Nonviolence, Truth, and the Faith of One Being – A Reflection Born from a Dialogue with Gandhi

Soyo's Existence Ethics – Philosophical Essay

The Light Inside a Small Tent

Inside a small white tent, there was nothing but a worn Bible and a quietly boiling kettle. Gandhi sat in silence, cross-legged, his eyes filled with an unwavering clarity. Yet within that stillness burned a fierce fire of love for the world. I entered barefoot, and as my breath mingled with his, a warmth of truth flowed between us before any words were spoken.

Gandhi was already bearing witness without speaking. For him, nonviolence was not merely a political strategy or a religious practice. It was the way an entire existence responded to truth.

Nonviolence Is Not Weakness but Strength

Gandhi said,

“Nonviolence is not weakness. It is the strongest force for truth.”

This statement is directly connected to Soyo's Existence Ethics. Human beings always live amid the conflicts of good and evil, love and hatred, reason and emotion. Violence merely exacerbates these conflicts outward without addressing them at their root. But nonviolence confronts this inner struggle directly and reveals the power of conscience that transcends emotion.

As Soyo's maxim declares:

“When the conflict of reason and emotion is recognized by the ethics of conscience, reason gains the power to restrain emotion. Yet this conflict will not cease until we leave this earth; it is the perpetual struggle within existence.”

This struggle is suffering itself. Nonviolence does not suppress or escape from this suffering. Instead, it embraces and endures it as a way of moving toward truth.

Truth Born in Solitude

I said to Gandhi,

“When I speak the truth, I become isolated. When I choose love, I feel weakened. In this world, believing in God sometimes feels utterly powerless.”

He smiled quietly and replied,

“The truthful person is always born in solitude. But that solitude is also the space for God to dwell with you.”

This confession resonates with the foundation of Existence Ethics. Human beings cannot avoid solitude. Yet solitude is not mere deprivation; it is a sanctuary where one meets God. Solitude can break a person, but at the same time, it is also the path that places one before God.

Truth Without Love Is Violence

Gandhi nodded again and said,

“Truth is God, and God is love. Truth without love is violence, and love without truth is illusion.”

This teaching echoes the balance emphasized in Soyo's Existence Ethics. When humanity cries for justice but loses love, justice becomes a sword that kills. When humanity speaks of love but loses truth, love becomes an empty illusion. Only when truth and love are united can existence testify to peace.

The Power of Kneeling

Gandhi’s final words pierced deeply into my soul:

“Live in prayer, but do not lose love. Resist in silence, but do not abandon truth. That act of kneeling will save you.”

To kneel may appear to be the weakest posture. Yet in the perspective of Existence Ethics, kneeling is the greatest strength: the surrender of oneself before the ethics of conscience. It is a yielding possible only before God, a stance that proves the eternity of human existence.

The one who kneels does not collapse before fear. He does not yield to the world’s violence. For his knees are not only touching the earth, they are touching the very breath of God.

The Confession of Existence Ethics

Soyo's Existence Ethics confesses:

Human beings live amid the unending conflict of reason and emotion, burdened by suffering and hardship. Yet suffering itself becomes the site where the ethics of conscience is awakened. Hardship does not dissolve humanity; rather, it binds it more closely to truth and love.

Nonviolence is not the choice of the weak, but the life of the strong kneeling before God. Truth without love is violence, and love without truth is illusion. Only when the two are united can humanity testify to peace.

The dialogue with Gandhi reaffirmed my conviction:

"Love for truth can never be violent. Only truth within love carries the breath of God. Nonviolence is not a mere strategy. It is the journey of living out conscience itself.

And in that journey, humanity kneels, remains silent, yet ultimately stands before the eternal light. At that moment, human existence is born as the strongest being before God."

“The life of human existence must never allow unjustified death or destruction under any circumstances. Such authority does not belong to humanity. The life of every human being holds its true authority only in the hands of God.”

Soyo (逍遙) – Founder of Soyo's Existence Ethics, Author of The Silence of Existence and The Flame of Truth

2025 Soyo Philosophy. All rights reserved.

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