Robert could not find the answer; his mind was driving him in circles. There was only one way to make it stop. Robert walked across the fields at dusk into the Forest of Welferding. His better self always seemed to come out in nature, perhaps because he had come from and would eventually die and go into nature. He felt the cool moisture on his skin, smelled the musky moss tucked between the stones along the brook, walking until he almost forgot why he'd come. The sky was filled with stars with no air raid sirens, no distant roaring of planes. In the forest Robert had caught a glimpse of what the world could be like without war, and it was good.
The essence of nonviolence, the lack of any impulse to harm, lies in the peace passing understanding at the heart of all of us and of every religious tradition. From that place ensues trust in the unfolding process of life, at the same time as action to the greater good. It is the source of action because compassion naturally arises from wisdom and wisdom is the nature of that place. Compassion is being moved, literally, to act for the greater good.