Pictures are worth a thousand words, and can give you a new perspective on things. The pictures on this page are some of the beautiful things I've seen and captured to keep forever

Monday, May 16, 2011

Meeting with Mr. Gandhi

Today i had a fantastic opportunity.  I was able to listen to Arun Manilal Gandhi give a speech at school tonight. He is the grandson of the Mahatma Gandhi.  I couldn't have felt more honored to sit in a room with such an influential person.  Arun left his home town in South Africa to escape a prejudice and live with his grandfather in India where he learned his nonviolent ways. He has devoted his life to spreading the teachings of his grandfather and to help keep the love alive.  He made many points that i know i will never forget.

One of which was; that violence is caused by anger and unless we know how to harness our anger into positive actions, the hatred in the world will never stop.  And violence is not just physical.  It is anything that hurts another person.  And the best way to know if you're being violent is to think.....if i was that person and that happened to me, would i be happy or hurt.  And once you can recognize when you are being violent and recognize the anger that surrounds it, we can start to harness it.

He also talked about relationships and how we can be violent within them.  Relationships are about mutual respect. And we must realize that we are not always in them to gain something for ourselves.  Sometimes we have to stay with them simply for that person. and that is its purpose.  weather we like it or not running away isnt the answer when it hurts someone.

Another amazing point he brought up was the greed of people.  And how foreign policies are set up in a way that in the end just benefits each owns country.  and by doing that someone always looses.  We are all one people, underneath race, religion and gender labels, we are all human beings and when one of us falls, we will all fall.  This constant sense of self creates hatred.  And when theres hatred theres anger, and when people use their anger in the wrong way they make mistakes that can change the course of their entire life and the lives of many.  Arun placed seeds in my brain that i can already feel growing into great ideas.

There was one comment he made that really hit home for me, because i struggled with this realization a while ago.  He said that in America and many other places people go to college to study a major that they can manipulate to get rich.  When people should be going to college to study a major to develop character.  We need to forget about the career sometimes and focus on the character. I completely agree with him having been on both sides of the spectrum. and i believe in creating character, because those are the people i ultimately want around me.  AND WE MUST BE THE CHANGE WE WISH TO SEE IN THE WORLD

tonight was definitely thought provoking and i will remember it for the rest of my life.  These messages and the many others that he spoke of tonight will stick im sure.  And im still in awe that i was able to listen to him speak.