March Introduction
Welcome to our four-week study of Person Power. We’re so glad you’re here. In this study, we’ll approach nonviolence as a series of living experiments—experiments we conduct within our own minds, in our daily choices, and in our relationships. Together, we’ll begin developing a shared framework for understanding and practicing person power, rooted in reflection, dialogue, and real-world application. Person power grows as we notice our reactions, cultivate courage and compassion, and practice constructive responses in real time. Each week, we’ll offer content to spark thoughtful reflection and constructive conversation, inviting you to strengthen nonviolence from the inside out. At the same time, we’ll explore movement case studies to remind us that nonviolence does not only live within us—it also finds expression in collective action, shaping history through organized, courageous, large-scale change.
Our course professor, Michael Nagler, will be guiding us through the weeks. We’ll also be hosting several live workshops throughout the month to deepen our shared learning and give us space to engage these ideas together. They are linked below. You’ll need to sign up for each one.
Group Study Sign Ups: Use this sheet to find a study group or to offer one!
Workshop Sign-Ups: (Workshop presentations will be partially recorded and shared after with the group.) Please add to your calendars now.
March 11
9:30 am Pacific
The Power Within: Courage, Conscience, and Nonviolent Action (open to public)
What does it take to live nonviolence from the inside out? In this special workshop, Ela Gandhi invites us to explore the inner sources of courage and conscience that make nonviolent action possible. Drawing from lived experience, spiritual grounding, and a lifetime of service, she reflects on how we cultivate the moral strength to stand for justice without hatred, fear, or retaliation. Together, we will consider how the “power within” can guide our actions in times of conflict and uncertainty — and how personal transformation fuels meaningful social change.
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March 30
12 pm Pacific
Daoist Cultivation for Person Power with John Blue (Nonviolence Studies only)
Link to join here.
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March 31
11 am Pacific
Meeting the Shadow: Beyond Dualism and Armed Conflict
Over 2,700 years ago, Lao Tzu observed that “the warrior thinks of his enemy as the shadow he himself casts,” foreshadowing Carl Jung’s insight that we often project our inner shadows onto external enemies. What might it mean to meet the shadow—personally and politically—and move beyond the limits of dualistic thinking and armed conflict?
In this session, Dr. Afra Jalabi invites us into an intellectual and spiritual exploration of duality—not to deny difference, nor to erase tension, but to engage it consciously and creatively. In the spirit of Rumi’s words, “If you draw a circle to exclude me, I’ll draw a bigger circle to include you,” we will reflect on how inclusion can become a strategy rather than a sentiment.
Together, we will engage in a collective inquiry into how to shift from oppositional fighting toward wiser forms of political maneuvering. We will explore ways of embracing conflict as a source of insight and transformation rather than something to suppress or dominate. Drawing on key schools of thought and influential thinkers, we will examine critical philosophical perspectives on war—whether it is an inevitability of human nature or a choice—and consider the possibilities for conscious transformation.