The Power of Nonviolence - Dr. Arun Gandhi

[narissa_G]

one of the best I've read so far


for all parents & parents to be (someday)

> The Power of Nonviolence - Dr. Arun Gandhi
>
> Dr. Arun Gandhi, grandson of Mahatma Gandhi and
> founder of the M.K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence,
> in his June 9 lecture at the University of Puerto
> Rico, shared the following story as an example of
> nonviolence in parenting: "I was 16 years old and
> living with myparents at the institute my grandfather
> had founded 18 miles outside of Durban, South Africa,
> in the middle of the sugar plantations. We were deep
> in the country and had no neighbors, so my two sisters
> and I would always look forward togoing to town to
> visit friends or go to the movies. One day, my father
> asked me to drive him to town for an all-day
> conference, and I jumped at the chance.
>
> Since I was going to town, my mother gave me a list of
> groceries she needed and, since I had all day in town,
> my father asked me to take care of several pending
> chores, such as getting the car serviced.
>
> When I dropped my father off that morning, he said,
> 'I will meet you here at 5:00 p.m., and we will go
> home together.'
>
> After hurriedly completing my chores, I went straight
> to the nearest movie theatre. I got so engrossed in
> a John Wayne double-feature that I forgot the time.
> It was 5:30 before I remembered. By the time I ran
> to the garage and got the car and hurried to where
> my father was waitingfor me, it was almost 6:00.
>
> He anxiously asked me, 'Why are you late?' I was so
> ashamed of telling him I was watching a John Wayne
> western movie that I said, 'The car wasn't ready,
> so I had to wait,' not realizing that he had already
> called the garage.
>
> When he caught me in the lie, he said, "There's
> something wrong in the way I brought you up that
> didn't give you the confidence to tell me the truth.
> In order to figure out where I went wrong with you,
> I'm going to walk the walk home 18 miles and think
> about it."
>
> So, dressed in his suit and dress shoes, he began to
> walk home in the dark on mostly unpaved, unlit roads.
> I couldn't leave him, so for five-and-a-half hours I
> drove behind him, watching my father go through this
> agony for a stupid lie that I uttered. I decided
> then and there that I was never going to lie again.
>
> I often think about that episode and wonder, if
> he had punished me the way we punish our children,
> whether I would have learned a lesson at all.
> I don't think so.
> I would have suffered the punishment and gone on
> doing the same thing. But this single nonviolent
> action was so powerful that it is still as if it
> happened yesterday.... that is the power of nonviolence.

[IRONMAN]

SISTER, IT IS INDEED A BEAUTIFUL STORY.

1. IT IS VERY MUCH TRUE THAT A LESSON MUST BE GIVEN THROUGH WISDOM. VERY FEW ARE CAPABLE OF THIS. IT IS A LESSON FOR THE PARENTS AND CHILDREN.

2. BUT ON THE OTHER HAND, (NOT A RULE, BUT)MOST LIKELY THOSE CHILDREN GET LESSONS FROM WISDOM, WHOSE PARENTS ARE WISE.

3. AND MORE OVER NOT ALL THE PARENTS CAN BECOME WISE TO GIVE SUCH KIND OF LESSONS, NOR CAN ALL CHILDREN BE WISE TO UNDERSTAND WISDOM.

BHAI.

[narissa_G]

Originally posted by IRONMAN
SISTER, IT IS INDEED A BEAUTIFUL STORY.

1. IT IS VERY MUCH TRUE THAT A LESSON MUST BE GIVEN THROUGH WISDOM. VERY FEW ARE CAPABLE OF THIS. IT IS A LESSON FOR THE PARENTS AND CHILDREN.

2. BUT ON THE OTHER HAND, (NOT A RULE, BUT)MOST LIKELY THOSE CHILDREN GET LESSONS FROM WISDOM, WHOSE PARENTS ARE WISE.

3. AND MORE OVER NOT ALL THE PARENTS CAN BECOME WISE TO GIVE SUCH KIND OF LESSONS, NOR CAN ALL CHILDREN BE WISE TO UNDERSTAND WISDOM.

BHAI.

Bhai, I guess that's what we call "Balance" ... everyone wishes for the perfect world when everyone knows that there is no such a thing. The beauty of the unperfect world is that when people try to make a difference in life and try to make it as perfect as it could get. The world would be boring and missionless if everything is perfect and sufficient. There would be no wishing and no dreams...

[IRONMAN]

[quote]Originally posted by narissa_G

[i]
Bhai, I guess that's what we call "Balance" ... everyone wishes for the perfect world when everyone knows that there is no such a thing. The beauty of the unperfect world is that when people try to make a difference in life and try to make it as perfect as it could get. The world would be boring and missionless if everything is perfect and sufficient. There would be no wishing and no dreams...

SISTER,

YOUR STATEMENT IS MORE THAN PERFECT. IF IT WAS PERFECTION ALL OVER AND EVERY ONE WAS WISE AND WEALTHY, THEN THERE WERE MORE WARS AND UNREST. IT IS UPTO US, WHAT PATH WE FOLLOW. AND WE ALL KNOW THAT WHAT IS WRONG AND WHAT IS RIGHT BUT WE TURN OUR EYES FROM THE FACTS, AND TRY TO CREATE SHORT CUTS TO GET OUR GOALS BY WRONG MEANS.
EVEN ACCORDING TO MATHEMATICS:
' THE SHORTEST DISTANCE BETWEEN TWO POINTS IS THE STRAIGHT PATH.'

GOD BE WITH YOU,

BHAI.

[narissa_G]

THE SHORTEST DISTANCE BETWEEN TWO POINTS IS THE STRAIGHT PATH

Errr... Bhai,

I thought the shortest distance between two points is just a phone's call away

Guess I am feeling a bit humurous today... no hard feelings please... I know I am kidding around at your expense.

Bhai, what do you know about the Bandit Queen of India ie Phoolan Devi who was gunned down yesterday. I know her past history just briefly.

CU

[IRONMAN]

SISTER,

I DON'T KNOW MUCH ABOUT THIS PHOOLAN DEVI. JUST AS MUCH AS EVERY BODY KNOWS. MAY BE LESS.

AFTER THAT WORSE TIME SHE STARTED TAKING REVENGE FROM ALL THE RICH PEOPLE LIKE TTHAKURS AND HELPING POORS.

WELL I DON'T KNOW EXACTLY WHAT YOU WANNA KNOW.

BHAI.