Daily quote
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”
Dr. Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
Day 58 Gandhi-King Season for Nonviolence 2021
“Just as fundamentally man and woman are one, their problem must be one in essence. The soul in both is the same. The two live the same life, have the same feelings. Each is a complement of the other. The one cannot live without the other’s active help.” M.K. Gandhi
Gandhi was specifically speaking about the roles of men and women in the traditional family setting of the Indian culture. This statement, though, has far wider applications in today’s world. Our age is one in which differences seem far more set in stone than at any time in the past. With the advent of the internet and other means of mass communication, especially social media, the exploitation of differences between all kinds of groups, including political, racial, and gender, is creating an atmosphere of “black and white” extremism that endangers the very idea of a just, nonviolent society.
Nowhere is this more evident than in the differences between men and women. When we look at the differences between men and women, what do we see? No spiritual tradition worthy of the label would disagree that, at the level of the soul, there are no differences between men and women. While there are important differences in the types of issues endured by the two genders, they have far more injustices in common. Personality and emotional patterns in men and women do differ, but those very differences are what make a combined effort in any endeavor, more important not less.
Gandhi was absolutely clear about this. In any true nonviolent struggle for justice and equality, the roles of both men and women are vital. The strengths of the two complement one another.
Only when spiritually conscious and self aware men and women come together with deliberation and intent to overcome the differences between the genders, can a nonviolent world be hoped for. This does not mean we must both be the same. There is a synergy that occurs when men and women come together in an environment of mutual affection and respect. It is this synergy of true respect for each other’s role choices, differences, strengths, needs and goals, that makes an unstoppable nonviolent movement and successful attainment of true justice in society inevitabl.
Affirmative Practice
Today, I will meditate on my feelings about the opposite gender. Today, I will seek ways to cooperate and collaborate on solving some problem with a person of the opposite gender, from a position of trust and mutual respect.