The Gandhi Experiment: Lessons for non-violence, truth-force and action
Margaret Hepworth
Four women silently circumambulate a fish pond. The jewelled flashes of red carp intermittently appear on the water’s otherwise calm surface. It is as though the fish are circling with the women. One of these women is Jewish, another Muslim, her hijab billowing gently, the third a Tibetan Buddhist and the fourth an eclectic gatherer of multi-faith wisdoms. Oh, that last one, that’s me, Margaret. We have attended a conference on democracy at Asia Plateau in Panchgani.
I have invited these women to join me on a walking guided meditation – to reflect on our conference, on ourselves, and on our next steps. We circle the fishpond one last time and then glide on to the nearby lawn. We remove our shoes. As we plant our bare feet onto the hessian-like grass, I say, ‘Now feel the change.’
Change is what Mohandas Gandhi invited us to become. “If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change.” It is now more commonly expressed as the well-known mantra: ‘Be the change you wish to see in the world.’ Yet how many of us are actually living it? In my almost 30 years in secondary education, I have consistently observed that teenagers know the world needs to change. Highly altruistic beings, yet often conflicted in a world filled with the pressures of competitive, everyday ‘high academic performance’, sometimes they just don’t know how. How do we, as their teachers, enable them to become the change our world needs?
A few years ago I made a dramatic choice in my life, to resign as the Head of Campus at an innovative Melbourne School. I decided to step outside the bounds of one school and return to education, what I believed was most needed in our schools – social justice, values-based education, a sense of hope in a flailing world; peace education. In my own way, I am attempting to ‘live the change.’ Two years later and three surprising trips across India, running student and teacher workshops, I founded my social enterprise, The Gandhi Experiment. Our vision – world peace through education.
The question has been posed, ‘Is Gandhi still relevant to education today?’ Like a judge on a TV talent show I pronounce my decision: ‘That’s a resounding yes from me!’
You see, at The Gandhi Experiment, we don’t teach about the man himself, as such. We teach the essence of Gandhi – his messages that maintain relevance to everything that is going on all around us – in our communities, in our nations, globally, and most importantly, in our hearts. We teach young people to step outside of themselves, to understand the bigger global issues, then to ask, how does all of this come back to me? To my actions, to my choices, to my behaviour, to my way of communicating?
In our student conferences we work through a carefully crafted program beginning with global citizenship, moving to conflict resolution, anger management, forgiveness and finally to something we call, ‘Almost Impossible Thoughts’ where students step up to share their own visions for the future.
All of this is Gandhi inspired! For me, three main Gandhian principles resonate with the needs of today’s educational arena. Gandhi stood on a platform of non-violence; satyagraha – your truth force or soul force; and taking action.
I invite you to imagine this: if non-violence alone could be successfully taught in schools, globally, ask yourself what difference this would make in our world. And if you think this cannot be done, then you need to read about my ‘Utopian Scale’ and learn to craft your own ‘Almost Impossible Thoughts.’ Gandhi lived by them.
How do you teach non-violence so that it sticks? At The Gandhi Experiment, we spend time contemplating hate, fear, and marginalization – actively uncovering the root causes. We then find ways to teach this so that the learning lasts beyond the moment – into the playground, into the classroom, and into adulthood.
The four women move barefooted across the lawn, walking mindfully, consciously. They smile at passersby, yet remain silent. Passing through a door on the east side of the building, they enter a semi-darkened space. Nearby is the conference room, where talks have taken place over the past few days. It has been a time of wondrous learning and sharing – yet also a time to realize that even in a room filled with like-minded people, ‘one person’s truth may be different from my own.’ It is how we deal with this difference that is important.
In the face of great opposition, Gandhi never denigrated his adversaries. Instead, what he presented at all times was dignity and respect. He stood, unwavering, in telling his truth. These are essential learnings for our young people (let’s face it – for people of all ages). Your truth may be different from my truth, but we never use violence to resolve the conflict.
Look carefully now at your truth, your soul force. Does your truth include the well-being of others? Does your truth seek not to harm, or marginalize? After listening to others, do I need to adjust, alter, shift my truth? Am I brave enough to do that? Hang on, I’m puzzled. How do I even access my truth? This is the discovery of your inner voice, as Gandhi called it, ‘the still, small voice within you.’ And, oh yes, we teach that too.
I was fortunate enough, on my first trip to India, to meditate in the very same place that Gandhiji had prayed morning and night at the Sabarmati ashram in Ahmedabad. I recall my inner voice spoke loud and clear: ‘You don’t need to begin a new movement. The movement is already out there. You just need to encourage it to grow.’
Some years ago I was teaching Indian History to 11th class (16 year olds.) Alongside the names, facts and stories of history, I set ‘homework’ based on Gandhi’s satyagraha. ‘Go out and where you see injustice, do something about it.’ The most interesting response came from a young boy named Theo. Theo’s behaviour had until that point been less than desirable. An unmotivated student, he delighted in disruption. However, through this process, Theo began to change. When I asked him about it, he told me this. He had come to understand that his own behaviour was a form of social assault on the learning of every other student in the class. And that he would therefore need to change. Imagine if this capacity for self-reflection – his ability at 16 to find his inner voice – was taken on by all our world leaders. What an enormously different world this would be.
The women are passing through a long, quieted dining room, large enough to contain 200 people. Empty now, yet only a day ago, filled with the calm energy and vibrance that new thought and postulations bring. They can recall the faces, the laughter. The women descend a small flight of stairs, ‘Count down with me now, one careful step at a time.’ We turn to the right and come face to face with a smiling bust of Gandhiji. We ask ourselves, why is he smiling? The answer: because he knows that all will be ok. One by one, we step forward to meet the level of his eyes. ‘Namaste. I see you in me.’
