Small Acts, Accessible to All: 10% overt resistance; 90% creative action

At this time of world upheaval, environmental destruction and division among people, it is so good to hear coherent, wise voices, guiding us in ways that will help us heal the world. Nipun Mehta is one of those voices. He is the founder of ServiceSpace, a global ecosystem working at the intersection of technology, volunteerism, and a culture of generosity. Here is an introduction to an article he wrote called, Science of Soul Force: How Your Heart Changes the World. Brilliant!

"Gandhi was clear that only 10% of action should be overt resistance. The other 90% must be what he called "constructive program"—the quiet building of alternatives, the patient cultivation of inner and outer coherence. Without that foundation, the 10% simply won't be effective.

Vinoba took this even further:

"If a satyagraha doesn't work, we must be mindful not to head in the direction of greater coercion. Instead, we must make our actions gentler. Subtler. And if the subtler approach doesn't work, we must get even 'gentlier and gentliest.'" — Vinoba Bhave

Why gentler? Because coercion costs you your coherence. The moment you move toward force—whether through money, manipulation, or militancy—you exit the coherent state. You lose access to the field's regenerative support. You're now operating on your own resources, which are finite, which breed anxiety, which further degrades coherence. It's a downward spiral.

But when you stay gentle, you stay coherent. Like yeast that rises again after being pushed down, you can sustain the work across decades, even generations, because you're not depleting yourself. You're being replenished by the field you're helping to build."

Image by Llyn Peabody

To read the full article by Nipun Mehta: Science of Soul Force: How Your Heart Changes the World 

Nipun Mehta is the founder of ServiceSpace, a global ecosystem working at the intersection of technology, volunteerism, and a culture of generosity. This article was inspired by his Awakin Call with Rollin McCraty. Rollin is the Director of Research at the HeartMath Institute, where he has spent over three decades studying the physiology of emotion, heart-brain interactions, and the science of coherence.