Some facts about Mahatma Gandhi

Short introduction

Mahatma Gandhi is one of the most fascinating personalities of the 20th century. The way in which he stood up against discrimination in South Africa and in India using non-violence combined with the theory he developed on his methods make him one of the most important examples in the history of humanity. He has been the inspiration for many people including Martin Luther King. Amazingly, Gandhi was never awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The Nobel Committee was unable to reach a decision and have surely regretted this ever since.

Source: http://www.dadalos.org/int/vorbilder/vorbilder/gandhi/gandhi.htm

 

Philosophy / Metaphysics of (Mahatma) Mohandas K. Gandhi

Gandhi was influenced by the Advaita Vedanta (non-dual) philosophy of India, the understanding that all life comes from One Thing. He was a Truth-seeker and correctly understood the difference between relative (cultural) truths and absolute truth which comes from the necessary connection of the One Absolute Thing (God, Allah, Brahman, Tao) which causes the Many Things.
Recent discoveries of the properties of Space and the Wave Structure of Matter (Wolff, Haselhurst) provides a scientific / logical explanation of ancient Indian philosophy – that Reality is founded on One Thing, Space existing as a Wave Medium (see links at top of page).

Gandhi was a wonderful moral person, as Einstein so beautifully wrote;

A leader of his people, unsupported by any outward authority: a politician whose success rests not upon craft nor the mastery of technical devices, but simply on the convincing power of his personality; a victorious fighter who always scorned the use of force; a man of wisdom and humility, armed with resolve and inflexible consistency, who had devoted all his strength to the uplifting of his people and the betterment of their lot; a man who had confronted the brutality of Europe with the dignity of the simple human being, and thus at all times risen superior. Generations to come, it may be, will scarce believe that such a one as this ever in flesh and blood walked on this earth. (Albert Einstein on Mahatma Mohandas Gandhi)

His devotion to truth is an important and profound lesson for all of humanity.

But for me, truth is the sovereign principle, which included numerous other principles. This truth is not only truthfulness in word, but truthfulness in thought also, and not only the relative truth of our conception, but the Absolute Truth, the Eternal Principle, that is God. There are innumerable definitions of God, because His manifestations are innumerable. They overwhelm me with wonder and awe and for a moment stun me. But I worship God as Truth only. I have not yet found Him, but I am seeking after Him. I am prepared to sacrifice the things dearest to me in pursuit of this quest. Even if the sacrifice demanded be my very life, I hope I may be prepared to give it. But as long as I have not realised this Absolute Truth, so long must I hold by the relative truth as I have conceived it. (Mahatma Mohandas Gandhi)

Source http://www.spaceandmotion.com/Philosophy-Mahatma-Mohandas-Gandhi.htm

 

 

These are the 6 principles Gandhi followed

1. Truth: learning from your own mistakes and conducting experiments on yourself

2. Nonviolence: nonresistance connected in a way to religion

3. Vegetarianism: carved in the Hindu and Jain traditions in India

4. Brahmacharya: spiritual and practical purity

5. Simplicity: giving up unnecessary spending

6. Faith: belief in a Higher power and that all religions are equal

Source: http://www.wikihow.com/Follow-Gandhi’s–Principles

 

 In 1930, Mahatma Gandhi and his band of 78 marchers undertook one of the most inspiring events in the history of the Indian freedom movement. To help free Indian from British control, Gandhi proposed a nonviolent march protesting the British Salt Tax. The Salt Tax made it illegal to sell or produce salt, allowing a complete British monopoly. Since salt is necessary is everyone’s diet, all people in India were affected. The Salt Tax made it illegal for workers to freely collect their own salt from the coasts of India, making them buy salt they couldn’t afford.

On April 5, 1930 Gandhi and his faithful “sartyagrahis” (name given by Gandhi to nonviolent resisters) reached the coast of the Indian Ocean. Prayers were offered and Gandhi picked up a tiny lump of salt, breaking the law. The Salt March started a series of protests. Within a month, Gandhi was arrested and thrown in a prison already full of fellow protestors. The world embraced the sartyagrahis and their civil disobedience, eventually enabling India to gain their freedom from Britain.
Their Salt March – 241 miles in 24 days – continues to inspire people and movements around the world. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. who was deeply fascinated by the life and teachings of Mahatma Gandhi, wrote, ” I came to see that the Christian doctrine of love, operating through the Gandhian method of nonviolence, is one of the most potent weapons available to an oppressed people in their struggle for freedom.”

Source: http://www.saltmarch.org/