Dr. Arun Gandhi, founder of the M.K. Gandhi Institute for Non-Violence and grandson of peace leader Mahatma Gandhi, spoke at the Milton S. Eisenhower Symposium on Tuesday, Nov. 12 at 8 p.m. in the Shriver Auditorium.
The lecture, entitled "Race Relations: Peace by Peace," was the 13th symposium event this year. This year's symposium theme is "Changing Times: Who Are We? An Introspective Look at American Identity in the 21st Century."
Dennis Boothe and Meera Popat, co-chairs of the Symposium, introduced the keynote speaker by describing his experiences and past achievements.
Gandhi experienced several attacks as a result of his heritage and developed anger throughout his youth. His parents sent him to spend a year and a half with his grandfather in India so that he could learn about peace and nonviolence. Inspired by what he learned, he wrote eight books and started the M.K. Gandhi Institute for Non-violence.
Gandhi began his lecture by commenting on how glad he was that Johns Hopkins held such a multicultural function. He described how he felt that there is a need for more symposiums at other universities similar to the MSE Symposium.
He went on to discuss how today the world faces the choice of nonviolence or nonexistence. He said that everyone is losing their humanity and that humanity is becoming progressively worse because it is becoming easier to kill other people. He commented, "We need to do something to check this," beginning with nonviolence. He stated that we have to live non-violence and make it a part of our lives in order for it work out.
However, he said, "We need to understand how broad [the non-violence philosophy] is."
He discussed how important it is to start thinking peacefully in order to make non-violent decisions.
He then reflected on an experience from his childhood. While he was staying with his grandfather, he threw out a pencil because he was certain that his grandfather would buy him a new one. However, when he asked his grandfather for a new pen cil, his grandfather refused and made him look outside in the dark with a flashlight for the pencil he threw away.
When he returned, his grandfather taught him two important lessons to be gained from throwing away the pencil. First, natural resources would have been thrown away with the pencil, which would be violence to nature. Secondly, pencils, as well as other mass produced items, are bought in bulk. Buying in bulk allows people to easily over-consume while others are starving in the world, which is violence to society.
Gandhi then went on to discuss how seemingly insignificant acts, such as throwing away objects, are contributions to violence.
He later described another experience in which he had to categorize all of his day's experiences under their appropriate spot in the violence family tree. The violence family tree begins with Violence at the top and then physical violence and passive violence as its offspring.
Gandhi then defined physical violence as any violence using physical force, for example, wars, killings and rape. He continued by listing different types of passive violence, such as discrimination, suppression, religion, economy, both conscious and unconscious.
"We commit passive violence everyday, causing anger, causing physical violence," he said.
He then went on to describe the importance of thinking positively.
"Keep your thoughts positive, because your thoughts will become your words. Keep your words positive, because your words will become your behavior. Keep your behavior positive, because your behavior will become your habits. Keep your habit positive, because your habits will become your values. Keep your values positive, because your values will become your destiny," he said.
He also described the importance of building relationships. He mentioned that the reason relationships break up so often is because they are based on greed. He also stated that relationships need to be based on respect, acceptance, appreciation and understanding. He mentioned that we are all interdependent and interrelated, not just with other humans, but with all living beings. He mentioned that human beings are not only the most intelligent beings but also the most ignorant because they do not know their role and refuse to follow it. He believes that once humans find their role, they can reach an understanding.
Gandhi also discussed that everyone and every country is self-concerned, which is why there is so much conflict. He went on by stating that the United States contributes to conflict as well because it demonstrates its power as a super power in military strength.
He then discussed how prison building is becoming one of the largest industries in the United States. He mentioned that over $600 billion is spent on the prison system every year. He also pointed out that the United States has the highest prison population, not because of weak laws but because no one is looking at what circumstances made the criminals do their acts of violence.
"If that doesn't change, the flow will just keep going," he said.
Gandhi then discussed September 11 and the response of the United States. He mentioned there should be no war declared on terrorism. He asked, "How do you recognize terrorists?"
There are terrorists everywhere, he stated. He contemplated what would happen if the government decided to drop a bomb on us to kill one sniper, meanwhile hurting hundreds of innocent people. "Is this justice?" he asked.
He mentioned that September 11 should have been a wake up call for the United States. He stated that the government should be working on improving its relationship with the rest of the world.
"That's the only way to deal with terrorism," he said. War will only give cause for others to pursue violence.
Later, Gandhi discussed the results of anger and how it brings about violence. He mentioned how everyone becomes angry and then does something that they regret later on. He mentioned two lessons that he learned from his grandfather. First, "Anger is like electricity; just as powerful and useful if we use it intelligently, but just as deadly it we abuse it." Second, create an anger journal with the intention of finding a solution to the problem. He mentioned how it is essential to strengthen one's mind and to be able to control it so that one does not act in moments of anger.
He then described his ideas for nonviolent parenting. He mentioned that in nonviolence, penance is more important than the punishment. He also discussed how it is important to make sacrifices along with the child.
Gandhi ended his lecture with a story containing the moral that peace is a like a grain of wheat. If one finds it and locks it up, nothing will happen and it will rot with one. However, if one plants it, it will spread and flourish.
"Tonight I give you all a grain of wheat. ... May you plant it and it have it grow peace and harmony and spread," he said.
After the lecture, Gandhi answered several questions regarding religion, capitalism, his grandfather and the end of his grandfather's life. He discussed ideas such as creating stronger communities, nonviolence in ancient scriptures and also how nonviolence is active as opposed to passive.
