Rediscovering Gandhi

Born on October 2, 1869 was a man who proved through his deeds and actions the power of truth, love and non-violence. Celebrated as the father of a nation of over 1 billion people and revered by all as the beacon of non-violence, this man needs to be remembered more for his thoughts than the events that he affected. Textbooks portray him as the person who got India its freedom from the British and put him on the list of the venerable who are titled as “Mahatma”. However, more often than not the essence of his philosophy and how it relates to each one of us in our everyday lives is conveniantly forgotten.

Gandhi’s ideas were simple: speak the truth, stand up to your thruthful ideas and love them all. In real life though more and more people find it very difficult to adopt these ideas. Believeing in truth seems to many as missing out on opportunities that false claims and promises provide. Liking anybody seems an even more difficult task these days, when self centred existence seems like the prevailing ideology. In such times though trying out seems like the best way of figuring out if his ideas still work. We are willingness to try out anything, from an obscure TV channel to a piece of home decor trinket that does not even vaguely match our interior color schemes, provided we get the 30 days money back gaurantee. With Gandhi’s ideas you surely have this 30 day gaurantee to get back to your old ways and ofcourse it involves no money so its light on the wallet in these days of high oil prices. So why not, do two simple things from tomorrow:

• Try and speak the truth in the next 30 days, even when you feel a deep urge to cook up facts, and
• Try and forgive anybody and everybody who may possibly irritate you, bother you or even harm you in the next 30 days.

Think of this as your birthday gift to the mahatma.

You may be interested in the following videos on Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (on You Tube):

Mahatma Gandhi – Part 1/5

Mahatma Gandhi – Part 2/5

Mahatma Gandhi – Part 3/5

Mahatma Gandhi – Part 4/5

Mahatma Gandhi – Part 5/5

Also consider reading his autobiography: The Story of My Experiments with Truth