Forgetting Gandhi on International Non-Violence Day

[Guest guest]

Forgetting Gandhi on International Non-Violence Day

 

By Pablo Ouziel

 

October 2nd will mark the birth anniversary of human rights activist

Mahatma Gandhi and for the first time, the United Nations is

officially proclaiming this day to be the International Day of

Non-violence. Hopefully, on this day we can all spare a little of our

time to reflect on how little we have all understood Mahatma Gandhi's

message, after all everyday we seem to plunge into a worse state of

affairs and drift away farther from Gandhi's respectable message; " I

object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is

only temporary; the evil it does is permanent. "

 

I wonder what it means to have an International Non-violence day. Does

it mean that American soldiers, UN 'peacekeepers', NATO Forces, the

Israeli military and Blackwater USA will put down their weapons for

the day and reflect on the horrors that they are committing in the

vague name of an international war on 'terror'? Does it mean that they

will all continue killing as a few peaceful marchers around the world

proclaim in total sanity, that the insanity that prevails is making it

hard for peace-loving humans to coexist with this madness? Or does it

mean that the United Nations will clamp down on the killings

perpetrated by the permanent members of its own security council?

 

Whatever happens on that day we can all rest assured that the day will

pass and things will continue heading into the same almost unavoidable

tragic ending, one which the respectable professor Noam Chomsky

describes in the following way: " The immediate fear is that by

accident or design, Washington's war planners or their Israeli

surrogate might decide to escalate their Cold War II into a hot one –

in this case a real hot war. "

 

Gandhi once said " an error does not become truth by reason of

multiplied propagation, nor does truth become error because nobody

sees it. " However, since that now famous speech in 2001 when President

Bush declared: " You're either with us or against us in the fight

against terror, " our lives have changed so much in so little time,

that one wonders whether Gandhi's statement makes any difference to

the lives of ordinary innocent people.

 

With so many dead since Bush's statement and so many more suffering,

with our way of live being put upside down by secretive prisons,

humiliating airport security checks, increased racism towards our

Muslim brothers, students being tasered for asking inappropriate

questions, and the president of a country being insulted by a

university president in the name of freedom of speech, one wonders how

long we will have to put up with this reality until the people of the

world regain their rights and react against this vile oppression.

 

We are living in fearful times void of any reason, if one listens to

the words of world leaders and reflects on their actions, one will see

the incoherence which prevails. The ones promoting global democracy

are embracing imperialism and the ones asking for reason to flourish

are being labelled as enemies. Evo Morales the first indigenous

president of Bolivia, who was linked to Osama Bin Laden by the

American ambassador in that country, last week speaking with Amy

Goodman of Democracy Now! said: " I think that in this new millennium,

we fundamentally should be oriented towards saving lives and not

ending lives. "

 

Yet President Bush continues to raise the flag of peace and stability

as American defense company stocks continue to rise and people

continue to die. According to CNNMoney.com on September 26th, " The

AMEX Defense Index, which tracks 14 major defense company stocks, rose

14.25 to a high of 1,686.72 in afternoon trading. Since last year, the

index has risen roughly 47 percent, outperforming the broader S & P 500

index, which has climbed nearly 15 percent over the same period. "

 

While Hugo Chavez, president of Venezuela, another 'great enemy' of

the American people during a UN address at the General Assembly in

2006, recommends to the assembly, the presidents of the world and in

particular the American people to read Hegemony of Survival by Noam

Chomsky, we learned this week by the hand of an editorial in The Los

Angeles Times that " the biggest beneficiary (of the business of war)

has been Blackwater USA, a private security firm with powerful

political and personnel ties to an administration that has awarded it

more than $1 billion in contracts since 2002. "

 

So while this real life scenario remains a despicable reality and some

blame Bush, while others blame corporations, I am inclined to blame

the common people who through a combination of indifference, fear and

lack of reason, are allowing their government representatives and a

few corporations to accumulate wealth and power, while destroying the

planet in which we all live. We must understand that the power is in

the hands of the majority as long as we are all willing to accept that

responsibility and turn it into action.

 

If we use International Non-violence Day to reflect on Gandhi's

teachings and his struggle for freedom, we might learn from his own

words that, " as human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being

able to remake the world - that is the myth of the atomic age - as in

being able to remake ourselves. " If this reasoning can somehow ingrain

itself into our thought process, those Wall Street and industry

executives who are trying to assure investors that there will be

little disturbance in military spending over the next several years,

regardless of who succeeds President Bush in the White House, will be

proved wrong. If however the people of the world have forgotten what

Gandhi really stood for, there is nothing that can be done.

