans and I am thankful for that. I have a VA loan on my house. Tomorrow, I go for my first orientation and examination at a local VA clinic.
Despite President Reagan, I did not fight in any war. We were at peace. The Soviet Union was collapsing. My service was six years of repairing and launching an ancient, but stalwart aircraft on a daily basis, practicing for the end of the world.
The Air Force taught me a lot and I am proud to have served.
Does that make me a patriot?
I feel lucky to live in the United States of America.
I am rich beyond much of the world's wildest dreams.
I have leisure to contemplate and write about philosophy.
I have choices about how I live my life.
Survival is not my top priority.
I vote. I vote relatively faithfully. Except for Obama, I have voted Green Party since 1984. I voted for Obama so that every African-American child could have the same dreams as every other child in America, not because I believed he would bring something new to the White House. I will go back to voting Green Party. I remind my fellow Democrats and Republicans that "One definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result."
I am sad for my country. Given a great gift, we squander it. We mount upon the distress of other nations. We exploit other nationalities.
We invest our treasure in guns and we reap the interest from our investment.
Am I a patriot?
I wrote in my very first blog post that I was a veteran. I am a veteran because Ronald Reagan made all Cold-War military personnel veterans and I am thankful for that. I have a VA loan on my house. Tomorrow, I go for my first orientation and examination at a local VA clinic.
Despite President Reagan, I did not fight in any war. We were at peace. The Soviet Union was collapsing. My service was six years of repairing and launching an ancient, but stalwart aircraft on a daily basis, practicing for the end of the world.
The Air Force taught me a lot and I am proud to have served.
Does that make me a patriot?
I feel lucky to live in the United States of America.
I am rich beyond much of the world's wildest dreams.
I have leisure to contemplate and write about philosophy.
I have choices about how I live my life.
Survival is not my top priority.
I vote. I vote relatively faithfully. Except for Obama, I have voted Green Party since 1984. I voted for Obama so that every African-American child could have the same dreams as every other child in America, not because I believed he would bring something new to the White House. I will go back to voting Green Party. I remind my fellow Democrats and Republicans that "One definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result."
I am sad for my country. Given a great gift, we squander it. We mount upon the distress of other nations. We exploit other nationalities.
We invest our treasure in guns and we reap the interest from our investment.
Am I a patriot?
01 February 2011
Would Jesus Drive?
"Living so as not to hurt others"
In July 2002, a small, now defunct, magazine called "The Other Side" published an article I wrote which I titled with the above question. "The Other Side" was a left wing Christian magazine similar, if slightly more radical than, "Sojourners". They did little editing to the original article except to change the title. I guess they felt that "Would Jesus Drive?" was too in the face of their readership.
The thesis of the article was that driving an automobile was an act of violence. Even though I now drive daily, my beliefs haven't changed.
Ninety three (93) people a day are killed on our nations roads every day. The number injured is probably ten times that high and many of those injuries are life changing. And how many billions of dollars do we spend on new cars, upkeep, infrastructure, not to mention gasoline.
Our neighborhoods are chopped up by black dead zones, strips unsafe for life of any kind.
Exhaust from our cars is changing the atmosphere. Mass extinctions are taking place all over the globe.
And then there are the oil wars.
So how do I "justify" driving? Foster daughters. Living in a moderately sized city with children, it is impossible to give them what they need without a car. I knew that in 2002 when I wrote the article. We have designed our cities to make life without a car extremely difficult even for people who don't have children.
Does the good out-weight the bad? I like to think so, but...
In July 2002, a small, now defunct, magazine called "The Other Side" published an article I wrote which I titled with the above question. "The Other Side" was a left wing Christian magazine similar, if slightly more radical than, "Sojourners". They did little editing to the original article except to change the title. I guess they felt that "Would Jesus Drive?" was too in the face of their readership.
The thesis of the article was that driving an automobile was an act of violence. Even though I now drive daily, my beliefs haven't changed.
Ninety three (93) people a day are killed on our nations roads every day. The number injured is probably ten times that high and many of those injuries are life changing. And how many billions of dollars do we spend on new cars, upkeep, infrastructure, not to mention gasoline.
Our neighborhoods are chopped up by black dead zones, strips unsafe for life of any kind.
