Remarks by Carrie Trybulec at Gandhi Jayanti 2010

 For most people, when they hear the name Mahatma Gandhi, they think one word: NONVIOLENCE.  But many do not even consider what it means to be nonviolent.  How one can live nonviolently?  Certainly, most would conjure up the image of humanity facing conflict without the use of physical force.  But most of us fail to view Gandhi’s ideal of nonviolence in a daily, practical, and personal way.

Patience, humility, tolerance, understanding, respect…these are the ways of nonviolence. Sure there are the tactics, strategies, and movements that people have collectively utilized to encourage a new balance in society.  However, the basic foundation of ahimsa begins with a charitable thought, a kind word… an act of service toward another human being. When our very nature revolves around such an existence, there is no doubt in our mind as to how to approach a difficult situation or how to resolve a conflict, because we have already fortified our heart and mind to be flexible, creative, and fearless.  We have the strength to endure.  And we are not controlled by our anger. Rather we gain the discipline to constructively direct our energy.

This is what Gandhiji hoped for humanity.  He hoped that individuals would find enough strength of character to realize a higher calling than the ugliness and brutishness that could otherwise pull us down.

Mahatma Gandhi was a practical idealist. He was a dreamer who wanted to bring his dreams to life. He held very close to his heart the ideal that humans can find the courage, the strength, the hope, the fortitude to raise themselves to a higher standard, a higher ideal, always growing closer to perfection.  Gandhiji said, “Human society is a ceaseless growth, an unfoldment in terms of spirituality.” 

Gandhiji was not a pessimist. He was not fearful or negative but he was human and he strove and strove even with the understanding that life is a razor’s edge. As narrow as it is, we are bound to fall and yet we must keep to the path of Truth. 

Gandhiji said: “I am but a poor struggling soul yearning to be wholly good, wholly truthful and wholly non-violent in thought, word and deed; but ever failing to reach the ideal which I know to be true. It is a painful climb, but the pain of it is a positive pleasure to me. Each step upwards makes me feel stronger and fit for the next.”

Mahatma Gandhi carried out his life’s work with the belief that freedom, justice, peace, and growth are all accessible to each and every one of us…that through individual and collective effort, through self-less service, the greatest of these may be attained in life but only through the subtle, pervasive power of Truth.

Mahatma Gandhi’s hope for humanity includes the hope that the way of progress will not exclude spiritual growth. The unfoldment of the perfecting qualities of human life would be the means toward the elusive but inevitable peace for which all of humanity yearns. 

Certainly the dimensions of brotherly and sisterly love for all who travel on the path of human existence was a deep desire for Gandhiji.  His dream was most certainly an idealistic one.  But his approach was a realistic approach: many small steps would need to be taken – beginning with just one step – service toward mankind. 

Gandhiji said: “If I found myself entirely absorbed in the service of the community, the reason behind it was my desire for self-realization. I had made the religion of service my own, as I felt that God could be realized only through service.” 

“Man is a fallible being. He can never be sure of his steps. What he may regard as an answer to his prayer may be an echo of his pride. For infallible guidance, man has to have a perfectly innocent heart incapable of evil. I can lay no such claim. Mine is a struggling, striving, erring, imperfect soul. But I can rise only by experimenting upon myself.”

Mahatma Gandhi made his life a living experiment with Truth.  From his ashram experiences to his constant search for self-improvement, he routinely attempted to practice what he preached.

I think Mahatma Gandhi’s greatest hope for humanity would be that each individual would have not only hope, but that each might realize his or her own full potential as human beings.

This realization of potential is not only material potential but also creative and spiritual potential. Gandhiji’s hope for humanity would necessarily follow his own life experience of striving for perfection, for oneness in the Realization of Truth – not the fallible and corruptible nature of man’s perception of Truth but the all-pervasive, infinite and universal Truth.

In order to realize this potential, Gandhiji sought the guidance of that still small voice of calm – but he was ever aware that the voice of ego remains a loud and drowning voice.

