AHIMSA Poem

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