Mahatma talk.

Like so many others, Gandhi inspired our nonprofit's mission.  Let's discuss Gandhi's wisdom and how it could be applied in todays world.

Re: Mahatma talk.

I became introduced to Gandhian ideas through watching the film, starring Ben Kingsley.  I had vaguely heard of Gandhi in times past, but not enough to pique my curiousity.  In watching the film, I realized that we all have the power to create the world that we want. 

Gandhi should not be the exception but the rule.  He galvanized a group of ppl to change the face of a nation, and through non-violent means. 

Anyone who looks at the life of Gandhi would certainly see the irony of his death, but sometimes I wonder if it was ironic at all.  In certain ways, violence creates death, and non-violence creates life.  It's an interesting philosophy to pursue at a different time.

I truly embrace Gandhi's ideas, his value of truth and service.  Over the years, I've garnered a collection of quotes from Mahatma Gandhi, and have sought to built my life in that fashion..  The most important quote of all was and is “Be the change you wish to see in the world”.  I meditate on that everyday.  There's an implied freedom in that quote– and a sense of creation.  I create my own reality by the choices I make.  The whole world, in fact, is simply what I wish to see… and I can change what I see by changing me.

In that argument, we are the reasons why there's famine in Sudan, and child slavery in Indonesia, and all other atrocities worldwide.  If we want to change our reality, we must change ourselves– and our indifference.  We must get in there, and be of service– actively changing the atmosphere from dispair to hope.

We don't change miserable situations by throwing money at it.  Throwing money at a homeless man or the AIDS crisis in South Africa doesn't change anything.  It's the process of actually investing one's self that makes a change.  Money is dead.  It's inanimate.  In the process of self-service, we create love… which is alive, and inspires life.

ALthough I am just meeting Kasey, I support his goal to move to Kenya and be the change in that country that is necessary to create a lasting future for the children.  How beautiful it is when we set aside our silly idols of materialism, and do what it takes to make others live in peace.

Re: Mahatma talk.

First of all, I want to say Thank You to Kasey….starting this pod with the mission that it has is an incredible step and I applaud you for that.

Secondly, I very much appreciate that you titled this particular discussion topic “Mahatma talk”…..Gandhi was definitely a ”mahatma” and I like that there is a forum to discuss his wisdom.

If I may, I would like to see if we might expand the notion of Gandhiji's wisdom….perhaps we do not need to limit ourselves to the words that he spoke or the life that he lived….there are others who have been inspired by him and have shared great thoughts….

Eknath Easwaran is one such person. Born and raised in Mahatma Gandhi's India, he grew up in a self-supporting agrarian village in Kerala and came to the United States of America as a Fulbright Scholar. He has a beautiful blend of wisdom from both India and America, having taught and lectured in the United States for over thirty years.

I plan on putting a lot of the wisdom that I have gained from him on the pod “The Beloved's Teahouse”. This is a sample of his wisdom. If you'd like, I can cross-post what I contribute on that pod to this pod….let me know what you think is best.

I was reading a bit of the “Afterword” in the book that I have and he writes:
“In this book, I have spoken quite a bit about ideals. To me, ideals are not vague, abstract concepts, but living forces as real as gravity or electromagnetism. People who have the daring and determination to live out their ideals, release a tremendous beneficial power into their lives, and that power will begin to transform the world they live in. Mahatma Gandhi called this 'practical idealism,' which means that it can be practiced in every aspect of life. It doesn't call so much for great acts of heroism as for a continuing, persistent effort to transform ill will into good will, self-interest into compassion.”

I believe that we are examples, simply by engaging in the way that we do here on Zaadz, of the people of whom he speaks. I believe in your vision, Kasey, and wish to do what I can to assist you in your endeavors.

Namaste.

Re: Mahatma talk.

a vision is just a vision. a seed is just a seed . perhap-s we should recognize the flower  in it's bloom before it blossoms and spreds it's seeds.
warmth david

Re: Mahatma talk.

Nishta.

Thanks for your wonderful contribution.  I think it would be wonderful to talk about some of the people who were inspired by Gandiji.

Since it is Martin Luther King day here in the US today, he would make a fine example.  Here are some of his quotes mentioning Gandhi:

“If humanity is to progress, Gandhi is inescapable. He lived, thought, and acted, inspired by the vision of humanity evolving toward a world of peace and harmony. We may ignore him at our own risk.”

