What can I do to learn about nonviolence?

Quick introduction:

If you are interested in nonviolence and want a brief introduction to the basic ideas, start by reading though our introduction page and our FAQ. For a more holistic view of the subject, combine this with watching a few of the films on our nonviolence films page—we particularly recommend A Force More Powerful (particularly the segments on Gandhi and the Civil Rights Movement).

Next Steps:

Hope or Terror: Gandhi and the Other 9/11 is a quick read (download here) and gives a really solid introduction to nonviolence and Gandhi, especially if you have just watched A Force More Powerful, as above. Accompany this by watching this YouTube clip from the film Gandhi, which depicts a fictionalized but true-to-life account of Gandhi’s speech in 1906.

For an in depth look at nonviolence:

Read Michael Nagler’s The Search for a Nonviolent Future, by itself, or with the help of our new study guide for educators and this series of youtube videos: Search for a Nonviolent Future Videos

AND/OR

Start watching or listening to the excellent university level course Introduction to Nonviolence. We’ve heard from so many people from all over the world that discovered this course, and with it, the power of nonviolence. The readers for the course are online, and on our additional resources page you’ll find links to our Google Books library, which includes all the books referenced by the course. Terms used in the course are defined in our ever-growing glossary.

ALSO RECOMMENDED…

Two of our favorite books: Gandhi the Man, which introduces nonviolence through the telling the story of Gandhi’s life, and Nonviolent Soldier of Islam, about the life of Abdul Gaffer Kahn. (Here you can read a chapter from Eknath Easwaran’s Gandhi the Man by Timothy Flinders)

Get together with friends:

Nonviolence begins with the individual, but it comes to life in relation to others. Doing all or any of the above with a few friends who are also interested in nonviolence comes highly recommended (we speak from experience). This gives you someone to discuss ideas with, and allows you to be of support to one another as you begin to explore nonviolence in your own lives, and it will begin to plant the seeds of community that can later be used as a platform for nonviolent action. Connecting online with people is always good, but eventually you’re going to need some kind of local, in-person community. As a wise friend of ours recently said, “The people who started the lunch-counter sit-ins weren’t ‘facebook friends.’” Strong ties—real human relationships with people you see often—are the stuff of nonviolence. Some ideas for bringing people together: watch the nonviolence course lectures together, host regular ‘movie nights’ and watch films with nonviolence themes, or come together with others who are learning about nonviolence and have pot-luck meals (like our own “Hope Tank“) to discuss ideas for creating a nonviolent world. Be cautious about the temptation to start off too soon organizing for action around a hot-button political issue. For one thing, your group may fragment bog down over whatever disagreements come up, especially if you haven’t been working together and practicing nonviolence very long, and secondly, it is all too easy to pour a lot of energy into organizing a nonviolent action and then burn out or lose momentum afterward. Nonviolent activists have learned to overcome these challenges by using constructive program to do concrete work on important issues while continuing to strengthen the bonds between activists, in preparation for moments when the exciting, but difficult opportunities arise to confront injustice with meaningful, concrete, nonviolent direct action. For some perspective on this, Gandhi’s movement tended to have nine years of constructive program leading up to every one year of satyagraha.

Connect with Metta, anytime!

If you haven’t signed up for our email announcement list yet, please do! You can also sign up to receive local (Bay Area) announcements so that you can join us for our events. If you are not local to us (and even if you are), you can join our Beloved Community conference calls and webinars, bringing people together from all over the globe once a month to discuss themes and topics that deepen our understanding of nonviolence theory and practice. To participate please send your skype id or telephone number to info [at] mettacenter [dot] org …and if you are ever in town, get in touch and visit!