Nonviolence is the Path

If studies show, as they do, that we humans are naturally empathic and caring, how can we explain the amount of harm we do to each other? Negative emotions – fear, anger, hatred, pride and greed – cloud our minds and hearts and move us to commit violent acts. But there is a way out. We can become aware of our negative emotions, stop the chain reaction toward violence, slow down our responses and choose another path and expression. It is possible. We know how to do this and we can practice diligently.

In this regard, deciding to live as a non-violent person is the best protection. If this is our vow, our default position, it helps us recognize the triggers toward harmful action and enables us to choose alternative courses of action.

But nonviolence is not so easy. Self-protection and survival are also powerful forces. How do we care for ourselves and those we love while we guard against harming others? Vowing to be a person who does no harm is a powerful antidote.

We live in a culture of violence - of war, militarism, guns, terrorism, drones, sexism and racism. The voices of hatred and violence are all around us and within us. How do we cultivate peace within and without?

We must actively seek out and create alternatives to violent responses to violent acts. After 9/11, while with the UN, I wrote urging the US government not to respond to violence with violence but instead to launch a massive global campaign to end poverty and promote cultural and religious tolerance and understanding. We must continue to cultivate peace within our individual hearts and minds and behavior even as we help catalyze cultural transformation and systems change towards compassion, peace and understanding. We can do better. We must do better if the human project is to survive and flourish.

But violence is not only among humans but between humans and the natural world. We rape the land to extract fossil fuels and minerals. We fill the air we breathe with toxic gases. We poison the water we drink. We damage the genetic structure of the plants we eat. We devour other animals without a second thought. We can do better, we must.

Let us take refuge in, among others, Malala, Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr., true disciples of nonviolence and peace. Let us build societies that ensure dignity and safety to all people everywhere and to the entirety of the natural world. We can do this, we must find a way to be at peace within ourselves and with others.