Second, we overuse resources, in this process denying them to others less fortunate. Therefore, discarding the 3-inch pencil was a violation against humanity.
Another time, his grandfather had him draw a genealogical tree on his bedroom wall, on which there were two branches: one for physical violence committed and the other for passive acts of violence.
After a month the younger Gandhi had filled his wall with events of passive violence. "Change begins with each of us. We must bring about change in our attitudes."
The days he spent with his grandfather were glorious, he said. "I will never forget the little things he did for me."
An ancient Indian king wanted to know the meaning of peace, the old man once told him. He assembled all the intellectuals in his kingdom, but their answers did not satisfy him. The only one who could offer a satisfactory answer lived outside his kingdom, the monarch was told, an old sage.
The king went to the sage, who put a grain of wheat in his hand. The king took the grain home and put it in a box. Each morning and evening he looked for answers in the box but could find none.
So he swallowed his pride and returned to the sage to question him further about the grain of wheat.
"Keep the wheat in the box and it will perish," the sage told him. "But if you plant it, it will sprout and grow and spread throughout his fields."
The younger Gandhi told us that the same was true of world peace.
A member of the audience compared two Gospel parables, in particular The Fruitful Grain of Wheat, John 12:20-26. A Quaker compared the grain of wheat to "that of God which dwells within all of us."
The closing prayer thanked God for the opportunity to walk and talk together and be welcomed to all places in the name of unity, peace, and God. "What we gained today, something of grace, we should go out and share with the world."
"The Dalai Lama says that before we can have peace in the world we each must have peace in our hearts," I said to Mr. Gandhi after the ceremony. "But evil people are at peace with themselves, so how can this be true?"
He answered that we are all the same. No one is good or evil. We are all capable of either one. Circumstances determine who is good and who is not.
As we spoke, others came up requesting Gandhi's autograph. I succumbed to that urge (I don't usually), so that beneath the title of this blog, in lieu of photos, I have scanned in that impressive signature.
I knew the Hindu word for "truth," "sat." I asked him how to say "peace" in his native language.
"Shanti."
