Bija Vidyapeeth: Centre for Learning
Gandhi, Non Violence, and Cultures of Peace
December 1-14, 2003
with Satish Kumar, Kamla Chowdhry, and Dr. Vandana Shiva
The course
War and violence have reached new heights and threaten to become limitless. The need to create cultures of peace has never been greater. Structural violence of globalization and corporate rule, the violence of religious and ethnic conflicts, terrorism, and the violence of war are combining to a new lethal mix, threatening our very existence as a species and as societies.
The course on ”Gandhi, Non violence and cultures of peace” will explore a century of Gandhian thought. ‘03 – ‘04 is the Gandhi centennial, marking a century since Gandhi began his experiments with non-violence in South Africa. We are celebrating the centennial under the theme “Reinventing Freedom, Rediscovering Compassion.” Gandhi’s concepts of Satyagraha, Swaraj, Sarvodaya, Swadeshi and Sanmati provide inspiration for comprehensive peace.
Satyagraha – Non-Violence
The force of arms is powerless when matched against the force of love
or the soul. Non-violence is an active force of the highest order. It
is soul force or the power of the Godhead within us. There is no escape
from the impending doom save through a bold and unconditional acceptance
of the non-violent method with all its glorious implications.
Swaraj - Liberation
It is Swaraj when we learn to rule ourselves… The Swaraj of my dream
is the poor man’s Swaraj. Without a large, very large, army of self-sacrificing
and determined workers, real progress of the masses, I hold to be an impossibility.
And without that progress, there is no such thing as Swaraj. Progress
towards swaraj will be in exact proportion to the increase in the number
of workers who will dare to sacrifice their all for the cause of the poor.
Sarvodaya – The Good of All
I hate privilege and monopoly. Whatever cannot be shared is with the masses
is taboo to me. I do not fight shy of capital, I fight capitalism. If
we could erase the “I’s” and “Mine’s”
from religion, politics, economics etc., we shall soon be free and bring
heaven upon earth.
Swadeshi - Local is Beautiful
All should make it a point of honor to use only village articles whenever
and wherever available. The villagers should develop such a high degree
of skill that articles that articles prepared by them should command a
ready market outside. Today the villages are dung heaps. Tomorrow they
will be like tiny gardens of Eden where dwell highly intelligent folk
whom no one can deceive or exploit.
Sanmati – Goodwill and Fraternity
Sanmati is the last prayer of Gandhi for humanity: ’sabko sanmati
de bhagwan.’ The word colloquially and powerfully, means ‘goodwill’,
‘fraternity’ (without sexiest exclusion of women). Etymologically
and spiritually, ‘sanmati ‘ is sat + mati. ‘Sat’
is ‘reality’ (all comprehensive, trans-anthropocentric reality,
our own selfhood and its limitless compassion for all existence), ‘mati’
is ‘mind.’ Sanmati is weapon of peace, justice and integrity
we cannot afford to throw away. Satyagraha, Swadeshi, Sarvodaya, Swaraj
and Sanmati are like the divine weapons Arjuna obtained from Shiva, to
battle the forces of annihilation and injustice.
Faculty
Spend two weeks with Satish Kumar, Vandana Shiva, Kamla Chowdhry and eminent Gandhians exploring how to create cultures of peace in a climate of wars, and the potential of compassion in a period of hate.
For more details
Coordinator, Bija Vidyapeeth
A-60, Hauz Khas,
New Delhi, India
Tel: 91 11 26561868, 26562093
Fax: 91 11 26562093
bijavidyapeeth@vsnl.net
www.bijavidyapeeth.org
