Gandhi

[Guest guest]

Mahatma Gandhi wrote his autobiography entitled 'Experiments with Truth'.

His life was a reflection of these experiments with the 'ideal of truth'

 

It is easy to dismiss the term 'truth' as simplistic rhetoric.

This term that we use so casually defies easy explanation.

It is very interesting to see how major scientists, mathematicians or

philosophers grapple with this concept of truth.

 

For example Karl Popper the famous philosopher is forced to define

Truth as that 'Which is not an untruth'.

 

In simple terms this statement says that truth can only be explained in

terms of itself.

It will defy any further classification.

 

The life and teachings of Gandhi are the reflection of the

Upanishad teaching 'Satyameva Jayate' - "Truth alone triumphs".

 

We reflect on his life and teachings today.

It was on 30th of January that he was shot dead.

[Guest guest]

i would like to say something regards gandhi:

1.gandhi the individual was a mahatma---but gandhi the leader was not

pragmatic enough.

2.he was a public figure and his actions have impacted/continue to impact

upon generations upon generations in the subcontinent---and so he cannot

escape censure.whether or not gandhi was highly responsible for india's

independence is a highly debatable point.the partition that followed india's

"bloodless" independence was a bloodbath---to say that one man's ahimsa led

to much himsa would not be entirely wrong.

3.non-violence as an ideal has always existed in india but it was given

singular and undue prominence in india during the buddhistic-jain

movements.let us not forget rama-krishna were kshatriyas who did not

hesitate to wage a war against the enemy on principled grounds.

4. gandhi's peaceful dictatorial methods are well-documented---how he

sidelined netaji subhas chandra bose and others just to satisfy his own

principles are also well known.

5.whatever respect gandhi gets ,maybe he desrves it--but if he wanted to

conduct any experiments with truth he should have done it in a himalayan

cave not at the expense of a nation.politics and staesmanship is not run

spiritual foundations--it is run on commonsense and practical wisdom

---one's own subjective spiritual pursuits may be followed in a cave not in

public life.gandhi is quite famous---but greater and more luminous than him

india has produced far more greater heros and spiritual giants who have

preferred to go away unsung-they realized the truth- not merely

"experimented" with it.

6.gandhi's assassin was no freak---he was a highly motivated and clear young

man, equally if not more fanatic in his convictions as gandhi.his testimony

in court "may it please your honour" moved even the judge to praise him.i

have read both "my experiments with truth" and nathuram godse's court

testimony--i found godse to be more sure of himself......everybody can read

godse's book and gandhi's book and judge for themselves.

7.Gandhi’s major fault was the indiscriminate imposition of the principle of

non-violence on one & all regardless of the person’s fitness for that

principle.

gandhi tried to please everyone and in the end pleased no one.

 

every indian has great respect for gandhi the individual who felt so much

for the common massess of india---but it is not reqd. that every one will

adore methods and acts of his public life.let us not hesitate to evaluate

gandhi the leader,and let us not try to put him on a pedestal.

universal respect is acheived only by the spiritual giants

---ramakrishna,vivekananda,ramana maharishi,sister nivedita---let us not try

to potray gandhi as a giant and belittle the real giants.gandhi may have

been a aspiring giant but he definately was not a full fledged one---else he

would have stayed away from politics.rgds-devendra

rgds--devendra.

____

Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com