Michael N Nagler - The Third Harmony: Nonviolence and the New Story of Human Nature

Michael N. Nagler, PhD, is professor emeritus of classics and comparative literature at UC Berkeley, where he founded the Peace and Conflict Studies Program and taught courses on nonviolence and meditation and a seminar on the meaning of life. He is president of the Metta Center for Nonviolence and also author of The Search for a Nonviolent Future (Island Press, 2004) and The Nonviolence Handbook (Berrett-Koehler, 2014). Among other awards, in 2007 Michael received the Jamnalal Bajaj International Award for Promoting Gandhian Values Outside India. He has spoken for the UN, the U.S. Institute of Peace, and many academic and public venues for over thirty years. His latest effort, the four-part Third Harmony Project, consists of this book, a documentary film, a board game, and a multiyear cross-media campaign all designed to get nonviolence and the new story into public awareness. He has lived at the Blue Mountain Center of Meditations ashram in Northern California since 1970.

This book owes its existence to the guidance, insights, and steady encouragement I have gained over many years from the meditation practice and its associated culture that I learned from Sri Eknath Easwaran, who came to this country in 1959 to proceed from education for degrees to education for living, as he would put it, and establish the Blue Mountain Center of Meditation. I owe the inspiration and, I might say, the passion to him as well as to my familyboth my immediate, natural family and my spiritual family at the Blue Mountain Center (my home of half a century). How can I adequately acknowledgemore appropriately, celebratethe decades of moral support that have become so much of who I am?

I feel enduring gratitude for everyone at the Metta Center for Nonviolence, which Ive been privileged to call my work during and after my tenure at the University of California to the present day. To Stephanie Van Hook, our incomparable executive director, who keeps everything (including me) going with her brilliance, dedication, and unfailing warmthmy most astute critic and most unfailing support; to Derek, Katina, Kimberlyn, Annie, Dustin, Sicily, and the others; to our supportive board of directors; and to all who pitched in over these many years to make Metta what it is. Let me not fail to mention the hope tank crowd that gathers here once a month for meditation, potluck breakfast, and deep conversation in which much of the thinking youll meet in these pages came clear.

Its been my privilege over the years to know many luminaries in the world of nonviolence, like Johan Galtung, Kenneth and Elise Boulding, Colman McCarthy, Mubarak Awad, and the other staff of our sister organization, Nonviolence International; activists like Dan and Patricia Ellsberg, David Hartsough, Rivera Sun, and George Lakey; and now the group of scholars and scholar/activists who are at last systematically studying how this great untapped power works: Erica Chenoweth and Maria Stephan, Kurt Schock, Jack Duvall, Stellen Vinthagen, Cynthia Boaz, and others. I have learned so much from so many in my long life so far that these lists will have to stand as mere samplings.

It may be superfluous to mention, but a joy anyway to record that throughout my adult life, especially after meeting Sri Eknath Easwaran, Gandhi has been my guiding light.

I owe a similar debt to those who have been consciously working out the new story and how to get us there: Joanna Macy, Barbara Marx Hubbard, Duane Elgin, and quite a few others whom Ive met or have read but not yet met. Most recently, when we realized that this book, a film, a board game, and a media campaign were all happening more or less simultaneously, all dedicated to the one supreme purpose of getting nonviolence into the mainstream, we formed and have been staunchly supported by a Third Harmony team: Tom Eddington, Steve Michelson, Stephanie Van Hook (again), Derek, Katina, Lou Zweier, and Sarah Gorsline.

In Hein, editors beyond the call of duty. Its hard to imagine this book being what it is without them. And not at all least, many thanks to the Fisher-Wilhelms; Susan, Lee, and Lucy (age seven), for letting me hide out in their lovely place in Truckee for some concentrated writing (and rewriting).

May all these friends and coworkers accept my gratitude, these and the others not mentioned. They deserve to share in any benefit this book brings the world, while I shoulder the blame for its remaining flaws.

The following resources are available for news and opinion directly or indirectly related to nonviolence. Fortunately, this list is growing, and you may find others that suit your needs as time goes on. There are other sources also for generally progressive news and commentary; the emphasis here is on solutionary journalism.

The Nonviolence Report (KPCA, Petaluma, California) and Nonviolence Radio (KWMR, Point Reyes Station, California) from the Metta Center for Nonviolence broadcast live on alternate Mondays and alternate Fridays, respectively, featuring approximately thirty minutes of nonviolence-related news and analysis from the Metta viewpoint. Podcasts appear regularly on iTunes and Spotify, and are syndicated via the Pacifica Radio network. https://mettacenter.org/writings-blogs/radio/

Waging Nonviolence: Founded in 2009, Waging Nonviolence is an independent, nonprofit media platform dedicated to providing original reporting and expert analysis of social movements around the world. In addition to producing original content, Waging Nonviolence features a membership-based Community section where peace and justice organizations, along with universities, publish their own stories. wagingnonviolence.org.

Minds of the Movement: This blog by the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict runs stories, interviews, and commentary highlighting the ideas and experiences of people on the front lines of civil resistance. Minds of the Movement keeps readers up to date on the latest developments in civil resistance around the world. The blog is a resource for those who seek to understand the art and science of nonviolent struggle, and it is a forum for nonviolence activists, scholars, students, journalists, and members of the INGO and policy community. www.nonviolent-conflict.org/blog.

Nonviolence News: Each week, Nonviolence News brings readers thirty to fifty stories about nonviolence in action, illuminating the scale and scope of how nonviolence is actively shaping our world. These news stories reflect nonviolent action and nonviolent practices, including constructive programs, alternative institutions, and policies rooted in structural/systemic nonviolence. This weekly list is curated from a diverse array of movement and media sources by the novelist and nonviolence advocate Rivera Sun. Nonviolence News is a sister project to the awareness-raising campaign Nonviolence Now. Subscribe to the free Nonviolence News list at nonviolencenews.org.

Peace News: Peace News presents stories about people taking risks for peace. The stories highlight the opinions of ordinary people who want nonviolent solutions to their political differences. When the stories at Peace News cover war zones, they aim to contribute to building trust and reconciliation, whereas most international news today is driven by sensationalism. www.peacenews.com.

PeaceVoice: