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Gandhi and Humanism

Mark Lindley

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Description:I feel privileged to write this foreword to Prof. Lindley’s monograph, Gandhi and Humanism. There is hardly a subject of common human concern on which Gandhi did not say something basic and profound, and Prof. Lindley shows how (as with any thinking person) some of Gandhi’s views evolved and matured with experience. In Gandhi’s own words:“In my search after Truth I have discarded many ideas and learnt many new things. Old as I am in age, I have no feeling that I have ceased to grow inwardly.... What I am concerned with is my readiness to obey the call of Truth, my God, from moment to moment.”Even so, I believe (and Prof. Lindley’s research bears out) that there was little change in Gandhi’s fundamental principles. It was in their practice that he added to and subtracted from his strategies and tactics. He worshiped God as Truth only. He said:“As long as I have not realized this absolute Truth, so long must I hold by the relative truth as I haveconceived it.”To Gandhi this meant that he must give equal regard to other people’s sincere views.It is also notable that while his faith in non-violence was absolute, when faced with choosingbetween violence and cowardice he would prefer violence because cowardice meant runningaway from Truth itself.Gandhi came from a deeply religious Hindu family and absorbed the philosophical roots of his inherited religion: unity of all life, universal brotherhood and tolerance, and voluntary poverty.He observed quite strictly these tenets in his own behavior, but as a mass leader had to go alongwith their attenuation among his followers. Prof. Lindley lists in his introduction some tenets which he takes as humanistic. I would go alongwith most of the list except for the exclusion of beliefs in deities and in life after death. (As Prof.Lindley shows, Gandhi did not believe in deities, but did in rebirth.) Among Indians suchreligious beliefs are common and, I believe, impart much of the humanistic content present inIndian society, whereas the absence of such beliefs among many communists and some capital-ists has helped breed an inhumane intolerance in the communists and exploitation of humanbeings by the capitalists. It may also be mentioned that among some Hindus, to regard rivers,mountains, trees and cows as “deities” has engendered a deep ecological concern, while thebelief in rebirth tends to guide such people along a righteous path.In regard to moksha, although “salvation” is a proper literal translation of the word, I feel that“self-realization” is closer to representing its connotation when used as a religious term. Soonafter reaching South Africa, Gandhi posed a series of questions on religious matters to his only known religious mentor, Rajchandra (who was in Bombay). After two initial questions about“God,” the next one was: “What is moksha?” Rajchandra’s reply included the following “[It] is the absolute liberation of self from anger, conceit, greed and nescient propensities that bind the soul with earthly coils and other limitations. There is a natural urge in life to be free from all bondages and limitations.”Yet Gandhi would, again and again, relate his spiritual precepts to seeking truth on Earth and to service of and identification with the poorest. In him there was little of the “other-worldliness” typically associated with withdrawal from society.Prof. Lindley’s writings on Gandhi are very well researched, focused and stimulating, and suffer less from a “devotional” tone than is often the case with Indians like me. This monograph is yet another valuable edition by him, which serious students of Gandhiji’s life and philosophy will welcome.(From Foreword)We have made it easy for you to find a PDF Ebooks without any digging. And by having access to our ebooks online or by storing it on your computer, you have convenient answers with Gandhi and Humanism. To get started finding Gandhi and Humanism, you are right to find our website which has a comprehensive collection of manuals listed.
Our library is the biggest of these that have literally hundreds of thousands of different products represented.

Pages: 36

Format: PDF, EPUB & Kindle Edition

Publisher: Humanist Chaplaincy, Harvard University

Release: 1999

ISBN: 998800141X

Description: I feel privileged to write this foreword to Prof. Lindley’s monograph, Gandhi and Humanism. There is hardly a subject of common human concern on which Gandhi did not say something basic and profound, and Prof. Lindley shows how (as with any thinking person) some of Gandhi’s views evolved and matured with experience. In Gandhi’s own words:“In my search after Truth I have discarded many ideas and learnt many new things. Old as I am in age, I have no feeling that I have ceased to grow inwardly.... What I am concerned with is my readiness to obey the call of Truth, my God, from moment to moment.”Even so, I believe (and Prof. Lindley’s research bears out) that there was little change in Gandhi’s fundamental principles. It was in their practice that he added to and subtracted from his strategies and tactics. He worshiped God as Truth only. He said:“As long as I have not realized this absolute Truth, so long must I hold by the relative truth as I haveconceived it.”To Gandhi this meant that he must give equal regard to other people’s sincere views.It is also notable that while his faith in non-violence was absolute, when faced with choosingbetween violence and cowardice he would prefer violence because cowardice meant runningaway from Truth itself.Gandhi came from a deeply religious Hindu family and absorbed the philosophical roots of his inherited religion: unity of all life, universal brotherhood and tolerance, and voluntary poverty.He observed quite strictly these tenets in his own behavior, but as a mass leader had to go alongwith their attenuation among his followers. Prof. Lindley lists in his introduction some tenets which he takes as humanistic. I would go alongwith most of the list except for the exclusion of beliefs in deities and in life after death. (As Prof.Lindley shows, Gandhi did not believe in deities, but did in rebirth.) Among Indians suchreligious beliefs are common and, I believe, impart much of the humanistic content present inIndian society, whereas the absence of such beliefs among many communists and some capital-ists has helped breed an inhumane intolerance in the communists and exploitation of humanbeings by the capitalists. It may also be mentioned that among some Hindus, to regard rivers,mountains, trees and cows as “deities” has engendered a deep ecological concern, while thebelief in rebirth tends to guide such people along a righteous path.In regard to moksha, although “salvation” is a proper literal translation of the word, I feel that“self-realization” is closer to representing its connotation when used as a religious term. Soonafter reaching South Africa, Gandhi posed a series of questions on religious matters to his only known religious mentor, Rajchandra (who was in Bombay). After two initial questions about“God,” the next one was: “What is moksha?” Rajchandra’s reply included the following “[It] is the absolute liberation of self from anger, conceit, greed and nescient propensities that bind the soul with earthly coils and other limitations. There is a natural urge in life to be free from all bondages and limitations.”Yet Gandhi would, again and again, relate his spiritual precepts to seeking truth on Earth and to service of and identification with the poorest. In him there was little of the “other-worldliness” typically associated with withdrawal from society.Prof. Lindley’s writings on Gandhi are very well researched, focused and stimulating, and suffer less from a “devotional” tone than is often the case with Indians like me. This monograph is yet another valuable edition by him, which serious students of Gandhiji’s life and philosophy will welcome.(From Foreword)We have made it easy for you to find a PDF Ebooks without any digging. And by having access to our ebooks online or by storing it on your computer, you have convenient answers with Gandhi and Humanism. To get started finding Gandhi and Humanism, you are right to find our website which has a comprehensive collection of manuals listed.
Our library is the biggest of these that have literally hundreds of thousands of different products represented.

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Gandhi and Humanism

Gandhi and Humanism

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