Going back to the first challenge when Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi developed his philosophy of nonviolence in South Africa and wanted an appropriate word to describe it he could not find one.

"Passive Resistance" and "Civil Disobedience" did not appeal because he said there was nothing passive or disobedient about the movement.

He even offered a reward to anyone who could come up with a positive English word to describe what he had in mind but, alas, no one could.

At this point Gandhi decided a Sanskrit word may be more appropriate since he was planning to move back to India and lead the Indian struggle for freedom.

He found "Satyagraha" described his philosophy the best.

It is a combination of two Sanskrit words "Satya" meaning Truth and "Agraha" meaning pursuit of.

Thus, "Satyagraha" means the "Pursuit of Truth", which is important because it is the opposite of the Western concept of "Possessing the Truth."

Nonviolence, therefore, can be described as an honest and diligent pursuit of truth. It could also mean the search for the meaning of life or the purpose of life, questions that have tormented mankind for centuries. The fact that we have not been able to find satisfactory answers to these questions does not mean there is no answer. It only means we have not searched with any degree of honesty. The search has to be both external and internal. We seek to ignore this crucial search because the sacrifices it demands are evolutionary. It means moving away from greed, selfishness, possessiveness and dominance to love, compassion, understanding and respect. It means to be true to our Faith and religion - it is not enough that we pray 10 times a day but that we make the scriptures the basis of our existence.

A favorite story that Gandhi liked to tell was the story of an ancient Indian King who was obsessed with the desire to find the meaning of peace.

What is peace and how can we get it and when we find it what should we do with it were some of the issues that bothered him.

Intellectuals in his kingdom were invited to answer the King's questions for a handsome reward.

Many tried but none could explain how to find peace and what to do with it.

At last someone said the King ought to consult the sage who lived just outside the borders of his Kingdom:

"He is an old man and very wise," the King was told.

"If anyone can answer your questions he can."

The King went to the sage and posed the eternal question. Without a word the sage went into the kitchen and brought a grain of wheat to the King.

"In this you will find the answer to your question," the Sage said as he placed the grain of wheat in the King's outstretched palm.

Puzzled but unwilling to admit his ignorance the King clutched the grain of wheat and returned to his palace. He locked the precious grain in a tiny gold box and placed the box in his safe. Each morning, upon waking, the King would open the box and look at the grain to seek an answer but could find nothing.

Weeks later another sage, passing through, stopped to meet the King who eagerly invited him to resolve his dilemma. The King explained how he had asked the eternal question and this sage gave him a grain of wheat instead. "I have been looking for an answer every morning but I find nothing."

The Sage said: "It is quite simple, your honor. Just as this grain represents nourishment for the body, peace represents nourishment for the soul. Now, if you keep this grain locked up in a gold box it will eventually perish without providing nourishment or multiplying. However, if it is allowed to interact with the elements - light, water, air, soil - it will flourish, multiply and soon you would have a whole field of wheat which will nourish not only you but so many others. This is the meaning of peace. It must nourish your soul and the souls of others, it must multiply by interacting with the elements."

This is the essence of Gandhi's philosophy of "nonviolence" or the pursuit of truth. In the life-long pursuit of truth we must always be guided by love, compassion, understanding and respect, allow everything we have to interact positively with the elements and help create a society of peace and harmony. The more possessions we have the more we have to secure them from those who covet it generating feelings of jealousy and the desire to take by force what the needy cannot get through compassion.

The four essential principles of Gandhi's philosophy are
At the public level the four principles are: Truth, Ahimsa, Trusteeship and Constructive Action.

At the personal level the four principles are: Respect, Understanding, Acceptance and Appreciation.

The success in attaining enlightenment or finding the Truth depends on how honest we are and whether we can liberate ourselves from the attachments that tie us down. Gandhi said being liberated politically or socially is not enough. He did not mean that we become careless or adopt a "don't care"attitude towards life and relationships. Freeing yourself of attachments means one must be willing to stand up for truth and justice and not be afraid of the consequences like losing your possessions, your job or even your life. It is only when we reach that level of spiritual power that nonviolence will become relevant.