 

 

 

Authors Bio: " The sole meaning of life is to serve humanity. " Leo

Tolstoy -Pablo Ouziel is an activist and a free lance writer based in

Spain. His work has appeared in many progressive media including Znet,

Palestine Chronicle, Thomas Paine¹s Corner and Atlantic Free Press.

[Guest guest]

Nisargadatta , " anabebe57 " <kailashana

wrote:

>

> Forgetting Gandhi on International Non-Violence Day

>

> By Pablo Ouziel

>

> October 2nd will mark the birth anniversary of human rights activist

> Mahatma Gandhi and for the first time, the United Nations is

> officially proclaiming this day to be the International Day of

> Non-violence. Hopefully, on this day we can all spare a little of

our

> time to reflect on how little we have all understood Mahatma

Gandhi's

> message, after all everyday we seem to plunge into a worse state of

> affairs and drift away farther from Gandhi's respectable message; " I

> object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is

> only temporary; the evil it does is permanent. "

>

> I wonder what it means to have an International Non-violence day.

Does

> it mean that American soldiers, UN 'peacekeepers', NATO Forces, the

> Israeli military and Blackwater USA will put down their weapons for

> the day and reflect on the horrors that they are committing in the

> vague name of an international war on 'terror'? Does it mean that

they

> will all continue killing as a few peaceful marchers around the

world

> proclaim in total sanity, that the insanity that prevails is making

it

> hard for peace-loving humans to coexist with this madness? Or does

it

> mean that the United Nations will clamp down on the killings

> perpetrated by the permanent members of its own security council?

>

> Whatever happens on that day we can all rest assured that the day

will

> pass and things will continue heading into the same almost

unavoidable

> tragic ending, one which the respectable professor Noam Chomsky

> describes in the following way: " The immediate fear is that by

> accident or design, Washington's war planners or their Israeli

> surrogate might decide to escalate their Cold War II into a hot

one –

> in this case a real hot war. "

>

> Gandhi once said " an error does not become truth by reason of

> multiplied propagation, nor does truth become error because nobody

> sees it. " However, since that now famous speech in 2001 when

President

> Bush declared: " You're either with us or against us in the fight

> against terror, " our lives have changed so much in so little time,

> that one wonders whether Gandhi's statement makes any difference to

> the lives of ordinary innocent people.

>

> With so many dead since Bush's statement and so many more suffering,

> with our way of live being put upside down by secretive prisons,

> humiliating airport security checks, increased racism towards our

> Muslim brothers, students being tasered for asking inappropriate

> questions, and the president of a country being insulted by a

> university president in the name of freedom of speech, one wonders

how

> long we will have to put up with this reality until the people of

the

> world regain their rights and react against this vile oppression.

>

> We are living in fearful times void of any reason, if one listens to

> the words of world leaders and reflects on their actions, one will

see

> the incoherence which prevails. The ones promoting global democracy

> are embracing imperialism and the ones asking for reason to flourish

> are being labelled as enemies. Evo Morales the first indigenous

> president of Bolivia, who was linked to Osama Bin Laden by the

> American ambassador in that country, last week speaking with Amy

> Goodman of Democracy Now! said: " I think that in this new

millennium,

> we fundamentally should be oriented towards saving lives and not

> ending lives. "

>

> Yet President Bush continues to raise the flag of peace and

stability

> as American defense company stocks continue to rise and people

> continue to die. According to CNNMoney.com on September 26th, " The

> AMEX Defense Index, which tracks 14 major defense company stocks,

rose

> 14.25 to a high of 1,686.72 in afternoon trading. Since last year,

the

> index has risen roughly 47 percent, outperforming the broader S & P

500

> index, which has climbed nearly 15 percent over the same period. "

>

> While Hugo Chavez, president of Venezuela, another 'great enemy' of

> the American people during a UN address at the General Assembly in

> 2006, recommends to the assembly, the presidents of the world and

in

> particular the American people to read Hegemony of Survival by Noam

> Chomsky, we learned this week by the hand of an editorial in The Los

> Angeles Times that " the biggest beneficiary (of the business of war)

> has been Blackwater USA, a private security firm with powerful

> political and personnel ties to an administration that has awarded

it

> more than $1 billion in contracts since 2002. "

>

> So while this real life scenario remains a despicable reality and

some

> blame Bush, while others blame corporations, I am inclined to blame

> the common people who through a combination of indifference, fear

and

> lack of reason, are allowing their government representatives and a

> few corporations to accumulate wealth and power, while destroying

the

> planet in which we all live. We must understand that the power is in

> the hands of the majority as long as we are all willing to accept

that

> responsibility and turn it into action.

