How
may the principles
of Satyagraha be applied to modern political systems
to create a politics relevant to current needs and futures hopes?
Many
of us were fortunate to witness a time when the visionary warriors
of the spirit, Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King fought
oppression and injustice non-violently with Satyagraha or Soul-force.
They used the “weapons” of truth, harmlessness, and
self-sacrifice. They were seeking social change against the seemingly
unconquerable adversaries of state power and prejudice. Their
campaigns successfully exposed the ultimate weakness of falsehood
and injustice upon which the dominant oppressive force was based.
The foundations of Satyagraha are beyond religious doctrine and
political ideology. Satyagraha is a weapon of the strong; it admits
of no violence under any circumstance whatever; and it ever insists
upon truth.
In a world of cruise missiles and cruising car bombs seeking targets
of hate and fear, how can we even consider a superior force based
on love and harmlessness? Stealth and torture seem the order of
the day as the rats of war run round and round in their cages
of hypocrisy. All combatants today, as in the past, have a “godly”
purpose. The political culture seems bent on creating distrust
and revenge, destroying itself along with its enemies in the name
of “righteousness.” Surely it is the extreme of cynicism
and lack of faith in the goodness of the human spirit to seek
a common ground based on violence. What the cold warriors of the
last century called the “balance of power” has morphed
in the early days of this century into the “balance of terror.”
We must now see how Satyagraha as strategy for social change can
become the foundation of a new political culture and the driving
force of public policy and international relations. If we can
instill the concept of harmlessness into the political life of
nations the power of “Sat” or “truth”
will manifest. When facing opposition Satyagraha is a revolutionary
force, because “truth” will always expose falsehood
revealing its pitiful and destructive struggle to dominate others,
rationalize injustice and hide its incompetence. If, however,
governments embrace Satyagraha it will manifest as goodwill, pragmatic
problem solving and integrity.
While both Gandhi and King were religious figures, they did not
rely on “religion” to solve their problems. Their
“religious” expression was integrity and humanitarianism
— Soul-force. Soul-force is the active search for truth
and the improvement of the human condition. Contrast this with
our current combative leaders who give lip service to “a
culture of life” while practicing war, torture, capital
punishment, intolerance, selfish greed, and neglect of human and
environmental well-being.
Integrity is super pragmatic. It is at the same time diametrically
opposed to the doctrine of “ends justify the means”
and “might makes right.” Integrity produces healing
and solves problems because the methods used tap the resources
latent in people and in nature and give them life. Integrity is
change with the cooperation of all resources. It only “fights”
with the inherent forces of inertia, and can overpower inertia
using the spiritual forces that nurture and transform. The power
of integrity is that the means and ends are inseparable so that
the goal is realized in the reaching of it. It can change the
formula of current political powerbrokers from “might makes
right” to “right makes might.” The latter formula
is the foundation of Satyagraha or Soul-force.
The safety valve to prevent “right makes might,” being
an excuse for narrow-minded religious fanaticism is the test
of tolerance and universal respect of diversity. “Right”
does not belong to any doctrine or ideology, “god-given”
or otherwise. “Right” is revealed if it produces
unity, greater love, health and harmony. Any group claiming
to be “right”
must pass that test. Then they must prove that they can cooperate
with others who may have different viewpoints to improve life
for all. “Right” attracts people to unite, and is
proved by beneficial results; it cannot be forced upon others.
While Gandhi struggled against the colonial oppression of the
British Empire, and King struggled against institutionalized racism
and bigotry, the current adversaries are no less powerful and
resistant. All governments must use Satyagraha as the political
strategy to mobilize all resources to fight the battle against
illness, hunger, ignorance, fanaticism, greed, environmental degradation,
and hatred. All people must become a leader in their own sphere
of influence to bring about “Sat.” Integrity leads
to harmony, which leads to health, the result of a conflict being
resolved. When everyone is oriented towards solving problems non-violently
on any level, then we will be on the road to peace and prosperity.
©
2006 Richard Sidy
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