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“Anger is like electricity: it is just as powerful and just as useful, but only if you use it intelligently.”
So told Mohandas Gandhi to his grandson Arun Gandhi, who lived with the political and spiritual giant on his ashram between the ages of 12 and 14. Growing up Indian in South Africa, Arun was beaten by the white children for not being white enough and the black children for not being black enough. He was beginning to develop serious anger problems in response to the physical and mental abuse when his parents sent him to Sabarmati, Gandhi’s ashram.
These formative years instilled within Arun the values that his grandfather is most known for and which formed the foundation of his nonviolent political movement for Indian independence: respect, understanding, acceptance, appreciation, and compassion.
Arun has spent his life following in his grandfather’s footsteps as an author and activist, and has spoken to crowds at sites of America’s pressure points like Columbine, Colorado, and Ferguson, Missouri, about the power of forgiveness and love to heal deep emotional wounds and confront injustice. In this podcast, he shares the lessons learned from his grandfather about working with anger, creating a culture of peace, and escaping the trap of materialism in the hopes they can help heal a fractured world.
Tricycle Talks is a podcast series featuring leading voices in the contemporary Buddhist world. You can listen to more Tricycle Talks on Spotify, iTunes, SoundCloud, Stitcher, and iHeartRadio.
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