From 2nd Elementary School of Paleo Faliro. GREECE.
Proposed by Mary Frentzou
marifrent@yahoo.com

CHALLENGES AND CHOICES

By Arun Gandhi

The greatest challenge in promoting nonviolence is the English language and its limitations.  The next is our perception, rooted for centuries, that violence is the only way we can resolve our problems.

Going back to the first challenge when Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi developed his philosophy of nonviolence in South Africa and wanted an appropriate word to describe it he could not find one.  "Passive Resistance" and "Civil Disobedience" did not appeal because he said there was nothing passive or disobedient about the movement.  He even offered a reward to anyone who could come up with a positive English word to describe what he had in mind but, alas, no one could.

At this point Gandhi decided a Sanskrit word may be more appropriate since
he was planning to move back to India and lead the Indian struggle for freedom.  He found "Satyagraha" described his philosophy the best.  It is a combination of two Sanskrit words "Satya" meaning Truth and "Agraha" meaning pursuit of. Thus, "Satyagraha" means the "Pursuit of Truth", which is important because it is the opposite of the Western concept of "Possessing the Truth."

Nonviolence, therefore, can be described as an honest and diligent pursuit of truth.  It could also mean the search for the meaning of life or the purpose of life, questions that have tormented mankind for centuries.The fact that we have not been able to find satisfactory answers to these questions does not mean there is no answer.  It only means we have not searched with any degree of honesty.The search has to be both external and internal.  We seek to ignore this crucial search because the sacrifices it demands are evolutionary.  It means moving away from greed, selfishness, possessiveness and dominance to love, compassion, understanding and respect. It means to be true to our Faith and religion - it is not enough that we pray 10 times a day but that we make the scriptures the basis of our existence.

Because of our materialistic and greedy lifestyle we have become very possessive.  We seek to possess not only material goods but even our spiritual beliefs and even peace, if we find it.  How many times have we heard people say: "I am at peace with myself."  Or, when Gurus say to their devotees "find your peace and hold on to it."  Can anyone find peace or spiritual awakening and greedily hold on to it for themselves? 

This is the essence of Gandhi's philosophy of "nonviolence" or the pursuit of truth.  In the life-long pursuit of truth we must always be guided by love, compassion, understanding and respect, allow everything we have to interact positively with the elements and help create a society of peace and harmony. The more possessions we have the more we have to secure them from those who covet it generating feelings of jealousy and the desire to take by force what the needy cannot get through compassion.