World Non-Violence Day and Gandhi Jayanti 2012

UCP was contacted a week or so ago by Arch from the Peace Troops who got our name from Peter Ruhe who we contacted back in 2011 when we were taking part in a World Peace Festival here in Trinidad. You see Peter Ruhe is a German guy who established the charitable Gandhi Serve foundation but we didn't know that back in 2011. We were just dancing the dance that is Universal Collective Prayer and thinking up what to present in our UCP booth at the peace festival when we happened upon a lovely Gandhi photo. Then we realized we could buy the print but we had to get permission for use and it was just days before the festival! So we read the fine print and contacted Peter who responded so promptly to kindly say yes and so we were able to include the photo in our display after all! Below is that photo as used in our booth back in 2011:

The Mahatma on display at the UCP booth at Peace Festival 13 June 2011@ NAPA, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago.


Now Arch was trying to nudge us to perhaps take part in an online meet up or create our own face to face meet up to mark World Non Violence day but energy levels and work commitments has made this impossible for us. However we have been able to do two things at least:

-Write this blog post to mark today as the day which celebrates the birth of the Mahatma Gandhi in 1869 and is marked as a public holiday in India.

-Take the Peace Troops pledge of non-violence which will be no easy task for us on a day to day basis so we plan to print it out and stick it up in places to remind us!

The Pledge of Nonviolence

The Pledge of Nonviolence states that making peace must start within ourselves. By adopting it we commit ourselves as best as we can to become nonviolent and peaceable people.


To Respect Self and Others

To respect myself, to affirm others and to avoid uncaring criticism, hateful words, physical attacks and self-destructive behavior.

To Communicate Better

To share my feelings honestly, to look for safe ways to express my anger, and to work at solving problems peacefully.

To Listen

To listen carefully to one another, especially those who disagree with me, and to consider others' feelings and needs rather than insist on having my own way.

To Forgive

To apologize and make amends when I have hurt another, to forgive others, and to keep from holding grudges.

To Respect Nature

To treat the environment and all living things, including our pets, with respect and care.

To Play Peacefully

To select entertainment and toys that support nonviolence and to avoid entertainment that makes violence look exciting, funny or acceptable.

To Be Courageous

To challenge violence in all its forms whenever I encounter it, whether at home, at school, at work, or in the community, and to stand with others who are treated unfairly.

This is my pledge. These are my goals.

Pledge Source: www.gandhitopia.org

Today we would also like to celebrate with India and the rest of the world in marking Gandhi Jayanti and by remembering all these other posts we have done over the years about the Mahatma.

-2nd Oct 2008: Commemorating the Birthday of the Mahatma

-30 Jan 2009: Satygraha!

-2nd Oct 2009: Gandhi Jayanti 2009!

It's a pity we couldn't host an actual meet up or prayer event like we did at the very birth of this blog back in Thurs 07 Aug 2008 @9PM when we joined with others world over to light a Candle4Tibet. That event was held for freedom and to celebrate the teachings of the Dalai Lama who said of the Mahatma when they met according to the Dalai Lama perhaps in dream or another life in this Hindustan Times article:

The self-exiled Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama says he once met Mahatma Gandhi - in dream. "In this lifetime, I never met him. But at least on one occasion during a winter in Potala palace (in Lhasa), in my dream, I met Mahatma Gandhi," he said after inaugurating the Satyagraha

"As Buddhists, we believe in the rebirth theory. So, I feel that in previous lifetime, I had some contact with Gandhiji," he added.

Illustrating the global legacy of Mahatma Gandhi, he told the audience of Gandhians and students that American civil rights leader Martin Luther King's widow had told him that her husband was so attracted by Gandhi's philosophy that he wanted to dress in his manner.

"Can you imagine, an American black in dhoti?" he said, with his characteristic infectious giggles.

He pointed out that non-violence was not "mere absence of violence".

"The absence of violence could also be due to fear. Genuine non-violence is related to sincere motivation (of the practitioner)," said Dalai Lama.


So it would have been quite fitting! And you can never put words or attributes to others already passed on into the Universal Divine after shedding the mortal coil but we always like to say here at UCP that if they Mahatma was with us today he would be a UCPer and with that we leave you with one of the Mahatma's favourite bhajan that words seem to speak the message of One Divine that can no doubt be worshipped in the form of UCP-Universal Collective Prayer!