Mahatma Gandhi, the mystic
Mahatma Gandhi belonged to the race of mystics says IBONIO D’SOUZA
If you enjoyed reading this article, you can help support our journalism by adding OHeraldo as a preferred source.
Judged in the perspective of history or human behaviour through time, Gandhiji was a unique phenomenon. He was a “little man”, poor in physique and ungainly in appearance; yet he had something rock-like in him which did not bend or bow before insolent might. He was best described in the words of Jawaharlal Nehru on the occasion of his 75th birthday: “How can a book tell us about him and his strange and wonderful personality that has gripped the millions in India? In this world of hatred and utmost violence and the atom bomb, this man of peace and goodwill stands out, a contrast and a challenge. Wherein does his strength lie? Wherein his power and authority? Has he drunk somewhere from the secret Spring of Life which has given strength to India through the ages?”
Gandhiji was a mystic. Regardless of their race, religion, creed or times, mystics have dedicated themselves to the business and method of love of God, men and the whole world, reaching union with the Absolute, through the mystic way.
The Bhagvad Gita aptly describes such mystics: “They are asleep in the world of senses in which ordinary men are awake; they are awake in the world of the Spirit in which ordinary men are asleep.”
Religious practices followed by a mystic are different from those of the devout. He is actuated by an intense desire not to postpone re-union with God only after death. This leads him to rise above the ordinary prescriptions of religion. He seeks union with God alone and is not satisfied with anything short of this goal. At the end of this difficult journey the mystic sees ‘God in All and All in God.’ He thus becomes an instrument of God with a complete mastery of the unconscious and conscious forces of his human person.
Writing in Harijan, Gandhiji says “Man’s ultimate aim is the realization of God, and all his activities, social, political, and religious, have to be guided by the ultimate aim of the vision of God.” Speaking on his own aim in life, Gandhiji said: “What I want to achieve, what I have been striving and pining to achieve these thirty years is self-realization, to see God face to face, to attain moksha. All that I do by way of speaking and writing, and my ventures in the political field are directed to this same end.”
At times, he did come face to face, as when he entered upon his 21 days’ self-purifying fast which ended in his release on the sixth or seventh day when he had almost reached death’s door. In answer to a question by a Professor of Islamia College at Peshawar, Gandhiji described how God spoke to him on that occasion: “When I announced my fast of 21 days in jail, I had not reasoned about it. On retiring to bed the previous night, I had no notion that I was going to announce the next morning a fast of 21 days. But in the middle of night a voice woke me up and said: ‘Go through a fast.’ How many’? I asked. ‘21days’ was the answer. Now let me tell you that my mind was unprepared for it, disinclined for it. But the thing came to me as clearly as anything could be.”
At another place, he elaborates the implications of seeing God ‘face to face’: “To see the universal and all-pervading Spirit of Truth face to face, one must be able to love the meanest of creation as oneself. And a man who aspires after that cannot afford to keep out of any field of life (including politics).”
Pursuing the mystic way of life, he came to the conclusion that Truth is God and the only way to find Truth was love. “Such love,” says Gandhiji, yields an influence greater than that of an emperor.” It was the influence of mystics like Jesus, Buddha, St. Francis, Ramakrishna, Sri Aurobindo and Gandhiji which far exceeded the influence of Caesars, Alexanders, empire-builders and masters of millions. Gandhiji’s love of God, as of all mystics, was founded on an unshakable faith in God. At the time of his last fast in Delhi, he said: “With God as my supreme and sole counsellor, I felt that I must take the decision without any other advisers”
“Who am I?” Gandhiji asked and replied: “Ï have no strength save what God gives me. The cause of peace for that matter everything else, is in the good hands of God. Nothing can happen but His will expressed in His eternal changeless Law which is He.” Like Jesus, he died a martyr’s death with the name of the Lord on his lips.
Gandhiji’s love of God, intense and pure, enabled him to face trials, often severe. The test of such intensity and purity, according to Gandhiji, was readiness to cheerfully sacrifice everything for His sake. This is the core of all religions. It enjoins upon the devout the task of cultivating Love for God which includes love for one another and for the entire creation. Many of Gandhiji’s principal followers were knit together by a common bond of affection inspired by the love which he bore them. In some cases, the impact has been greater after his death, as was in the case of Buddha and Jesus.
