This year he drew on different strands of the eighteen months he spent with his grandfather when he was in his early teens.
One disclaimer he asserted at the beginning: he has never aspired to become a mahatma. But the time he spent with the elder Gandhi has defined his mission and values.
"What is peace?" he asked us.
"Is it the absence of war, or more?"
His grandfather told him it consisted of harmony, compassion, love, and respect. And before we can live peace, we must understand violence.
He said that his grandfather obliged him to analyze his every violent act each day and put it on a tree on his bedroom wall. There were two aspects to consider: active and passive. Active violence consists of agressive acts of assault; passive violence consists of mental abuse such as racial or religious discrimination.
The younger Gandhi said that he filled up the wall with acts of passive violence. What happens is that passive violence provokes active retaliation, fueling physical, that is, active violence.
"We must become the change we want in the world," said Mahatma Gandhi.
We must find peace within ourselves and then help others achieve it.
He challenged the group of more than 1000 to become peacemakers for the rest of the year.
He told a parable of an ancient Indian king who wanted to know the meaning of peace. He assembled all of the intellectuals in his land, but none could give him a satisfactory answer. An intellectual from a neighboring country happened to visit and the king asked him what peace was.
The man directed him to an ancient sage too old to come to the king's court.
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