Gandhism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Gandhism is a body of ideas of that describes the inspiration, vision and the life work of Mohandas Gandhi. It is particularly associated with his contributions to the idea of nonviolent resistance, sometimes also called civil resistance. Gandhism also permeates into the realm of the individual human being, non- political and non- social. A Gandhian can mean either an individual who follows, or a specific philosophy which is attributed to, Gandhism. Professor Ramjee Singh has called Gandhi a bodhisattva (bodhisattva is the Sanskrit term for anyone who, motivated by great compassion, has generated bodhicitta, which is a spontaneous wish to attain buddhahood for the benefit of all sentient beings. Bodhisattvas are a popular subject in Buddhist art of the twentieth century). I do not claim to have originated any new principle or doctrine.
I have simply tried in my own way to apply the eternal truths to our daily life and problems.. The opinions I have formed and the conclusions I have arrived at are not final. I may change them tomorrow. I have nothing new to teach the world. Truth and non- violence are as old as the hills. The term was popularised during the Indian Independence Movement, and is used in many Indian languages including Hindi. When Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated on January 30, 1948. Gandhi was, first and foremost. His example and teachings inspire us to. Mahatma Gandhi: His Life and Legacy. Gandhi continued to practice law in Pretoria and Durban and. Teachings Of Mahatma Gandhi. SINGLE PAGE PROCESSED TIFF ZIP download. The pivotal and defining element of Gandhism is satya. Gandhi explains his philosophy and way of life in his autobiography, The Story of My Experiments with Truth. He was quoted as saying. He committed himself to the control of the senses, thoughts and actions. Celibacy was important to Gandhi for not only purifying himself of any lust and sexual urges, but also to purify his love for his wife as genuine and not an outlet for any turmoil or aggression within his mind. Ahimsa, or non- violence, was another key tenet of Gandhi's beliefs. He held that total non- violence would rid a person of anger, obsession and destructive impulses. While his vegetarianism was inspired by his rearing in the Hindu- Jain culture of Gujarat, it was also an extension of ahimsa. On 6 July 1. 94. 0, Gandhi published an article in Harijan which applied these philosophies to the question of British involvement in World War II. Homer Jack notes in his reprint of this article, . I want you to fight Nazism without arms, or, if I am to maintain military terminology, with non- violent arms. I would like you to lay down the arms you have as being useless for saving you or humanity. You will invite our great leader and Signor Mussolini to take what they want of the countries you call your possessions. Let them take possession of your beautiful island, with your many beautiful buildings. You will give all these but neither your souls, nor your minds. If these gentlemen choose to occupy your homes, you will vacate them. If they do not give you free passage out, you will allow yourself, man, woman, and child, to be slaughtered, but you will refuse to owe allegiance to them . It is that love which has prompted my appeal to you. He envisioned a more agrarian India upon independence that would focus on meeting the material needs of its citizenry prior to generating wealth and industrialising. Gandhi also adopted the clothing style of most Indians in the early 2. His adoption of khadi, or homespun cloth, was intended to help eradicate the evils of poverty, social and economic discrimination. It was also aimed as a challenge to the contrast that he saw between most Indians, who were poor and traditional, and the richer classes of educated, liberal- minded Indians who had adopted Western mannerisms, clothing and practices. The clothing policy was designed to protest against British economic policies in India. Millions of poor Indian workers were unemployed and entrenched in poverty, which Gandhi linked to the industrialisation of cotton processing in Britain. Gandhi promoted khadi as a direct boycott of the Lancashire cotton industry, linking British imperialism to Indian poverty. He focused on persuading all members of the Indian National Congress to spend some time each day hand- spinning on the charkha (spinning wheel). In addition to its point as an economic campaign, the drive for hand- spinning was an attempt to connect the privileged Indian brahmins and lawyers of Congress to connect with the mass of Indian peasantry. Many prominent figures of the Indian independence movement, including Motilal Nehru, were persuaded by Gandhi to renounce their smart London- made clothes in favour of khadi. Fasting. In his autobiography, Gandhi analyses the need to fast to eradicate his desire for delicious, spicy food. He believed that abstention would diminish his sensual faculties, bringing the body increasingly under the mind's absolute control. Gandhi was opposed to the partaking