“Gandhi resisted evil with as much vigor and power as the violent resister, but he resisted with love instead of hate. True pacifism is not unrealistic submission to evil power. It is rather a courageous confrontation of evil by the power of love.”

TRIBUTE TO MAHATMA GANDHI BY DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR., ON THE TENTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ASSASSINATION OF MAHATMA GANDHI:

“Mahatma Gandhi has done more than any other person of history to reveal that social problems can be solved without resorting to primitive methods of vio­lence. In this sense he is more than a saint of India. He belongs - as they said of Abraham Lincoln - to the ages. In our struggle against racial segregation in Mont­gomery, Alabama, I came to see at a very early stage that a synthesis of Gandhi's method of non-violence and the Christian ethic of love is the best weapon avail­able to Negroes for this struggle for freedom and human dignity. It may well be that the Gandhian approach will bring about a solution to the race problem in America. His spirit is a continual reminder to oppressed people that it is possible to resist evil and yet not resort to violence.

The Gandhian influence in some way still speaks to the conscience of the world as nations grapple with international problems. If we fail, on an international scale, to follow the Gandhian principle of non-violence, we may end up by destroying ourselves through the misuse of our own instruments. The choice is no longer be­tween violence and non-violence. It is now either non-violence or non-existence.

Oppressed people can deal with oppression in three ways. They can accept or acquiesce. Under segregation they can adjust to it. Yet non-co-operation with evil is as much a moral obligation as is co-operation with good. The minute one ac­cepts segregation, one co-operates with it. Oppressed people can, on the other hand, resort to physical violence, a method both whole nations and oppressed peoples have used. But violence merely brings about a temporary victory and not permanent peace. It creates ever new problems. Gandhi has come on the scene of history with still another way. He would resist evil as much as the man who uses violence, but he resists it without external violence or violence of the spirit. That is what Gandhism does. It is a method of the strong. If the only alternative is be­tween cowardice and violence, it is better - as Gandhi said - to use violence, but there is another way.

I myself gained this insight from Gandhi. When I was in theological school, I thought the only way we could solve our problem of segregation was an armed re­volt. I felt that the Christian ethic o love was confined to individual relationships. I could not see how it could work in social conflict. Then I read Gandhi's ethic of love as revealed in Jesus but raised to a social strategy for social transformation. This lifts love from individual relationships to the place of social transformation. This Gandhi helped us to understand and for this we are grateful a decade after his death.”



Thanks to everyone else who has posted.  Great stuff!  I am excited to be getting some interest in this pod, especially since I haven't seen many others who mention Gandiji.  Let's spread the word to our friends.

Nishtha - Please feel free to cross post.  I would love to read more.

Namaste,

Kasey.

Re: Mahatma talk.

I posted this excerpt from Eknath Easwaran's “Your Life is Your Message” collection.

The Prince and the Pauper
Just as there is one kind of hunger in the Third World - the need for food and clothes and medical care - similarly in advanced Western countries like ours, there is a gnawing hunger for fulfillment, which is not appeased by possessions or power or fame.

Within each of us, there is an undeniable demand for a joy that does not come and go, for a sense of purpose, for knowing who we are. The Compassionate Buddha would say that, below the surface level of consciousness, we are all being haunted by this hunger. Without a way to dive below the surface and answer the questions “Who am I?” and “Where can I find a joy that lasts?” we will never be quite content.

Yet it is possible to travel slowly but surely into the depths of the unconscious and there transform our personality. We can actually make a new person of ourselves; we can become the kind of person we dream of being. Meister Eckhart calls this the pauper becoming the prince.

Patanjali, a teacher of meditation in ancient India, called meditation Raja Yoga. Raja, of course, means “king”; so raja yoga is those disciplines which have come down in all the great religions through which men and women born commoners become royalty, with a crown on their heads and a scepter in their hands. If you ask them, “What is your kingdom?” they will answer with quiet, unshakable confidence, “We rule the country of our mind and the kingdom of our life.”

George Bernard Shaw put it in his inimitable style: “To be in hell is to drift; to be in heaven is to steer.”

Cheers to all those of us who choose to steer!