He spent much time in silence in order to listen to that still small voice. In our fast-paced and often noisy world, we would do well to do the same.

Gandhiji said: “It has often occurred to me that a seeker after Truth has to be silent. I know the wonderful efficacy of silence. I visited a Trappist monastery in South Africa. A beautiful place it was.  Most of the inmates of that place were under a vow of silence. I inquired of the Father the motive of it, and he said that the motive is apparent. We are frail human beings. We do not know very often what we say. If we want to listen to the still small voice that is always speaking within us, it will not be heard if we continually speak. Gandhi said: I understand that precious lesson. I know the secret of silence.”

Mahatma Gandhi also gave great value to simplicity. Not only did the act of leading a simple life help him to identify with the poorest of the poor, it also helped him to truly value life itself. It is quite easy today to acquire much, to waste much and to under-estimate the value of a great many things in life. 

When we are healthy we take for granted our good health.  But when we turn sick, we notice the loss of physical ease. When we are rich, we forget how good we have it, until… we lose our investments, our job, or our home. When we are in the comfort of friends and family we don’t always appreciate our many blessings. But when calamity greets us or we lose our loved ones, we deeply recognize our loss.

We realize our attachments much more strongly when the objects or person to which we attach ourselves are no longer present.

Mahatma Gandhi’s practice of ahimsa evolved from his efforts at renunciation and detachment. His emphasis was on the means and not the goal.  He even translated this sacred philosophical teaching of the Bhagavad Gita as the “Gospel of Self-less Service.”

It was from the Bhagavad Gita that Gandhiji gleaned much inspiration for the foundation of his life. He said of the Gita: “that when doubt haunts me, when disappointments stare me in the face, and when I see not one ray of light on the horizon, I turn to the Bhagavad Gita, and find a verse to comfort me; and I immediately begin to smile in the midst of overwhelming sorrow.”

From the 12^th chapter of the Gita we can clearly see the influence of this philosophy on Gandhiji’s approach to SWARAJ…rule over the “self”. He felt that if one had the power to control one’s desires, passions and fears, then and only then would one have the ability to be nonviolent in thought, word and deed: 

In the Gita, Krishna tells Arjuna of the qualities that make one a true devotee.

“The true devotee…does not hate or bear ill-will to any living creature. He looks on all with love and compassion. He is free from the delusion of “I” and “Mine”. He reduces himself to zero. Pleasure and pain are equally acceptable to him. He forgives the wrongdoer even as he expects to be forgiven himself. He is always contented with his lot and is unshakable in his resolve. He does not allow himself to become perturbed by the world. He is free from exultation, sorrow, anger, fear and the like. He seeks nothing for himself. He renounces every undertaking. Although he is firm in his resolve, he is indifferent as regards the success or failure of his action; he is not anxious about its result. He is alike to friend and foe. Honor and insult are the same to him. He has a steady mind at all times and places.” This translation of the Gita comes from Gandhiji’s own interpretation. 

His very notion of ahimsa arose from the ideal of work without attachment to its fruits. The path of ahimsa requires emphasis on the means rather than the ends. To achieve the goal of peace, one must use means that are peaceful…to achieve justice – the means must be just…to achieve harmony, we must act harmoniously. The emphasis is continually placed on the means and the method– on our actions- more so than on the ends. We must not be so attached to our end goal that just any means available may be applied. This renunciation of the fruits of our labors will allow us to work in the most meaningful manner.

In addition to Gandhiji’s enduring message of Truth and nonviolence, he also recognized the value of finding a balanced place for the individual within society, the ideal of trusteeship, and the virtue of humility. 

Gandhiji strongly encouraged both self-sufficiency and inter-dependence. This combination is constantly required us of today. It is a delicate balance with which society struggles on a daily basis. It is the same struggle that we as individuals strive to achieve. Whether in politics, economics, religion or within the family – the balance between self-sufficiency and inter-dependence are the counter weights to steady the rocking boat of life.

