THE ALCHEMY OF PEACE
by Donna Miesbach
From time to time, leaders appear who
leave a lasting impact not only on their people but on history itself. Abdul
Ghaffer Khan was one of those people. Born into a wealthy family in the shadow
of the great Khyber Pass, Khan was a devout Muslim, a visionary and leader of
the Pathan tribes who lived in the Northwest Territory of India. While the
origin of these tribes has been lost in antiquity, their story – Khan’s story –
holds clues that could change the course of today’s history if we could just
hear their message.
What makes Khan’s story particularly
relevant is that the code of honor in the Pathan culture was based on violence
and revenge. Because Khan was a Pathan, this strain was in his genes, too, yet
a deeper stream also ran within him.
Khan longed for a better way of life
for his people, so he walked the length and breadth of the Territory to open
schools. It was a start, but he knew it wasn’t enough. Then one night as Khan
was walking through the hills, he came across a small mosque and decided to
perform a fast. He entered the mosque and did not come out for several days. He
ate nothing, coming out only at night to sip creek water. During the days, he
knelt and prayed. When his knees hurt from kneeling, he sat cross-legged on his
prayer carpet. Over and over his questions came. What more could he do? Where
were the answers he was seeking? Finally, the questions fell away and he
slipped into the depths of consciousness.
A Vision for All Time
Khan didn’t know how long he was in
the mosque. He only knew that when he emerged, he was a changed man. He had
felt the Hand of God on his shoulder. It was then that the message of Islam
truly hit home for him: “Surrender to the Lord and know His strength.” While
this was not the answer he was looking for, he felt a strength he had not known
before, and he understood that somehow God would give him the answers he had
been seeking. From that point on, his life took on a singleness of purpose. He
would serve God by serving his people.
Instinctively, Khan knew that the
only way he could free his people from their violent customs was for him to be
free of those same tendencies, so he began the necessary inner work of
self-purification. This required constant discipline, great courage and an
utter selflessness that freed him to tap into the deepest of human resources.
He would need those resources to transform the Pathans’ code of honor into more
peaceful streams, but he was not deterred. In his heart, Khan believed that their
form of justice was born out of allegiance to an age-old custom. All they
needed was a higher principle to follow and their violent practices would fall
away.[i] He was
right.
An Unexpected Ally
At the time, Khan did not know he had
chosen a path similar to one taken only a few years earlier by Gandhi in India.
As most of us already know, Gandhi had also surrendered his will to the call of
selfless service. Out of this dedication, even this consummation, satyagraha, the principle of
nonviolence, was born. It was this concept that Khan himself had unknowingly
begun to embrace. When Khan heard about Gandhi’s message of satyagraha, he was intrigued and decided
to attend a conference where Gandhi was to speak.
The timing could not have been
better, for both India and its Northwest Territory were suffering greatly under
British domination. Time and again, the Pathans resorted to the only means they
knew to free themselves, which was to surprise and attack. Yet Khan knew this
was not the answer and greatly looked forward to hearing what Gandhi had to
say.
The people at the conference were
rude, heckling Gandhi and attacking his ideals, yet Gandhi did not get angry.
Instead, he quietly went on with his message. Khan was impressed with this
quiet man who could not be rattled. Later, when Khan tried to discuss Gandhi’s
principles with one of the attendees, he, too, was ridiculed, but his visit was
not in vain. Khan saw how this new way of conduct – this nonviolent way – could
give his people a positive channel for their great energy and passion.
Upon his arrival back at home, Khan
began talking about how nonviolence demands inner strength and courage, even in
the face of danger. He asked his people to try to live up to their dreams
instead of their desires. He told them that “love can create more in a second
than bombs can destroy in a century; that the kindest strength is the greatest
strength; that the only way to be truly brave is to be in the right.”[ii]
Gradually, the Pathans began to see
the wisdom in this new concept, until the day finally came when they bought
into the principle of nonviolence completely. Together they formed an army of
100,000 courageous men and women who had committed to live according to the
highest values of the Muslim – and any other – faith.
Khan wanted to recognize their
commitment and praise them for their courage, so he got the men uniforms and
called them the Khudai Khidmatgars, the “Servants of God.” Their motto was
freedom, their aim was service. Thus they became history’s first professional
nonviolent army, and also its most improbable.
Khan had succeeded by recognizing the
underlying nobility of the Pathan temperament and he used it to bring out the
best in them.[iii]
So it was that these brave people re-defined what honor meant for them, and it
changed their lives.
Khan continued to reach out to their
women, too. He saw their strength and intelligence and told them that someday
he hoped to free them of purdah so they, too, could become leaders. Khan taught
them basic hygiene, first aid, and simple trades such as spinning and weaving
so they could be self-supporting. His actions were the epitome of love in
action. He knew it was through this new way of life that their hope for true
peace hung.
