Gandhi Journal Article-I : November 2015

Gandhi Journal Article-I (November 2015)

Mahatma Gandhi and Bhagat Singh : A Clash of Ideology

By Jai Narain Sharma  

Great men of all generations have been anxious about improvement of the lot of human beings. But how to realize it remains a formidable task for every age. Even though the goal is similar, the means to achieve the goal can differ. And this difference in approach can generate a lot of controversy. This is precisely what happened between Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Bhagat Singh, the two great statesmen of modern India. As a result, Bhagat Singh has been ranked as a rival of Mahatma Gandhi. It has been held in some quarters that while Gandhi was the sun of nationalism around which all the planets of the Indian National Congress revolved, Bhagat Singh was a star that pursued an orbit of its own.

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The opposite of love

The opposite of love

“I am trying every moment of my life to be guided by ahimsa, by love.”
–Gandhi (Harijan, January 12, 1934)

Hafiz asked Rabia, "O Daughter of God, is hate the opposite of love?" She replied, “No. Love has no opposite.”

Rabi’a, the 7th Century mystic from Basra (not yet Iraq) and founder of the Sufi movement, was voicing the very vision that would be foundational for Gandhi: that the world is based on sat ‘Truth, reality, the good’ so that in the long run nonviolence has got to prevail, and any victory of violence, which denies love, which is the expression of asat or unreality “is out of the question.”

Nonviolence, which in the fullest sense is ultimately rooted in this vision, invites us to take our destinies into our own hands and actively embrace our highest values.

Love, Gandhi found, is a guide. Every moment.

Another Sufi mystic, Ansari of Herat, still centuries before the Mahatma, warned, Watch vigilantly the state of thine own mind, love of God begins in harmlessness. Ahimsa.
This is an extremely high calling; an ideal. But we can work at it daily, moment by moment, trying to be vigilant not toward others, but toward oneself, our own motivations, words and even smallest actions. And when we do, love-energy, nonviolence, can move through us freely. Nothing can stop it. What it can lead to in the end has been described, I think without exaggeration, as becoming love itself, union with what is Real, being completely natural, fully human.

Experiment in Nonviolence:
Without letting yourself get too self-conscious, set aside some time to ‘watch vigilantly:’ what were your motivations today?

Courtesy: www.mettacenter.org

Thought For The Day ( HUMANITY )

"What a smile did"

"What a smile did"

“Not an ounce of nonviolent energy is ever wasted.”

–Gandhi (Harijan, January 11, 1948)

 

Mrs. Hartsough (the mother of one of my nonviolence mentors, David Hartsough) stood day after day in front of Hanford WA nuclear plant, to try to reach the conscience of those who worked there with a group of other ordinary people who realized that nuclear would mean danger to persons and the environment. Usually no one would greet them, and she thought for years after that their actions did not have any effect. One day, however, she found herself in line at a local grocery store when the man in front of her turned to her, as if he recognized her from somewhere. “Did you by any chance protest at the entrance of the Hanford nuclear plant twenty years ago?” he asked. “Why yes, I did,” she replied. “Well, you don’t know me, but I used to work there. And they told us that we shouldn’t make eye-contact with you people. But one day, I looked at you. And you smiled at me. And I quit my job.”

No newspaper would have known to report on that nonviolent success, but there you have it. Even David’s mother didn’t realize that she had transformed the life of another person–with a smile where he was likely expecting a rebuke or an insult. Imagine now that this kind of action is taking place all of the time. How do we explain that?

Just weeks before he shed his body, after decades of nonviolent struggle on two continents, Gandhi quietly shared one of the most significant insights about the power of nonviolence: no amount of nonviolent energy, no matter how small or unseen, is wasted. It might not seem to have worked, but, who knows? It could have been the small act that saved a life, inspired another way to do things, or led, even, to the fall of an Empire.

 

Experiment in Nonviolence:

Write down today’s quote in a place that you can see it often.

Courtesy: www.mettacenter.org

Thought For The Day ( DEMOCRACY )

A successful strike

“The conditions of a successful strike are simple. And when they are fulfilled, a strike need never fail.”
–M. K. Gandhi (Young India, February 16, 1921)

Would it be a surprise to learn that Gandhi was in favor of laborers and was on the side of strikers throughout his life? Of course not.
He knew, and wanted others to realize, that workers have a lot of power–it is their work that keeps the wheels of society moving. He was convinced that workers needed always to advocate for themselves to ensure dignity in their conditions and recognition of their rights. Strikes become an important tool to be used, he felt, as with any tool in the nonviolence toolkit: with discernment, which keeps the tool sharpened and powerful.
But how do you strike, according to Gandhi? Do you just stop going to work? What happens if those against whom you are striking just replace you at your job? A few years after resorting to fasting (one of the first of his career) to boost the flagging morale of striking workers in Ahmedabad in 1918, he came up with a few, energy-saving guidelines.
Here are his six rules for strike success:
1. The cause must be just.
2. There must be “practical unanimity” among all of the strikers (hence the 1918 fast).
3. No violence should be used against any non-strikers.
4. Strikers should not draw from union funds during the strike, but turn instead to some “useful and productive temporary occupation.”
5. If there is enough labor to simply replace the strikers, then a strike will not work. Resignation is the way forward, instead.
6. Follow all rules 1-5, without overlooking or ignoring any of these recommendations.
You have to love that last one.

Experiment in Nonviolence:
Based on his list about strikes, can you anticipate what might be some of Gandhi’s guidelines for resignation as a tool of nonviolent strategy?

Courtesy: www.mettacenter.org