In 1968 I received a death threat. Fortunately it led me to Gandhi and nonviolence.
In 1972 I was drafted to teach the just war theory to high school seniors facing the Vietnam draft. I began telling stories about Gandhi. This evolved into a course on Gandhian nonviolence for the next 40 years.
In 2001 I spent my sabbatical studying both Gandhi and nonviolence under Michael Nagler at UC Berkeley. This added greatly to my repertoire of stories and concepts. In 2002 he pointed me to an emergency Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) delegation to Palestine. I spent the next seven summers in Palestine with CPT, and experienced a hundred more stories. During those years Michael asked me to serve on the Metta Board.
After the political massacres of 2010 in Bangkok, I went to research their causes and offer my services (I speak Thai). Since 2013 I have taught Gandhian nonviolence there each February in a Muslim peace institute with students from all over Asia.
Five months ago I began an experiment in 'person power' (one of Michael's contributions), one-person vigils in public, challenging nuclear deterrence theory (my father helped build the Hiroshima bomb), and raising awareness that the vast majority of deaths (95%?) in nuclear war winter will be by famine. As Michael taught, practicing nonviolence is not an easy road to walk. But many thank me for what I do.
Stumbling upon Metta's website about 5 years ago completely transformed my life. At that time I was looking for resources and courses to understand how we can transform our society through nonviolent means, as I've always believed that violence is not the answer. Metta offered those resources and courses I was looking for, and so much more; in essence, it offered me a community. Through Metta I've met people with whom I share similar views about the world - not only the concerns but also the optimism and hope. It has helped me to deepen my understanding of the connection between my spirituality and my activism at a very profound level. I highly recommend this organization to anyone who wants to learn about nonviolence and apply it to their life.