The Pathans adored their great
leader. They were inspired by his selfless example and wanted to live as he
lived. They wanted to follow his light. Some called him a Christ, others a Badshah (a King), but Khan’s humble
spirit never welcomed such accolades. “I am a servant of the people,” he would
tell them. “Greatness lies within your own hearts, and that is where you must
find it.”[iv] His
most certainly was a message for all time.
A Deeper Meaning
Gandhi was delighted when he heard
what Khan was doing. Gandhi knew about the Pathans’ extraordinary endurance and
courage. He knew these men were not afraid to die. To face the swords and
bullets of the enemy did not faze them in the least. In fact, it brought
renewed strength and meaning to their code of honor. These people would stop at
nothing when it came to defending one’s honor and the honor of one’s family.
They did not flinch, no matter what the cost. Gandhi knew it would take this
kind of valor to fully embrace the deeper meaning of satyagraha.
As Gandhi told
Khan when they actually met, it is easy to be nonviolent and brave when faced
with threat and danger. The real test comes when the danger is gone. It is then
one must focus on the core of nonviolence, which is love and service.
It takes great struggle to attain a
nonviolent spirit, yet that struggle generates a power that reaches beyond
one’s own simple ability. Total surrender to the higher will is required.
Granted, in today’s world, this practice is rare, but who is to say it cannot
happen? It all begins with our individual efforts. If we cannot have peace in
our hearts, how can we have peace in our world? If we get angry over even the
smallest things, where is there room for love?
Anger is a
tyrant. As long as we submit to it, we will have no power over it. Commitment
is required – a commitment that reaches into the depths of one’s soul. From
there, if we are faithful, we may even find that inner domain where true
nobility resides.
Those who
would take up this banner follow a tradition of ancient and modern “Servants of
God” - Buddha, Jesus, St. Francis, Gandhi, Abdul Ghaffer Khan, Mother Teresa,
Martin Luther King – to name a few. The fire – even the passion – for bringing
more light to the world burned brightly within them all. Who will hear the call
next? Will it be you? Surely, if we can at least begin with ourselves, we will
keep the hope for peace alive.
A Principle of the Highest Order
Khan’s accomplishment – and Gandhi’s,
too – clearly demonstrates the transformative power of nonviolence, but the
cost was very high. Both of these great leaders spent many years in jail
because the British feared them, but jailing someone cannot squelch an idea
whose time has come.
In spite of
their many times in prison, Khan and Gandhi became great allies. When Khan was
forbidden to return to his homeland, he came to Gandhi’s ashram in Sevagram and
stayed there, supporting Gandhi’s efforts in whatever way he could.
Twenty-five
years went by before the British allowed Gandhi to visit Khan’s people in the
Northwest Frontier. What Gandhi said to Khan’s fellow countrymen bears
repeating: “It is relatively easy to maintain passive nonviolence when you are
faced with a fully armed opponent. You have no choice – you simply resist, and
when necessary, you sacrifice your life, but that is the nonviolence of the
weak. If you would find the heart of this principle, you must address nonviolence
among yourselves.
“Nonviolence is an active principle
of the highest order. It is soul force, the power of the Godhead within us. We
become Godlike to the extent that we realize nonviolence. Even a tiny grain of
true nonviolence acts in a silent, subtle and unseen way, and leavens the whole
society.[v] The
basic principle on which nonviolence rests is that what holds good in respect
to yourself holds good equally in respect to the whole universe.”[vi]
The Pathans
were riveted by the depth of Gandhi’s vision and the strength of his
conviction. They could see how giving up their weapons was not enough. Beyond
their weapons, their courage and sacrifice, lay a way of life that was anchored
in that ideal.
Beacons in the Night
They were
deeply moved by Gandhi’s intensity when he described nonviolence as a principle
of the highest order. They, too, aspired to become Godlike, just as he had, by
living a life of nonviolence. But was it really possible to remove violence
from their heart?
“I’m not talking about just controlling
one’s anger,” Gandhi replied. “Nonviolence means the complete eradication of
anger from the heart. If an attacker inspires anger or fear in my heart, it
means I have not purged myself of violence. To realize nonviolence means to
feel within you its strength – even the soul force – that comes from knowing
God. A person who has known God will be incapable of harboring anger or fear,
no matter how overpowering the cause for it may be.”[vii]
He was
talking, of course, about unconditional love. That was the key to nonviolence –
love in action. On another occasion when he was talking about loving your
enemy, Gandhi admitted, “I have been doing this for 50 years and still there
are times when I find it difficult.” So nonviolence is a practice. It was for
Gandhi, and it certainly would be for us.
