"Non-violence means conscious suffering. It does not mean meek submission to the will of the evil-doer, but it means the pitting of one's whole soul against the will of the tryant."
- Mohandas Gandhi
Mahatma, literally tranlsated means "the Great Soul." I'd say his ideology reflects that. Then again, maybe that's my conditioning talking. Speaking from experience, I've always been quick to anger, and take a sometimes violent stand. The reason I call it conditioning is because I've done martial arts for years and of course, there's the time I spent in the military.
In recent time however, I've taken up a very different philosophy, which I've attributed to what else than, another martial art-capoeira. Capoeira, an afro-brazilian martial art, which appears much like dance fighting to outsiders, is as much about personal control-over one's body and emotions, as much as it is anything else. I've really benefitted from it in the sense that I can now honestly appreciate, and embrace Gandhi's sentiment.
The above quote also reflects another statement for which Gandhi is very well known - that "an eye for an eye leaves everybody blind." What the two have to do with each other is that they seek to express that you can't go on combating violence with violence, becauase you're effectually pereptuating the cycle. It takes greater control, and a certain amount of transcendence to stand in the face of oppression, without succumbing to one of the most deeply rooted human emotions-anger.
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