Mahatma Gandhi
Book of the Month – August 2021 : Gandhi the Man by Eknath Easwaran
Gandhi’s life continues to inspire and baffle readers today. How did an unsuccessful young lawyer become the Mahatma, the “great soul” who led 400 million Indians in their struggle for independence from the British Empire? What is nonviolence, and how does it work?
Easwaran answers these questions and gives a vivid account of the turning points and choices in Gandhi’s life that made him an icon of nonviolence. Easwaran witnessed at firsthand how Gandhi inspired ordinary people to turn fear into fearlessness, and anger into love. He visited Gandhi in his ashram to find out more about this human alchemy, and during the prayer meeting watched the Mahatma absorbed in meditation on the Bhagavad Gita, the scripture that was the wellspring of his spiritual power.
Quotations highlight Gandhi’s teachings in his own words, and sidebar notes and a chronology, new to this updated edition, provide historical context.
This book conveys the spirit and soul of Gandhi – the only way he can be truly understood.
The fact is that the world is you, not in theory but in actuality.
You can see what is happening. There is violence even though religions have said not to kill, not to go to war, not to hurt another, to be kind, generous, tender, to open your heart to others.
the more I am willing to understand and accept the realities in myself and in the other person, the more change seems to be stirred up
The more I am open to the realities in me and in the other person, the less do I find myself wishing to rush in to “fix things.” As I try to listen to myself and the experiencing going on in me, and the more I try to extend that same listening attitude to another person, the more respect I feel for the complex processes of life. So I become less and less inclined to hurry in to fix things, to set goals, to mold people, to manipulate and push them in the way that I would like them to go. I am much more content simply to be myself and to let another person be himself. Continue reading
Surrender – Stop Wanting It
That’s it. Want nothing. Choose what shows up instead.
This is the very essence of zen. It is what is meant by the “surrendered state“. Do this, and persist in it long enough, and you will find some incredible things unfolding in your reality, very likely including those that you formerly really, really wanted. The irony? It won’t matter, because you don’t want them anymore! You’ll surely enjoy them while they last, but the terrible need you had for them to give you fulfilment is gone, and you could honestly care less if they showed up or not.
Can you think of a more pure definition of freedom?
Quote by Sonia Ricotti via Google Images.
Continue reading
Thought for the Week – 22nd of February 2016
“The only tyrant I accept in this world is the ‘still small voice’ within me. And even though I have to face the prospect of being a minority of one, I humbly believe I have the courage to be in such a hopeless minority.”– Gandhi
Gandhi Sugar Story
There is a story of a woman in India who was upset that her son was eating too much sugar. No matter how much she chided him, he continued to satisfy his sweet tooth. Totally frustrated, she decided to take her son to see his great hero Mahatma Gandhi. Continue reading
my idea of nationalism….
We want freedom for our country but not at the expense or exploitation of others, not so as to degrade other countries. I do not want the freedom of India if it means the extinction of England or the disappearance of Englishmen. I want the freedom of my country so other countries may learn something from my free country, so the resources of my country might be utilized for the benefit of mankind.
Just as the cult of patriotism teaches us today that the individual has to die for the family, the family has to die for the village, the village for the district, the district for the province and the province for the country, even so a country has to be free in order that it may die if necessary for the benefit of the world. My love, therefore, of nationalism or my idea of nationalism is that my country may become free, that if need be the whole country may die so the human race may live. There is no room for race-hatred there. Let that be our nationalism.
– Mahatma Gandhi
Thought For the Week – 24th November 2014
“…even as we serve others we are working on ourselves; every act, every word, every gesture of genuine compassion naturally nourishes our own hearts as well. It is not a question of who is healed first. When we attend to ourselves with compassion and mercy, more healing is made available for others. And when we serve others with an open and generous heart, great healing comes to us.”
– Mahatma Gandhi
Mahatma Gandhi – put his truths and beliefs through tough tests of realities
The journey of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi to Mahatma Gandhi was highly challenging. During the course of his life, Gandhi sought to resolve the constant plaguing of self-doubt helped him put his truths and beliefs through tough tests of realities that helped him see an issue from different dimensions and perspectives.The ‘take away’ factors from his life are many. And the more one reads him, the lessons from his life increase with the number of interpretations you can make from the text. Read between the lines, if you must, when you read Gandhi and the essence of his life (and ours, too) increases by manifold to the reader.
ONE TUSK 