The word Swadeshi derives from Sanskrit and is a conjunction of two Sanskrit words. Swa means “self” or “own” and Desh means country, so Swadesh would be “own country”, and Swadeshi, the adjectival form, would mean “of one’s own country”.

Swadeshi is a call to the consumer to be aware of the violence he/she is causing by supporting those industries that result in poverty and harm to workers and to humans and other creatures. In other words, it is localism, self-suficiency but at the same time interdependence and, in Gandhi’s time, finally independence, as British control of India was rooted in control of her indigenous industries. From Gandhi’s perspective, swadeshi was the “center of the solar system” of the independence of India, and it was represented by the charkha or the spinning wheel. He said:

“The cleanest and the most popular form of Swadeshi is to stimulate hand-spinning and hand-weaving and to arrange for a judicious distribution of yarn and cloth so manufactured.”

“Swadeshi is an eternal principle whose neglect has brought untold grief to mankind. It means production and distribution of articles manufactured in one’s own country… Swadeshi is a constructive programme.”

“Swadeshi is that spirit in us which restricts us to the use and service of our immediate surroundings to the exclusion of the more remote…  In the domain of politics, I should make use of the indigenous institutions and serve them by curing them of their proved defects. In that of economics, I should use only things that are produced by my immediate neighbours and serve those industries by making them efficient and complete where they might be found wanting. It is suggested that such Swadeshi, if reduced to practice, will lead to the millennium, because we do not expect quite to reach it within our times, so may we not abandon Swadeshi even though it may not be fully attained for generations to come.”

It seems that Gandhi’s prediction is becoming a reality. Swadeshi is what the progressive movement of the XXI century is calling: think globally, act locally. In a world moving towards the emancipation of borders, we might adapt Gandhi’s strategy, and replace country for community and then form the community of communities: the Earth Community.

Resources:

• The Gospel of Swadeshi by Mohandas K. Gandhi.

• In the excellent issue of  YES! Magazine: Go Local!, you can explore more on the current swadeshi that is happening on the Earth Community.

• Perhaps the 21st century “Gandhi’s charka” is food. YES! Magazine’s issue Food for Everyone is an extraordinary resource to understand why “Healthy Food is the Foundation of Social Justice.”

See also:

charkha

constructive program

trusteeship

swaraj

sarvodaya

khadi

Collective intelligence refers to the capability of a group to collaborate in order to achieve goals that an individual — even the most gifted in a given group — would not be able to solve alone.

On a strictly behavioral level (excluding the symbolic layer of culture), collective intelligence communities are not exclusively a human prerogative.  They are observed within many social animal species, from the ant-hill to the wolf pack and the fish shoal, when the emerging level is manifestly “smarter” than its individual components. From the point of view of nonviolence in particular, it is important that groups can collectively solve problems creatively without a leader (for example, to evacuate patients from a hospital after Katrina).  Just as mob violence can be encoded in cultural forms, leading to scapegoating and war (see the work of René Girard), the human collective capacity for good could be developed and encoded to bring about a peaceful society and world.

For a review of the concept, see Collective Intelligence: The Invisible Revolution.

This concept, sometimes written today non-violence, refers to the kind of commitment that regards nonviolence as a strategy, to be adopted merely because it is thought to be more likely to “work” than violence (see "work" vs. work) or because violence is not a practical possibility.  Those adopting nonviolence in this way often reserve the right to go back to violence if they do not meet with success, and some theorists believe this limits their effectiveness.   Strategic nonviolence is usually a better choice and often requires more courage than violence.  It can cause problems, however, if people think that this is the only form of nonviolence.  Then if it does not ‘work’ they are left with no recourse but violence (or submission), whereas principled nonviolence is not only more effective in the short term but can move humanity toward a new paradigm as it involves an other order of belief regarding human nature and human relationships.

Strategic nonviolence, for example, still presupposes that the means can justify the ends, whereas for Gandhi, “Means are ends in the making:”

Principled nonviolence is the nonviolence of those who feel that it is a calling, as opposed to strategic nonviolence. In this view nonviolence is not merely a strategy nor the recourse of the weak, it is a positive force that does not manifest its full potential until it is adopted on principle. Often such practitioners feel that it expresses something fundamental about human nature, about whom they wish to become as individuals or as a people.

To adopt principled nonviolence is not a quick and easy decision one can make through logic but a slow, perhaps lifetime endeavor. Nonetheless, we focus on that kind of nonviolence because we think it has the potential for creating permanent, long-term change, ultimately for rebuilding many of our institutions on a more humane and sustainable foundation. In the long run nonviolence is, as Gandhi said, an “experiment with truth.” We have all to try that experiment in the way that seems best to us, and in the end the world will need all our experiences to arrive at a new order that we all desire.

