Gandhi 36
Gandhi and Bill Wilson were, arguably, the two most powerful men in the 20th century. As there were more people in the 20th century then we were in the previous 14 centuries… That’s a lot of power
Power is of two kinds. Power based on love is a thousand times more effective and permanent than the one derived from fear of punishment.
Non-violence is the greatest force at the disposal of mankind. It is mightier than the mightiest weapon of destruction devised by the ingenuity of man.
In a gentle way, you can shake the world.
Gandhi 37
Gandhi had faith in the inherent goodness latent in men and women:
“A small body of determined spirits fired by an unquenchable faith in their mission can alter the course of history.”
“A nation's culture resides in the hearts and in the soul of its people.”
“You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty.”
But, he could laugh about it: “First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.”
Gandhi 38
Not many people can talk directly and authoritatively about evil, but Gandhi could.
“This suggests that evil cannot by itself flourish in this world. It can do so only if it is allied with some good.”
“Evil endures only because of the support it receives from good people, and cannot survive if that support is withdrawn.”
Gandhi 39
Al-Anon contributes a unique tool to the 12 step canon “Detaching with Love”.
Gandhi is a touch verbose here…but it is still the same deal:
“Attachment begets craving and craving begets wrath. Wrath breeds stupefaction, stupefaction leads to loss of memory, loss of memory ruins the reason, and the ruin of reason spells utter destruction.”
“If things do not bind us, if we are not attached to things even when they are easily available, that, according to me, is a greater test of our attachment than mere withdrawal to a lonely forest.”
Gandhi 40
Gandhi grew up a strict Hindu but attended a temple where the holy Scriptures of both the Muslims and the Hindus were studied for their universal truths. He was eventually murdered, by a Hindu, who believed that Gandhi was conceding too much to the Muslims during parcelling of India and Pakistan after World War II.
“God is the hardest taskmaster on this earth. He tries you through and through. And when you find that your faith is failing, he comes to your assistance and proves that he is always with you, but on his terms, not yours.”
“I believe in both Gods, the one that serves us and the one that we serve. It cannot be that we should render service and should not receive service of any kind.”
“The man who really lives a life of contemplation will outwardly seem a man of the world. His mind may be absorbed in God all hours of the day, but he will move in the world like other men.”
“Seeing God means realization of the fact that God abides in one's heart.”
“I have faith and knowledge, too, that a Power exists beyond reasoning. This suffices for me. I am unable to clarify this any further as I know nothing more in the matter.”
Gandhi 41
Gandhi was sometimes accused being ambitious, but that’s not true.
“Service without humility is selfishness and egotism.”
“Only he who has a spirit of extreme humility can be said to have a resolute intellect.”
Gandhi 42
This next is a tricky tool, particularly for those on OA and FA, because, if you have an eating disorder, it can “set you up” to binge. Talk to your sponsor…first. It is not a 12 step tool, but it is very effective in stopping lust, which if done moderately, and with the help of an experienced sponsor, can help eradicate lust.
Those who make light of dietetic restrictions and fasting are as much in error as those who stake their all on them.
At that time I did not understand, or nor did I believe in, the efficacy of fasting.
Fasting is useful, when mind cooperates with starving body, that is to say, when it cultivates a distaste for the objects that are denied to the body.
“I was anxious to observe chastity in thought word and deed, and equally anxious to devote the maximum time to the nonviolent noncooperation struggle and fit myself for it by cultivating purity. I was therefore led to make further changes and to impose greater restraints upon myself in the matter of food. The motive for the previous changes have been largely hygienic, but the new experiments were made from a religious standpoint.”
“I therefore came to attach greater importance to fasting or having only one meal a day on holidays.”
“Desiring to practice self-restraint, for instance, was a regulation requiring the last meal to be finished before sunset.”
But I know that it does not necessarily follow that fasting and similar disciplines would have the same effect for all.
It is common knowledge that the senses are powerless without food, and so fasting undertaken with a view to control the senses is, I have no doubt, very helpful.
Mind is at the root of all sensuality. Fasting, therefore, has a limited use, for a fasting man may continue to be swayed by passion.
When we are fasting, our desire should be to see God. Our appetites stand in the way, and so we must weaken their hold on us.
To see Him, one should completely conquer one's appetites.
When a man starves his senses, the object of those senses disappear from him, but not the yearning for them. The yearning too departs when he beholds the Supreme.
The observance of celibacy has been found, from experience, to be extremely difficult so long as one is not acquired mastery over taste. Control of the palate has, therefore, been placed as a principle by itself.
Gandhi 43
Gandhi’s objection to Christianity was simple: John 14:6 “No one comes to the Father, except through me”.
He would say:
“I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians.”
“Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.”
And finally, “God has no religion.”
Gandhi 44
Gandhi’s estranged, oldest son Harilal, said that everything good about Gandhi he had learned from his wife Kasturba.
More likely Gandhi learned it from his mother who he credits fit teaching him “ how to take all kinds of hard vows”. She also taught him about fasting and food selection.
“A vow imports stability, ballast and firmness to one's character. What reliance can be placed on a person who lacks these essential qualities?”
“A person unbound by vows can never be absolutely relied upon.”
“To shirk taking vows betrays indecision and want of resolution. One never can achieve anything lasting in this world by being irresolute.”
“A vow is like a right angle. An insignificant right angle will make all the difference between ugliness and elegance, solidarity and shakiness of a gigantic structure. Even so stability or instability, purity or otherwise, of an entire career may depend upon the taking of a vow.”
“The taking of vows that are not feasible or that are beyond one's capacity would betray thoughtlessness and want of balance.”
“The essence of a vow does not consist of the difficulty of its performance but in the determination behind it unflinchingly to stick to it in the teeth of difficulties.”