The title of this post is taken from a quote by the great Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi. I always had a soft spot for this philosophies of peaceful resistance through which he led India from under British rule to independence in the 20th Century. The Mahatma was an ascetic person and was therefore very thin and frail. In my younger days my family nicknamed me Gandhi because I too was skin and bones like him (yes, that's me not Gandhi below!). So my interest in him has been moving along from the late Fifties.
The Mahatma (his picture is on the next page!) was always commenting on certain logical truths which he had identified in life, many times these were of a spiritual nature from which he drew his political leadership strength. Though he was a devout Hindu he was well read in other religions too and was able to comment about what was the right way to do things. I am today drawing on a couple of his more famous comments to give our modern minds something to mill over.
The quote itself.....
It is said that once, upon visiting Bengal, Mahatma Gandhi was asked to give a message to the people of India. To which he responded "My life is my message". He believed that what he did would be seen as being his message and therefore his life had to reflect what he stood for. He also had to be exemplary in how he lived his life. He drew a lot on his knowledge of Christianity and Islam, the two other major religions in his country and was therefore able to reach out to one and all with the fullness of this knowledge behind him.
This philosophy still stands the measure of time. We can easily ask ourselves today whether our life is our message. Do others see in us what we really stand for? Dowe live what we say we believe? Are we fickle in what we do at home or at work or do we hide behind masks and try to impress others with an untrue image of ourselves? And are our religious beliefs an important part of our life or just something to relegate to the backrooms of our existence?
In Gandhi's autobiography we find that he indicates that as soon as we lose the moral basis of our life, we cease to be religious. "There is no such thing as religion over-riding morality" he says. "Man, for instance, cannot be untruthful, cruel or incontinent and claim to have God on his side". How true. And said by one who was not a Christian or a Muslim for that matter!
The Mahatma was born a Hindu and practised Hinduism all his life, deriving most of his principles from Hinduism. As a common Hindu, he believed all religions to be equal, and rejected all efforts to convert him to a different faith. Part of his reasoning was that all religions were imperfect - including his own - so he might as well stay with what he had!
He was an avid theologian and read extensively about all major religions. Gandhi felt that the sayings of Muhammad were a treasure of wisdom, not only for Muslims but for all of mankind. At the same time he said "I like your Christ" adding that he could easily think of becoming a Christian yet he did not like the way Christians lived their beliefs....to him their life was not their message.Interestingly, later in his life, when he was asked whether he was a Hindu, he replied, "Yes I am. I am also a Christian, a Muslim, a Buddhist and a Jew." His life was really his message, and he lived it. In fact, Gandhi is known to have spent one day of each week in silence. He believed that abstaining from speaking brought him inner peace. This influence was drawn from the Hindu principles of mauna (Sanskrit for silence) and shanti (Sanskrit for peace). On such days he communicated with others by writing on paper.
And for three and a half years, from the age of 37, Gandhi refused to read newspapers, claiming that the tumultuous state of world affairs caused him more confusion than his own inner unrest. (How true - I like that!)