Mohandas Gandhi was somewhat averse to being called the Mahatma, ‘great soul.’ He said, ‘Often the title has deeply pained me.’ There are messages in this for us all. Let us not elevate our leaders to a place where we defer responsibility to them to alleviate ourselves of accountability. And importantly, through not deifying him, instead, recognizing his flaws and human vulnerabilities, we can all give ourselves permission to be Gandhis.
The women turn now to the left. Down a second flight of stairs, again, one at a time, conscious mindfulness meeting the unconscious. We enter a cool room, and stand around a sturdy, polished wooden table. This is the very table that Gandhi and his compatriots sat around and planned their next steps towards swaraj. To attain self-rule of a country, you must first have rule of self. Self-responsibility, self-realization, self-reflection. We place our hands on the table and feel the captured energy of those before us. Then in our minds’ eye, we write our own next steps, on that table – add our visions and dreams to those who have gone before us. And there we find hope in action.
So many of us sit and whine about the current state of this or that – all that is wrong with the world. Gandhi be-comes a role model as a person of action. Recognize the needs and challenges, then do something about it, all the while calling on that inner voice of guidance. By merging current pedagogical technique – such as the Multiple Intelligences and de Bono’s Parallel Thinking – with Gandhi’s principles, we are able to shift teenagers to action in a way that empowers and enlivens them. In keying in to each individual’s preferred learning style and passions, we can enable young people to have a voice beyond their classrooms. Projects such as, Make Noise for Peace, become readily achievable.
Recently, when preparing a speech here in Melbourne for the Afghan Australian Initiative, I reflected more deeply on the maxim ‘Be the change.’ I have often asked myself, ‘What is the change I want to see?’ Suddenly the word ‘be’ took new form. I came to see it as an imperative, a command. Take action! Do it! Live it! Be it – now!
Young people are seeking new ways to engage in this world. Here’s the clincher – it isn’t new! It’s been sitting there under our noses – and in our hearts – all the time. As teachers, and in our role as global citizens, we don’t need to start a new movement – we simply need to encourage and incite the movement of non-violence to grow, through our own truth force.
The women open their eyes. ‘Look out the window now to your visionary future. Feel the stirrings of Gandhiji inside you. You have the capacity to make it happen.’
BOX
This is a draft of an email sent by a 15 year old student after she attended The Gandhi Experiment student conference in April this year. More than anything it answers the question of relevance of this work today.
Hi Margaret,
Today I went to your Global Participation – It starts with a seminar. You asked us to email you a few things about today and what we could take away from it, but even though I’m not sure how to word this entirely, I would like to tell you some things I have taken away, because your seminar completely changed my outlook on things.
You talked about anger, about revenge, and about forgiveness.
I told you I was half Palestinian, but I consider myself full as I can identify more with that side of me. I am sure you are aware of the Israeli Occupation currently happening in Palestine and this is the biggest thing in my life. The reason why I am telling you this is to explain how you changed my outlook on this situation. My original almost Thought was ‘Palestine gets its land back, Israelis become the ones under occupation, and we are free.’
That was my original want. It may seem mean but who can blame me after the genocide in Gaza and how I have lost family members who were shot by soldiers and have to watch as my aunt mourns for her lost son or how my cousins got into a weapon involved fight while the soldiers stood around waiting to arrest them. It is a cruel situation and I used to think I could never forgive them for taking the life of my family members, for how they treat us at checkpoints, for how hard they make it for us to live there, in a country that was ours before them.
And yet, in the space of a day, you changed my mind.
You spoke about Malala, and how she wished education for the Taliban’s children, and how she stated that she would be no better than them if she responded without peace. You spoke about Nelson Mandela and how he forgave the people who put him in jail because harbouring hate and wanting revenge is not the way to make a change.
So that got me thinking. My Impossible Thought was the liberation of Palestine with punishments to the Israelis for all they have done to us. Sure, they might have pulled out couches and watched Gaza get bombed – many of them did this. BUT. If I did the same, I am no better than them, whether I have a right to revenge or not.
So now, thanks to you, my new Impossible Thought is not the Liberation of Palestine or the free reign of terror rights to Israel. But a new state, a new name, a new flag. No religious political party in charge, the wall separating the Muslims and Jews/Palestinians and Israelis would be knocked down. There would be no segregation of the races. Of course, there would be revenge attacks on the sly, but my new Impossible Thought is peace for my people and forgiveness to the people who hurt us, because I know not all of them wanted to. I want peace and rights for my people and my family and future generations of Palestinians and Israelis.
I have yet to forgive them, but I have no interest in revenge anymore, but instead to work towards forgiveness, but most of all, peace.
But who knows, maybe one day when my Impossible Thought is a Possible One that has happened, I will have the right mindset to forgive, not forget, but forgive. And that is thanks to you.
Thank you for today, it has truly, truly changed my way of thinking.
Mira
The author is the founder of The Gandhi Experiment: World Peace through Education. She is also the author of the forthcoming book: The Gandhi Experiment – Teaching our teenagers how to become global citizens. Her regular blog gives out free lessons for teachers and parents of teenagers. Margaret will be returning to India in 2016. Please contact her through her website if you would like her to visit your school. www.margarethepworth.com. https://www.facebook.com/TheGandhiExperiment.