>

> If we use International Non-violence Day to reflect on Gandhi's

> teachings and his struggle for freedom, we might learn from his own

> words that, " as human beings, our greatness lies not so much in

being

> able to remake the world - that is the myth of the atomic age - as

in

> being able to remake ourselves. " If this reasoning can somehow

ingrain

> itself into our thought process, those Wall Street and industry

> executives who are trying to assure investors that there will be

> little disturbance in military spending over the next several years,

> regardless of who succeeds President Bush in the White House, will

be

> proved wrong. If however the people of the world have forgotten what

> Gandhi really stood for, there is nothing that can be done.

>

>

>

> Authors Bio: " The sole meaning of life is to serve humanity. " Leo

> Tolstoy -Pablo Ouziel is an activist and a free lance writer based

in

> Spain. His work has appeared in many progressive media including

Znet,

> Palestine Chronicle, Thomas Paine¹s Corner and Atlantic Free Press.

 

 

 

 

.....would already be of some help.....to analyse the meaning

of " Mahatma " ......

 

 

Marc

 

 

Ps: not everybody deserve such title.....

which is in no relation to worldly studies......or worldly

titles......worldly diplomas.....worldly intelligence......etc.....

 

it doesn't make sense to talk about non-violence......without having

any idea of the " Mahatma " meaning

[Guest guest]

Nisargadatta , " dennis_travis33 "

<dennis_travis33 wrote:

>

> Nisargadatta , " anabebe57 " <kailashana@>

> wrote:

> >

 

........ snip .......

 

> >

> > Authors Bio: " The sole meaning of life is to serve humanity. " Leo

> > Tolstoy -Pablo Ouziel is an activist and a free lance writer

based

> in

> > Spain. His work has appeared in many progressive media including

> Znet,

> > Palestine Chronicle, Thomas Paine¹s Corner and Atlantic Free

Press.

>

>

>

>

> ....would already be of some help.....to analyse the meaning

> of " Mahatma " ......

>

>

> Marc

>

>

> Ps: not everybody deserve such title.....

> which is in no relation to worldly studies......or worldly

> titles......worldly diplomas.....worldly intelligence......etc.....

>

> it doesn't make sense to talk about non-violence......without

having

> any idea of the " Mahatma " meaning

>

 

 

You too are a 'great soul', venerable Marc,

 

And you too deserve that title because you are the Self, pure

awareness. And becaue you are the deeply enlightened incarnation of

Love, Peace and Harmony, a real Buddha, one should call you Sri

Mahatma Marc.

 

 

Werner

[Guest guest]

Nisargadatta , " Werner Woehr " <wwoehr

wrote:

>

> Nisargadatta , " dennis_travis33 "

> <dennis_travis33@> wrote:

> >

> > Nisargadatta , " anabebe57 " <kailashana@>

> > wrote:

> > >

>

> ....... snip .......

>

> > >

> > > Authors Bio: " The sole meaning of life is to serve humanity. "

Leo

> > > Tolstoy -Pablo Ouziel is an activist and a free lance writer

> based

> > in

> > > Spain. His work has appeared in many progressive media

including

> > Znet,

> > > Palestine Chronicle, Thomas Paine¹s Corner and Atlantic Free

> Press.

> >

> >

> >

> >

> > ....would already be of some help.....to analyse the meaning

> > of " Mahatma " ......

> >

> >

> > Marc

> >

> >

> > Ps: not everybody deserve such title.....

> > which is in no relation to worldly studies......or worldly

> > titles......worldly diplomas.....worldly

intelligence......etc.....

> >

> > it doesn't make sense to talk about non-violence......without

> having

> > any idea of the " Mahatma " meaning

> >

>

>

> You too are a 'great soul', venerable Marc,

>

> And you too deserve that title because you are the Self, pure

> awareness. And becaue you are the deeply enlightened incarnation of

> Love, Peace and Harmony, a real Buddha, one should call you Sri

> Mahatma Marc.

>

>

> Werner

 

 

LOL

 

how is your soul doing today, Werner?

 

 

Marc

 

 

 

 

 

>