Mahatma Gandhi.

[Guest guest]

especially when Swami often tells that we are very deficient when it comes to

following His teachings. The answer to the question we have posed is simple:

Gandhi practiced many of the things that Swami teaches even though he never met

Swami and had never even seen Him – remember Gandhi died on 30th January 1948,

when very few people in this country knew about Swami. We, on the other hand,

pride ourselves in listening and reading Swami’s Discourses, but avoid

practice. Gandhi took God seriously, indeed

far more seriously than most of us do, and that is what made him so very

different. Now what are those things that Gandhi did that gave him such

towering Inner strength? Firstly, he was always chanting the Name of the Lord

so much so he literally died with God’s Name on his lips. Next, he tried his

best to remain true to his Conscience, indeed even in politics. Chanting the

Name and being true to one’s Conscience are precisely the things that Swami

wants from all of us; yet we consistently deny exactly those two to Swami

whereas Gandhi gave just Him that; and that is because he really loved God.

Gandhi was called Mahatma; what does that mean? All of us are embodiments of

the Divine Atma, as

Swami often reminds us; but Gandhi made that embodiment come ALIVE, and that is

why he was called Mahatma, which means a great Atma. Gandhi was not born a

Mahatma but by strictly adhering to the command of God, he became one. Swami

often talks of bookish knowledge and practical knowledge. Gandhi is a good

example of a man who translated bookish knowledge into brilliant practical

knowledge. And this is something we should pay careful attention to. Today, if

anyone were to say that Sathya and Dharma are very essential in national and

international politics, people would dismiss that person as a bloody fool.

Gandhi showed, however, that indeed even politics must be pursued keeping in

mind all the

time, what we call human values. When Gandhi launched the famous Sathyagraha

[non-violent,civildisobedience] movement as a part of the freedom struggle in

India, he made it very clear that the struggle would be non-violent. However,

some misguided people let their passions run away and burnt a Police Station,

which resulted in the death of many Policemen. Gandhi was stunned; he did not

expect this. Promptly he suspended the Sathyagraha, publicly declared that he

had made a huge mistake – a Himalayan blunder as he called it – and then went

on a fast to purify himself. In August 1947, the British partitioned the

subcontinent into two countries, India and Pakistan. All the assets of British

India were divided between these two new countries – the railways, the Central

Bank [calledtheReserveBank], and so on. It so happened that as a part of this

division, India had to pay Pakistan 550 million rupees [or 55 crores as we

would say in India]. Immediately after partition, there was an armed conflict

between the two countries and on that basis, India withheld the 55 crores.

Gandhi criticised that action as being morally incorrect; the word having been

given, must be kept, politics or no politics. Such was the respect that Gandhi

commanded, that the Government of India yielded and did precisely what Gandhi

advised. Gandhi started off as like most of us, as an ordinary person. He

was not a scholar of the scriptures, the Vedas and the Upanishads. But one

thing he knew – in life, Truth and Righteousness are always of paramount

importance. And he resolved that never would he compromise on these, even if it

meant death. That is what firm faith is all about. In other words, Gandhi

demonstrated beyond doubt that with firm faith and deep love for God, one can

develop so much self-confidence that one can face any adverse situation. It

is no surprise that Gandhi attracted and continues to attract admirers and even

followers. Speaking on the occasion of Nelson Mandela’s 85th Birthday, President

Clinton said that in

politics he admired no one more than Gandhi. Martin Luther King never saw Gandhi

but he showed that Gandhi’s principle of non-violence works even in modern

times. And, in his own way, Nelson Mandela too demonstrated that non-violence

is superior to violence. These are days when people tend to dismiss Sathya

and Dharma rather quickly, claiming that they won’t work in the age of

globalisation. This is a myth and it is tragic that such falsehood is being

actively peddled amongst the gullible. If we concede that it is God who has

created the Universe of which we are a part, and that God is Sathya, Dharma and

Prema, then we too must have those genes of basic values. If we have come from

the Creator, how can we not have at least some of the “Divine genes”? Under the

circumstances, to deny Sathya and Dharma is to deny ourselves as well as God.

Nothing could be more foolish. Today’s generation might tend to dismiss

Gandhi but, as Einstein said of him, centuries hence people would wonder

whether such a man did really walk on earth. When Swami talks of values like

Prema, Ahimsa etc., we nod our heads and clap but later dismiss them as

irrelevant for this age. That is not true; as long as there are humans on

earth, values are a MUST, and instead of dismissing them because we are too

weak to follow them, we must take courage from the shining example of Gandhi

and try to emulate him, in at least a small measure, by listening to our

Conscience, for example. Well, what do you think? Why don’t you write to us

and tell us? Jai Sai Ram. With Love and Regards, "Heart2Heart"

RadioSai's e-Journal Team, In Sai Service. (Sharing With Sai Love)

Ram.ChuganiRam ChuganiKobe, Japanrgcjp

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