Exhaust from our cars is changing the atmosphere. Mass extinctions are taking place all over the globe.
And then there are the oil wars.
So how do I "justify" driving? Foster daughters. Living in a moderately sized city with children, it is impossible to give them what they need without a car. I knew that in 2002 when I wrote the article. We have designed our cities to make life without a car extremely difficult even for people who don't have children.
Does the good out-weight the bad? I like to think so, but...
31 January 2011
The Message of the Spinning-Wheel
"It's message is one of simplicity, service of mankind, living so as not to hurt others..." - 'To American Friends,' Young India, 17 Sept. 1925
For most of his life, Gandhi spent a portion of nearly everyday spinning yarn and weaving his own clothes. He began this discipline in the early 1920's as part of his swadeshi movement. The idea was two fold. One, to deny the British income from the sale of foreign made products. The second, and more important, idea was to help the poor in India reclaim some independence and dignity by resurrecting a cottage industry, an industry that every Indian could participate in.
When I looked for pictures, I found the classic iconic photos and videos of Gandhi himself sitting at a spinning wheel. There were also photos of large spinning wheel gatherings with hundreds and perhaps thousands of Indians spinning. I could think of nothing comparable in this country.
Simplicity, service, living so as not to hurt others. These are not concepts I understand well.
Simplicity - There's a photo of the few possessions that Gandhi owned when he died. A couple of bowls, glasses, a prayer book, a couple pairs of sandals, a watch, wooden fork and spoon, porcelain monkeys, diary, spittoon, letter opener. I think about what I own. A home, two cars, three computers, five cell phones, dozens of other electric and electronic devices, many, many books, hundreds of pounds of furniture, more clothes than I will ever wear, photos, knick-knacks, bric-a-brac, what-nots, dodads, and thingamabobs galore. There more stuff in my attic and garage, most of which I use only rarely if at all. And my friends think I live simply
Service - Here I am not so bad. I'm a foster parent to two teenager girls and a third now emancipated attending college. I am a member of a twelve step recovery program and I help new members get a good start. I keep my eyes open for opportunities to assist friends and strangers with tasks large and small. I could do more.
Living So As Not To Hurt Others - I could talk about the food I eat or the trash I generate and the list of failures would be long. There are many other areas of my life where I don't live so as not to hurt others, but the one that always jumps out at me is my mode of transportation, my cars. This needs a post all its own. Check back tomorrow.
For most of his life, Gandhi spent a portion of nearly everyday spinning yarn and weaving his own clothes. He began this discipline in the early 1920's as part of his swadeshi movement. The idea was two fold. One, to deny the British income from the sale of foreign made products. The second, and more important, idea was to help the poor in India reclaim some independence and dignity by resurrecting a cottage industry, an industry that every Indian could participate in.
When I looked for pictures, I found the classic iconic photos and videos of Gandhi himself sitting at a spinning wheel. There were also photos of large spinning wheel gatherings with hundreds and perhaps thousands of Indians spinning. I could think of nothing comparable in this country.
Simplicity, service, living so as not to hurt others. These are not concepts I understand well.
Simplicity - There's a photo of the few possessions that Gandhi owned when he died. A couple of bowls, glasses, a prayer book, a couple pairs of sandals, a watch, wooden fork and spoon, porcelain monkeys, diary, spittoon, letter opener. I think about what I own. A home, two cars, three computers, five cell phones, dozens of other electric and electronic devices, many, many books, hundreds of pounds of furniture, more clothes than I will ever wear, photos, knick-knacks, bric-a-brac, what-nots, dodads, and thingamabobs galore. There more stuff in my attic and garage, most of which I use only rarely if at all. And my friends think I live simply
Service - Here I am not so bad. I'm a foster parent to two teenager girls and a third now emancipated attending college. I am a member of a twelve step recovery program and I help new members get a good start. I keep my eyes open for opportunities to assist friends and strangers with tasks large and small. I could do more.
Living So As Not To Hurt Others - I could talk about the food I eat or the trash I generate and the list of failures would be long. There are many other areas of my life where I don't live so as not to hurt others, but the one that always jumps out at me is my mode of transportation, my cars. This needs a post all its own. Check back tomorrow.
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