Gandhiji hoped that members of society would come to value the ideal of trusteeship…not just that the rich would act as trustees of their wealth, but that human beings would act as trustees over inheritance of the Earth. In fact, we are also trustees of even our own bodies. For the body is ours only temporarily and it must be treated with great care while it is within our possession. So many guiding principles are there for humanity if only we pay heed to their importance.

Mahatma Gandhi also placed great significance on humility. He said: “The seeker after truth should be humbler than the dust. The world daily crushes the dust under its feet, but the seeker after Truth should be so humble himself that even the dust could crush him. Only then, and not until then, will he have a glimpse of truth.”

Humility reminds of our oneness with all that lives and with the very material that forms our existence in the world of creation.   

Gandhiji wrote: “Our existence as embodied beings is purely momentary. What are a hundred years in eternity? But if we shatter the chains of egotism, and melt into the ocean of humanity, we share its dignity.”

Certainly Gandhiji’s hope for humanity must lie in this belief in the shared dignity of humanity, in the oneness of life. 

Guiding his quest was a deep and sincere respect for the human experience. The play of natural forces on the human mind and spirit were given his utmost attention. He did not want to coerce or pressure any individual to change but rather to inspire the individual to reach his highest potential. And yet, he was humble enough to remember that he must first work on himself before he could expect to ever inspire another.

Gandhiji tried to shape his life by the highest ideals that have illumined humanity. The devotion of the Upanishads, and the renunciation of the Gita as well as that found in the Buddhist philosophy had an extremely important influence on his life and work. But he was also influenced by the love of Christ and the faith of Muhammad.

It is widely known that Mahatma Gandhi was extremely fond of the “Sermon on the Mount”:

Blessed are the poor in spirit; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are those that hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled.

Blessed are the meek, for they shall "inherit the earth".

Blessed are the peacemakers. They will be called "children of God".

Mahatma Gandhi regularly called for Christian hymns to be sung at his prayer meetings.  And he derived a great deal of insight from writers such as Leo Tolstoy who wrote, “The Kingdom of God is within”.

Gandhiji also had a profound admiration for the character of the Prophet Muhammad, as a man of faith and action. He studied the history and the rise of Islam and was impressed by the strong faith of the first followers of the Prophet. The simplicity with which they lived, their devotion to the poor, and their intense belief thoroughly impressed him.

The missionary, C. F. Andrews, a close friend of Gandhi, wrote that there was no one Sabarmati to whom Gandhiji went more surely for quiet counsel, and help in time of prayer than to the Imam, who accompanied him from South Africa.

Mahatma Gandhi often referred to the early days of the Prophet’s mission, when he was despised and rejected by his own countrymen and was forced to submit to humiliation in silence. He has also related the story of the first days of Islam, when both the Prophet and his followers were content to live in the most self-denying manner and were accessible to the humblest of mankind. In his own way, Gandhiji found the teaching of the Prophet of Islam fully compatible with the principle of Ahimsa.

Gandhiji said, “I have come to the conclusion in my own experience that those who, reverently study the teachings of other faiths, broaden instead of narrowing their own hearts. All religions serve to enrich mankind.  (these stories about Gandhiji’s study of Islam come from the book written by Charles F. Andrews: Mahatma Gandhi: His Life and Ideas)

Mahatma Gandhi’s hope for humanity “consists in all of humanity having a common purpose, a common goal, and common sorrows; cooperating in order to reach the common goal, by sharing one another’s sorrows and by sharing mutual toleration.  This mutual toleration is a necessity for all time and for all peoples.”

Mahatma Gandhi viewed his life as an experiment. He was not afraid to try new things, to break down barriers, to stretch horizons and to create a better world in which to live. That required courage. In many ways “hope” requires “courage”. It is FEAR that removes HOPE from our lives.