Gandhi on Non-Violence - A Selection from the Writings of Mahatma Gandhi

New Directions, 1965

For this book, Thomas Merton selected the basic statements of principle and interpretation which make up Gandhi's philosophy of non-violence (Ahimsa) and non-violent action (Satyagraha). These teachings of the Indian independence leader and saint are now more important to us in America than ever because of their direct relevance to two of the most critical problems of our time: the Black revolution and the crusade for disarmament to forestall nuclear destruction. Merton relates Gandhi's Ahimsa to traditional Hindu Dharma, to the Greek and our own concepts of personal freedom, and to the thinking of Thomas Aquinas and later Catholic theologians on conscience, good-and-evil and peace...