satyagraha

Satyāgraha (; satya: "truth", āgraha: "insistence" or "holding firmly to"), or "holding firmly to truth", or "truth force", is a particular form of nonviolent resistance or civil resistance. Someone who practises satyagraha is a satyagrahi. The term satyagraha was coined and developed by Mahatma Gandhi (1869–1948), who practised satyagraha in the Indian independence movement and also during his earlier struggles in South Africa for Indian rights. Satyagraha theory influenced Martin Luther King Jr.'s and James Bevel's campaigns during the Civil Rights Movement in the United States, as well as Nelson Mandela's struggle against apartheid in South Africa and many other social justice and similar movements. Principles Gandhi envisioned satyagraha as not only a tactic to be used in acute political struggle but as a universal solvent for injustice and harm. He founded the Sabarmati Ashram to teach satyagraha. He asked satyagrahis to follow the following principles (Yamas described in Yoga Sutra): Nonviolence (ahimsa) Truth – this includes honesty, but goes beyond it to mean living fully in accord with and in devotion to that which is true Not stealing Non-possession (not the same as poverty) Body-labour or bread-labour Control of desires (gluttony) Fearlessness Equal respect for all religions Economic strategy such as boycotts of imported goods (swadeshi)