Probably the most important lesson we have learned since – and from – Gandhi is that nonviolence is a positive force. It is a way to alter violent situations and influence others by persuasion rather than coercion, a way to resolve differences so that all parties grow in the process as human beings – and become more open rather than more closed to each other

Almost everyone today is familiar with the principle that “the ends don’t justify the means.” It is this recognition that differentiates a principled nonviolence-based effort, which is a mutual learning process for change, from a power struggle. “Means are ends in the making,” Gandhi explained, meaning that the kind of means we use – violent or nonviolent, with secrecy or transparency, democratic or authoritarian, deceivable or truthful – are already building the foundations of the society we want to live in.  While some would say means are just means to an end, to the principled nonviolent actor they are, he said, “everything.” In the case of a revolutionary struggle, for example, he held that “violent revolution will bring violent swaraj [independence].” Nobel Prize-winner Adolfo Perez Esquivel was just as emphatic: “Nonviolent action implants, by anticipation within the very process of change itself, the values to which it will ultimately lead … it does not sow peace by means of war.”

See Also:
Strategic Nonviolence
Ahimsa
Nonviolence

A Love Beyond Supreme: A Tribute to METTA

by Thien Huu Nguyen.

Since I started walking the Buddhist path, the practice of metta (loving-kindness) has become more and more an important part of my life. If there were one practice that I would say is the most far-reaching practice for me, it would have to be the meditation on loving-kindness. The benefits of this practice become clearer the more you deepen your understanding and practice of it. Metta has become a small but powerful revolution for me. Metta gives me another option, another way to respond, to people, situations, events, myself. It is something practical that I can develop and mobilize for the war within my mind. Too often our minds are flooded by impatience, frustration, and judgment, or even worse, sadness, anger, ill will, hatred, rage. Metta is often the only protection against these roots of suffering, and it is so much more: A haven of hope, good medicine, a reminder to be lovingly mindful, and a blessing.

But to alleviate suffering and nourish happiness is not only a blessing, it is the actual lived experience of liberation. Because metta gives us another way of think, it therefore gives us another way to act and live, both individually and collectively. This way is immensely positive, loving, and hopeful. Metta then can be a source of joy and a contribution to personal and social justice. It is such a contrast to a way of life and a human world that is often dominated by the negative, hateful, and hopeless, not to mention the brutal. In the midst of this situation, metta is the concrete act of training our minds to be more loving and expressing this loving-kindness. The positive benefits of this simple act I believe are boundless and immeasurable.

So what exactly is metta? Metta is defined as is the strong wish for the happiness, welfare, and liberation of all living beings, starting first and foremost with yourself, and the capacity to act on this wish. The wish for your own happiness and welfare is not only the foundation for the practice of metta, and the Buddha’s path, it is the basis for your happiness and all positive actions you do for the world. At the heart of the practice is the strong wish for the happiness and welfare of others AND the concrete act of promoting their happiness and welfare. Metta is thus very different from our conventional Hollywood understanding of love, which is typically bound up in lust, desire, possessiveness, conditionality, and self-interest. And unlike “respect”, which is so conditional and relative, it is both unconditional and constant. Metta is in fact radically different from anything most of us are used to. It is a love that is boundless and not based on relationships, identity, or conditions. You don’t radiate metta only to people of a particular gender, race, class, personality, or life situation; you radiate it to ALL living beings without distinction. It can be described as a universal unconditional love since it seeks the happiness of literally all living beings throughout the universe without seeking anything in return and without limit.

Just ask yourself when was the last time you even considered the happiness and welfare of not just your family, friends, partner, but ALL living beings? Metta is this all-encompassing loving thought cultivated and repeated over and over again; it is the continuous training of our minds and the expansion of its capacity to be more loving and kind. Consider just how powerful of an act this can be. More and more, the importance of deeply expressing a positive and loving attitude in all that we do and all times and at all places, is becoming clearer to me. The practice of metta meditation must be a continuous expression and force if you really want to benefit all living beings, or at least the ones around you. At the most fundamental level, sometimes the most positive thing you can do is to cultivate an attitude of warmth, friendliness, and loving-kindness and radiate this all around you, and to practice metta at every available opportunity. And during those times when it is most challenging and most difficult to practice it, for example, when we are in the midst of anger, frustration, fear, these are the times in which we need to practice it the most.

In our lives moment-by-moment, we have a choice to either be a living expression of our negativity and suffering, or an expression of our positivity, joy, and loving-kindness. I wish I could begin to describe just how liberating this practice can be, and why I have so much faith and confidence in it as a means to transform our lives. I strongly believe that by flooding our minds with loving-kindness, we can flood the world with loving-kindness, for the benefit of ourselves, our loved ones, and all living beings.

May you and all beings everywhere know happiness, freedom and peace.

October 22, 2007.