AHIMSA
by Hal
How friendly
is our
universe?
How do we relate to
the opposites
that always exist
in our time and space?
What choices
are left to us?
Order and
chaos
exist at the
very core of
the creative process.
Every black hole
becomes a birth canal
for newborn stars.
It has been said
that
not one single atom
opposes us.
And yet,
little children
are raped
and enslaved,
and women walk
unprotected
in a world
of predators.
Is transformation
possible
in such a world
as ours?
How can one
person of integrity
make a difference
in the
daily conflicts
and indignities
that pummel
our global
family?
One man,
rejected
as inferior,
sitting alone
overnight
in a desolate
train station,
made his decision.
He decided
to walk the
path of ahimsa,
the way of gentleness.
Standing
on the shoulders
of Mahavira,
his ancient model
of ahimsa,
Gandhi
chose to apply
this philosophy
of avoiding violence
into his personal
and political world.
So begins the
saga of one
single human being
whose proactive
nonviolent
confrontations
with political
systems
and
the
traditional
establishment
grew out of his
realization
of a
spiritual unity
existing
within himself
that guided him
into
genuine
reverence for
All Life.
All the overflow
from his
single cup of
sacrificial love
and
genuine compassion
gave birth to
the fruit
that grew
from this
inner unity.
Gandhi proved
that spirituality
and the inner life
was not an
exclusively private
affair!
His spiritual
awareness
and his courageous
acts of solicitude
wedded
justice and truth
until the two
became one flesh.
He liberated himself
by seeking
equality and liberty
for everyone.
Never a private man,
his spirituality
applied to all of life
was his contemplative
participation
in ahimsa.
His life and legacy
served
to liberate both
oppressor
and oppressed.
In retrospect,
one wonders
how deeply
India
ever
understood
or believed in
Gandhi.
The truth is,
his principles
are more pertinent
today than when
he worked them out
in the ashram
and villages
and highways
of
his beloved India.
One drop
into a large bucket,
one simple act
after the next,
Gandhi’s life
was his message,
and it
continues to
awaken
countless peoples
into
a new world
of consciousness.
Respecting the
sacredness of life,
he often experienced
the reality of hatred
and untruth,
finally absorbing
its blast of blatant
violence into his
own body,
on January 30, 1948.
Violence,
after all,
will not
have the
last word.
The spirit of
Ahimsa
will
continue
to
call
to all
of us
who
value
the life
of every
being.
——-
Hal Edwards
Wauconda, IL
October 27, 2010
Thank you, Hal. A word, Ahimsa, and a poem to remember.
The Ahimsa Poem is beautiful.