The mystic way prescribes purging oneself of attachment, wrath and fear. Gandhi placed great emphasis on public and private prayer as a means to purge the heart of passions. According to Gandhiji, worshipping God is like singing the praise of God. Prayer is a compression of one’s unworthiness and weakness.
The mystic way enjoins solitude. Gandhiji had his own way of retiring into solitude by imposing silence upon himself and becoming a hermit in the midst of crowds. He said “Voluntary solitude is the surest way of developing contact with God.” Narrating his own experience he said: “Emptying of the mind of all conscious processes of thought and filling it with the spirit of God unmanifest brings one ineffable peace and attunes the soul with the infinite.” It is through solitude that the great mystics have transfigured themselves into moral leaders of humanity and finally exerted gigantic spiritual influence upon humanity. As the Bible states: “My soul, be thou silent unto God.” “Speak Lord, for thy servant hearkeneth.”
Fasting with Gandhiji was not an act of coercion. Just as prayer is addressed by a mystic to God for His mercy and kindness, so is fasting. It is the last weapon in the armoury of ahimsa. When human ingenuity fails, the votary fasts. This fasting is a spiritual act addressed to God. Fasting is resorted to primarily for self-purification. Jesus and Mohammed fasted so as to see God face to face.
Those who feel the presence of God within are transformed. Such testimony is to be found in the experiences of an unbroken line of prophets and sages in all countries and climes. Such a one was Gandhiji. His great contemporary, the world famous scientist and seeker of truth, Albert Einstein, said of him: “Generations to come would scarcely believe that such a one like him ever trod this earth in flesh and blood.”
++++
Workings of the lazy man’s mind
Pradeep R Lawande
A lazy man is averse to labour. He is indisposed to action and effort. Words like slothful, inactive, dull, idle, lethargic, inert, sluggard and sleepy are alternatives to this term ‘laziness’. The word ‘susegad’ in our Konkani language is a bit milder and rather sweeter version of laziness in meaning. The above mentioned word originated from the Portuguese word ‘sossegado’. We Goans would obviously not like to be called lazy men, even in any moderate measure. But, we would indeed be happy if the world calls us susegad. Everyone knows that we Goans, perform all our daily routine in a susegad way. As a result of this, eventually we shout in the names of outsiders. On knowing that the lunch breaks in Goan cities are between the period 1pm and 4pm, one astonished trader from Delhi once asked me, “You Goans require three hours to eat?”
Though a lazy man can stop his limbs from doing any physical work, he is unable to stop his mind from thinking. It would keep on thinking. Maybe that lazy man’s mind seeks different excuses all the time for avoiding the tasks that are ahead. A drunkard, it is sad, often searches for one or the other reason to drink. ‘Pinewaleko pineka bahana chahiye’. During happy moments, he would drink to celebrate happiness. And during sad moments, he would drink to forget the sorrowful incidents. And when there is neither happiness nor sadness, he would still drink to keep himself from boredom. Similarly, our Lazybones would always seek different reasons for not doing any work. If he is entrusted with some responsible task, then he may argue that he is too young for that work. And if he is told to do some physical work, then again he would grumble and say that he is too old for that. If a lazy man is given some groundnuts and told to roast and eat them, he would most probably say, “Well, I will eat them raw!”
There are many proverbs in our Konkani language on laziness. I would cite a few of them. “A lazy person is omniscient.” “While it becomes difficult for a lazy man to spend the whole day, for a busy man, even the night is not sufficient.” “Work is worship, while laziness is sin.” “Double expenditure for a miser and double work for a lazy man”.
In any community, a lazy person is a liability. He is a white elephant. His life is ‘Bhusak khar ani dhartarek bhar’ meaning expense for food and burden on Mother Earth. Mahatma Gandhi used to call these lazy persons who thrive on others toil as thieves.
In fact, this characteristic of laziness is found inherent in many creatures. It is as natural as hunger, thirst, sleep and sex. This instinct is commonly found among animals – dogs, cats, cattle, horses and donkeys. Even fierce animals like lions and tigers are not exceptions to this. Therefore, it cannot be surprising that laziness is present in this two-legged animal called man.
But man is a rational animal. He knows what is good and what is bad. Though laziness is inherent in him, he knows how to win out. It is natural that our hair and nails keep growing. But we control their growth by cutting them periodically. Similarly, we ought to keep under control this devil named ‘laziness’ that is inherent in us.