of meat, alcohol, stimulants, salt and most spices, and also eliminated different types of cooking from the food he ate. Fasting would also put the body through unusual hardship, which Gandhi believed would cleanse the spirit by stimulating the courage to withstand all impulses and pain. There was some controversy over the 1. Untouchable leader B. R. In the end, Gandhi and Ambedkar both made some concessions to negotiate the Poona Pact, which abandoned the call for separate electorates in turn for voluntary representation and a commitment to abolish untouchability. Gandhi also used the fasts as a penance, blaming himself for inciting Chauri Chaura and the divisive communal politics of both 1. Partition of India. Gandhi sought to purify his soul and expiate his sins, in what he saw as his role in allowing terrible tragedies to happen. It took a heavy toll on his physical health and often brought him close to death. Religion. When doubts haunt 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. My life has been full of tragedies and if they have not left any visible and indelible effect on me, I owe it to the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita. It was articulated by Gandhi. My own veneration for other faiths is the same as that for my own faith; therefore no thought of conversion is possible. Hindu defects were pressingly visible to me. If untouchability could be a part of Hinduism, it could but be a rotten part or an excrescence. I could not understand the raison d'etre of a multitude of sects and castes. What was the meaning of saying that the Vedas were the inspired Word of God? If they were inspired, why not also the Bible and the Koran? As Christian friends were endeavouring to convert me, so were Muslim friends. Abdullah Sheth had kept on inducing me to study Islam, and of course he had always something to say regarding its beauty. There is no such thing as religion over- riding morality. Man, for instance, cannot be untruthful, cruel or incontinent and claim to have God on his side. I am also a Christian, a Muslim, a Buddhist and a Jew. It was coined by Gandhi in 1. John Ruskin's Unto This Last. Later, nonviolence leader Vinoba Bhave used the term to refer to the struggle of post- independence Gandhians to ensure that self- determination and equality reached the masses and the downtrodden. Sarvodaya workers associated with Vinoba, including Jaya Prakash Narayan and Dada Dharmadhikari, undertook various projects aimed at encouraging popular self- organisation during the 1. Many groups descended from these networks continue to function locally in India today. The Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru, was often considered Gandhi's successor, although he was not religious and often disagreed with Gandhi. He was, however, deeply influenced by Gandhi personally as well as politically, and used his premiership to pursue ideological policies based on Gandhi's principles. Nehru's foreign policy was staunch anti- colonialism and neutrality in the Cold War. Nehru backed the independence movement in Tanzania and other African nations, as well as the American Civil Rights Movement led by Martin Luther King Jr. Nehru refused to align with either the United States or the Soviet Union, and helped found the Non- Aligned Movement. Nehru also pushed through major legislation that granted legal rights and freedoms to Indian women, and outlawed untouchability and many different kinds of social discrimination, in the face of strong opposition from orthodox Hindus. Not all of Nehru's policies were Gandhian. Nehru refused to condemn the USSR's 1. Some of his economic policies were criticised for removing the right of property and freedoms from the landowning peasants of Gujarat for whom Gandhi had fought in the early 1. India's economic policies under Nehru were highly different from Gandhi's with Nehru following a socialist model. Nehru also brought Goa and Hyderabad into the Indian union through military invasion. Nehru's biggest failure is often considered to be the 1. Sino- Indian War, though his policy is said to have been inspired by Gandhian pacifism. In this instance, it led to the defeat of the Indian Army against a surprise Chinese invasion. Nehru had neglected the defence budget and disallowed the Army to prepare, which caught the soldiers in India's north eastern frontier off- guard with lack of supplies and reinforcements. Freedom. From the 1. ANC organised non- violent civil disobedience akin to the campaign advanced by the Indian National Congress under the inspiration of Gandhi between the 1. ANC activists braved the harsh tactics of the police to protest against the oppressive South African government. Many, especially Mandela, languished for decades in jail, while the world outside was divided in its effort to remove apartheid. Steve Biko, perhaps the most vocal adherent to non- violent civil resistance, was allegedly murdered in 1. When the first universal, free elections were held in South Africa in 1. ANC was elected and Mandela became president.
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