
Michael Nagler (Courtesy photo)
"Nonviolence is both the deepest core of our being and also the destiny of the human race," Michael Nagler said on this week's episode of "The Nonviolent Jesus Podcast."
"All human progress has been a progress toward nonviolence."
If Nagler is correct, then God is nonviolent, each one of us is called to become nonviolent, and together, we are summoned to disarm and create a more nonviolent world.
Nagler is professor emeritus of classics and comparative literature at University of California, Berkeley, and co-founder of the Peace and Conflict Studies program at the University of California, Berkeley, and the Metta Center for Nonviolence.
He has dedicated his life to teaching nonviolence, spirituality and meditation. He is co-host of "Nonviolence Radio" and his books include The Search for a Nonviolent Future: A Promise of Peace for Ourselves, Our Families, and Our World; The Nonviolence Handbook: A Guide for Practical Action; Looking for Light; and The Third Harmony: Nonviolence and the New Story of Human Nature.
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There is little nonviolence education happening, Nagler said.
"Violence is a terribly destructive frame of mind and practice," he said. "Injury to another person is actually injury to ourselves. We need to discover our nonviolent capacity and how to implement that in the world."
"In meditation, you become deeply aware of your unity with other human beings. When you slow your mind down and concentrate on a noble, higher image, you get a wellness that doesn't come from anywhere else. Whatever is positive, true and good in human nature is real and available to every one of us."