Professional COMM 2/5: Gandhi (my favorite quote)

"My greatest weapon is mute prayer" - Ghandi

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My first reaction to this quote is one of confusion; but it is a confusion that is very much colored in with awe. I feel like, even initially, when we read this we can somewhat access the power of his words. Examining closer... we come to defining terms in context (just as with any statement that is such an enigma)... mute: silent, internal... prayer: word-ritual, communication with higher power, meditation... weapon: asset, strength, something that can be used against someone else... greatest: best, most powerful. Working with these definintions, it seems that Ghandi wants to say that his highest power is generated when in silent meditation. This idea fits in perfectly with Ghandi's non-violent method of protest where he called all of the violence upon himself so that he could defuse it internally. Like starving, mute prayer was a way for Ghandi to rise above the conditions of his physical body and assert the will of his mystical body: a body of pure bright light. By summoning all of his inner power through prayer, Ghandi became better able to face the challenge of being the martyr that he was... he became stronger in the face of human weakness by seeking that which is more than human inside him.

I think people should take this statement to heart because too often we focus all of our attention on the status of the physical world, on our physical well-being and we forget that a great deal of the power that we posses as human-beings comes from somewhere far away inside of us... in a place where the beginning and the end meet up to create a spark of divinity.