Gandhi's Message to Us
Shy, tongue-tied, twenty-three-year-old Mohandas Gandhi left India for South Africa as an attorney. With little knowledge of South African law, he found himself in over his head with a particularly difficult case involving accusations of bookkeeping impropriety. He chose to immerse himself in the case and learn bookkeeping. Then he made a life-changing decision to help both parties work through their intense emotions to find reasonable solutions that would satisfy all.
Regarding this event, he wrote in 1927: "I had learnt the true practice of law. I had learnt to find out the better side of human nature and to enter men's hearts. I realized the true function of a lawyer was to unite parties riven asunder. The lesson was so indelibly burnt into me that a large part of my time during the twenty of my practice as a lawyer was occupied in bringing about private compromises of hundred of cases. I lost nothing thereby--not even money, certainly not my soul" (Eknath Easwaran, Gandhi the Man: The Story of His Transformation [Tomales, CA: Nilgiri, 1997], 22).
He chose selfless service as the course of his life, primarily serving the downtrodden Indian community of South Africa. "Do not worry in the least about yourself, leave all worry to God," he summarized as the main message of all religions. "He who devotes himself to service with a clear conscience, will day by day grasp the necessity for it in greater measure, and will continually grow richer in faith" (29).
About this time of his life, cruelty struck. While traveling by train to the region of Natal, he was told by a European traveler to vacate his first-class seat and join the other Indians in third-class. Gandhi asserted that he had a right to sit in his reserved seat, but the man called on the police and Gandhi was thrown off the train without his luggage.
That night at Maritzburg station, cold and without his luggage, Gandhi pondered the inhumanity of man and the plight of the Indian people in South Africa. He resolved to change the situation the way God would--he would resist violence firmly, but without violence. He determined that love would triumph over hatred. Years later, when asked what event had transformed his life the most, he told the story of that night because he had decided "never to yield to force and never to use force to win a cause" (42).
He called the quest Satyagraha ("holding on to truth" or "soul-force"). Satya means "truth" or "that which is" (48). To resist evil, falsehood, and injustice, Gandhi chose to hold fast to goodness, truth, and justice. Emptying himself of desire for retribution or even the basic physical desires of the flesh (food, clothing, and comfort), he chose selfless love over the ABC's of the natural man: Anger, Bitterness, and Contention.
"Select your purpose," he urged others, "selfless, without any thought of personal pleasure or personal profit, and then use selfless means to attain your goal. Do not resort to violence even if it seems at first to promise success; it can only contradict your purpose. Use the means of love and respect even if the result seems far off or uncertain. Then throw yourself heart and soul into the campaign, counting no price too high for the welfare of those around you, and every reverse, every defeat, will send you deeper into your own deepest resources" (49).
Pure love became his goal. "Love never claims, it ever gives," he taught. "Love ever suffers, never resents, never revenges itself." Although love may be a difficult choice, he invited us to "start where you are. If you can't love the Viceroy, or Sir Winston Churchill, start with your wife, or your husband, or your children. Try to put their welfare first and your own last every minute of the day, and let the circle of your love expand from there" (126).
Gandhi said simply, "My life is my message." And so it is with all of us.
I close with an experience shared by some dear friends. They were teaching their young children about service and asked, "Who is the happiest person you know?"
"Brother Jensen" was their answer.
"Why do you think he's so happy?" the parents asked.
"Because he serves people."
"Exactly!" they said.
But, like any other person, I have good days and bad. In the end, I hope the good outweighs the bad, and my life will be remembered for joyful service. Because our life is our message.
Regarding this event, he wrote in 1927: "I had learnt the true practice of law. I had learnt to find out the better side of human nature and to enter men's hearts. I realized the true function of a lawyer was to unite parties riven asunder. The lesson was so indelibly burnt into me that a large part of my time during the twenty of my practice as a lawyer was occupied in bringing about private compromises of hundred of cases. I lost nothing thereby--not even money, certainly not my soul" (Eknath Easwaran, Gandhi the Man: The Story of His Transformation [Tomales, CA: Nilgiri, 1997], 22).
He chose selfless service as the course of his life, primarily serving the downtrodden Indian community of South Africa. "Do not worry in the least about yourself, leave all worry to God," he summarized as the main message of all religions. "He who devotes himself to service with a clear conscience, will day by day grasp the necessity for it in greater measure, and will continually grow richer in faith" (29).
About this time of his life, cruelty struck. While traveling by train to the region of Natal, he was told by a European traveler to vacate his first-class seat and join the other Indians in third-class. Gandhi asserted that he had a right to sit in his reserved seat, but the man called on the police and Gandhi was thrown off the train without his luggage.
That night at Maritzburg station, cold and without his luggage, Gandhi pondered the inhumanity of man and the plight of the Indian people in South Africa. He resolved to change the situation the way God would--he would resist violence firmly, but without violence. He determined that love would triumph over hatred. Years later, when asked what event had transformed his life the most, he told the story of that night because he had decided "never to yield to force and never to use force to win a cause" (42).
He called the quest Satyagraha ("holding on to truth" or "soul-force"). Satya means "truth" or "that which is" (48). To resist evil, falsehood, and injustice, Gandhi chose to hold fast to goodness, truth, and justice. Emptying himself of desire for retribution or even the basic physical desires of the flesh (food, clothing, and comfort), he chose selfless love over the ABC's of the natural man: Anger, Bitterness, and Contention.
"Select your purpose," he urged others, "selfless, without any thought of personal pleasure or personal profit, and then use selfless means to attain your goal. Do not resort to violence even if it seems at first to promise success; it can only contradict your purpose. Use the means of love and respect even if the result seems far off or uncertain. Then throw yourself heart and soul into the campaign, counting no price too high for the welfare of those around you, and every reverse, every defeat, will send you deeper into your own deepest resources" (49).
Pure love became his goal. "Love never claims, it ever gives," he taught. "Love ever suffers, never resents, never revenges itself." Although love may be a difficult choice, he invited us to "start where you are. If you can't love the Viceroy, or Sir Winston Churchill, start with your wife, or your husband, or your children. Try to put their welfare first and your own last every minute of the day, and let the circle of your love expand from there" (126).
Gandhi said simply, "My life is my message." And so it is with all of us.
I close with an experience shared by some dear friends. They were teaching their young children about service and asked, "Who is the happiest person you know?"
"Brother Jensen" was their answer.
"Why do you think he's so happy?" the parents asked.
"Because he serves people."
"Exactly!" they said.
But, like any other person, I have good days and bad. In the end, I hope the good outweighs the bad, and my life will be remembered for joyful service. Because our life is our message.
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