Beyond Weapons
Yet there
was more, much more to learn. Once the weapons have been laid down, then what?
So Gandhi explained how being a servant of God would demand purity and
industry. “Dedicate yourself to improving the lot of your fellow human beings,”
he advised. “Teach them what they need to know so they can raise not only their
standard of living, but so they can understand what it means to truly love
another human being.
“It is not the uniform you wear that
makes you a peaceful warrior,” Gandhi concluded. “It is to feel within you the
strength of God, and that is the very opposite of the strength of arms.
“The final step,” Gandhi said with
passion in his voice, “is to take the name of God with every breath.” He had
been doing that for more than two decades, to the point that now the name of
God repeated itself even in his sleep.[viii]
Abdul
Ghaffer Khan was a walking example of these principles. He not only believed in
but felt God’s living presence in all that he did. He knew
his work would prosper only if God willed it. He dedicated his whole being to
these efforts, knowing that the outcome was not up to him.
There are
such great lessons here – unconditional love, acceptance so complete there is
not even any need to forgive, complete dedication to the Higher Will so that
every thought and every act is joined with that Greater Force. Surely, to live
and to love like this would transform our world into something we cannot yet
imagine but whose promise most surely lies hidden in our hearts.
The Price of Peace
The Muslims and Hindus had lived together
peacefully for a very long time, but the British thought whatever religious
differences there were could be leveraged into weakness, so they divided India,
and the Northwest Territory became Pakistan. This created more problems than it
solved, as people of both faiths lived in both places. Gandhi and Khan did not
support the division, and constantly reminded their people, “It is the same
God, no matter what name you give Him.”
Unfortunately,
this was not the view the British held. They continued to see the Pathans as
savages, and they feared them greatly. Consequently, “Divide and conquer”
became the British motto. Time after time British troops would sweep down and
destroy entire villages until not even a blade of grass was left standing.
Thousands more were rounded up and put in jail. The British policy was to rule
brutally.
Through it all, the Pathans remained
nonviolent. Even the Indians, who were also struggling to free themselves from
British oppression, were astonished at the Pathans’ commitment to principle.
And so it was that Khan’s ragged tribesmen showed the world that embracing
nonviolence is possible for anyone, anywhere.[ix]
Khan’s success baffled the British
and electrified the Indians. Even Gandhi was amazed that these swaggering sharp
shooters would lay down their arms and accept nonviolence as a superior weapon.
As they did, they bore witness to a truth our world so badly needs today.
When
independence from Britain finally came to India and Pakistan, it did not bring
peace. For Gandhi and Khan, independence only brought more opportunities to
serve and suffer for the cause of truth. Hundreds of thousands perished in the
awful conflicts that followed. Finally, Gandhi decided the only way to stop the
senseless slaughter was to “fast unto death,” if necessary.
Fortunately, after three weeks of
fasting, the riots ceased, but not without a great toll on his aged body. Even
so, he planned to return to Pakistan once he was able. There was so much he
still wanted to say to these brave people, as well as a promise he wanted to
keep about a return visit, but he never got to do it. He was assassinated by a
fanatical Hindu who thought Gandhi was pro-Muslim when, in truth, he was
pro-God, by whatever name.
Unswerving Devotion to Principle
The remaining years were no easier
for Khan. Relentlessly he promoted the ancient Islamic principles of brotherhood,
submission to God and serving God through serving His creatures. Khan knew, as
Gandhi had, that nonviolence was not just “a” way for peace to become a
reality. It was the only way.[x]
Over and over Khan was jailed because
he would not stop promoting peace. All told, out of his 90-some years, he spent
over 30 of them in jail, yet Khan never ceased to stand by the principles of
love and service with which he had begun his mission.[xi]
So it was that Abdul Ghaffer Khan
brought the message of nonviolence to the Northwest Territory, just as it was
Gandhi’s destiny to bring that same message to the Subcontinent. The seeds
these valiant men sowed in their respective cultures hold the hope for a world
that is deeply troubled today. Khan’s life and message, along with that of his
beloved mentor, Gandhi, still stand like a beacon in the night, pointing the
way by which all nations could work together for their mutual benefit.
We often wonder what possible
difference one person can make. The answer is so simple and yet so difficult.
When we love each other, we love ourselves. When we help each other, we help
ourselves. This is what love in action is all about. Considering the state of
our world today, the message of these two great men is needed more than ever.
Let us hope we can find it within ourselves to follow these high principles so
we, too, can celebrate our common humanity and the love that makes us one.
[i]From Nonviolent
Soldier of Islam by Eknath Easwaran, founder of the Blue Mountain
Center of Meditation, copyright 1984, 1999; reprinted by permission of Nilgiri
Press, P. O. Box 256, Tomales, Ca 94971, www.easwaran.org.
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