Incredible things are done in the world simply out of
commitment. A great example is that of Mahatma Gandhi. If you look at
this man, he was not talented or anything special, please see. As a
child he did not show great potential. He was not extraordinarily
intelligent. He was not an artist, scientist, or even a very good
lawyer. He could not successfully practice as a barrister in India,
which is why he went to South Africa for a better opportunity. Even
there, he was not very successful. But suddenly, the man made a
commitment towards something. He got so committed that he became a
giant.
I remember what he wrote about his first
case at a court in India – he stood up to argue his case and his heart
sank into his boots. Does this sound like Mahatma Gandhi? The man went
on to move millions of people. With just one incident in his life,
suddenly all his identities broke.
He had gone to South Africa to make a
living and he was doing okay as a lawyer. One day he bought a first
class ticket in a train, got in, and traveled some distance. At the next
station, a white South African got in. This man did not like a
brown-skinned person sitting in first class, so he called the ticket
collector. The ticket collector said, “Get Out!” Mahatma Gandhi said, “I
have a first class ticket.”
“It doesn’t matter, just get out.”
“No, I have a first class ticket. Why should I get out?”
They threw Gandhi out of the train along
with his luggage and he fell on to the platform. He just sat there for
hours. “Why did this happen to me? I bought a first class ticket. Why
was I thrown out of the train?” he thought. It was then that he
identified himself with the larger predicament of the people. Till then
his survival, law, and making money were important to him. But now, he
identified with a much larger problem that existed. He just broke that
little identification and moved into a much larger identity.
Many humans who are historically known as great beings; this is all that
happened to them. They were living with a limited identification. All
of a sudden, an event occurred that broke their identities and they were
able to relate to a larger process happening around them. They did
things that they themselves could not imagine possible.
Gandhi moved millions of people just like
that. Not only in India, anywhere in the world you take the name of the
Mahatma and there is a sense of respect. All this happened at a time
when there were so many leaders who were true giants in India. They were
more talented, better orators and better educated. Yet, this man stood
above them all, simply because of his commitment.
Whatever happens, life or death,
commitment must not change. Truly committed, you express yourself
totally, in every possible way. When commitment is lacking, somewhere
you lose your purpose. When the purpose of why we are here is lost,
there is no question of fulfilling our goals, isn’t it?
So being committed is just something we
have to decide within ourselves. If we are truly committed to whatever
we have taken up in our life, the results are plenty, you know? If
results don’t come, for a committed person there is no such thing as
failure. If I fall down 100 times a day, what to do? Stand up and walk
again, that’s all.
Commitment does not mean aggressiveness;
this must be understood. This is where Mahatma Gandhi’s example is so
apt. He was committed to India’s freedom struggle, but at the same time
he was not against the British people. That was the best part, wasn’t
it? This shows the maturity of the man.
Becoming Mahatma....!
The very aspiration for greatness comes from a very petty mind. It is
always a very ordinary mind which aspires to be special. It is not necessary to
aspire to greatness or to be special. If you make the focus and the ambit of
your life well beyond the concerns of who you are, if you take away this one
calculation, “What about me?” from your life, you will anyway be a great human
being. How great and how recognized you will be in society depends on your
capabilities. You may be a great man in your street or at home, or you may
become a great man in your nation or the world. That depends on a variety of
situations. One thing is the situation you are placed in. Maybe if a Mahatma Gandhi came
today, he would not be as known as he was back then because there was a certain
situation happening at that time. At the right time, the right kind of spirit
came and things happened. Greatness happened to him not because he was seeking
to be great, but because his way of looking at life is way beyond “What about
me?”
Just drop this one calculation from your head, “What about me?”
and function to the best of your ability. In some way you will be great. You
will be a wonderful human being because once you take away, “What about me?”
you are naturally looking at, “What can I do about all the life around me?”
Once you are looking at this, you will naturally enhance your capabilities
because there is so much to do! It is surprising to understand how people in
India claim to be unemployed when there is still so much to do in this country.
You are too concerned about, “What about me?” You are only willing to do a
certain kind of job and are only working to fulfill certain kind of needs, so
you think you are unemployed. Otherwise there is too much to do in this
country. How can you be unemployed?
Take out this one calculation and function to the
fullest of your ability. What has to happen will happen. People may or may not
call you Mahatma, it does not matter. You will live like a Mahatma, you are a
Mahatma. Mahatma means you are a great piece of life. You are a great piece of
life the moment you take away this one calculation from your mind. Then,
wherever you are, you will shine.
Albert Einsteinhad said about Gandhiji: "The future generations
would not believe that a man like him had ever walked on the earth." Gopal Krishna Gokhale
, Gandhiji's guru, had said about him
in 1912: "A purer, a nobler, a braver and a more exalted spirit has
never moved on this earth. He is a man who may well be described as a
man among men, a hero among heroes, a patriot among patriots and we may
well say that in him Indian humanity at the present time has readily reached
its high watermark."
Rabindranath Tagore, while paying him a tribute,
had said: "Here was living truth at last and not only quotations
from books. For this reason the Mahatma, the name given to him by the
people of India, is his real name. Who else has felt like him that all
Indians are his own flesh and blood? When love came to the door of India,
that door was opened wide. At Gandhi's call India blossomed forth
to new greatness, just as once before, when the Buddha proclaimed the
truth of fellow-felling and compassion among all living creatures."
Remembering the great man who graced our lives...
Gandhi was nominated for the Nobel Peace prize five times and the
committee regrets not giving him the Nobel Peace prize to this day.
Gandhi is the source of inspiration to most number of Nobel Peace
prize winners - atleast 6 winners have attributed their principles and
methods to him.
Gandhi was responsible for Civil Rights movement in four continents and twelve countries
Gandhi was arrested 14 times and spent a total of 6 years in prison.
The funeral procession of Gandhi was eight kilometers long.
As a percentage of population, Gandhiji still holds the record for
most number of people attending a leaders political gathering. When he
held a public meeting, upto 80% of the local population showed up.
Bose once said:
If I give a call then 20 lakh people would come, but if Gandhiji gives a call then 20 crore would come.
Great Britain released a stamp 21 years after he died.
Gandhi has influenced almost all leaders of the 20th century. Some
include - Martin Luther King, Syu Ki, Nelson Mandela and many more.
Gandhi walked/travelled almost 18 kms a day (he averaged 15kms
during the Dandi march) - totaling almost 80K during his campaigns from
1913 to 1938. That is enough to walk around the world twice over the
equator.
Gandhi's title "Father of the Nation" was first used by Subhas
Chandra Bose on 6th July,1944 when the Indian National Army started its
march to Delhi.
Gandhi served in the army during the Boer war - he has crusaded against violence since the time he realized the horrors of war.
Gandhi maintained correspondence with a lot of people - Tolstoy,
Einstein and Hitler were among the many, that deserve a mention.
Gandhi salary as a lawyer, adjusted for inflation would be Rs.
1213960/yr today. This would put him in the upper 5% of the income
group, which he gave up to join Congress.
There was a regiment named after Gandhi in Indian National Army.
Gandhi never celebrated our independence, and he was not present
during Nehru's tryst of destiny speech. He was in Kolkata fasting for
religious harmony.
Gandhi rose from a volunteer to the leader of millions in just seven
years - He arrived on Jan 9th 1915 and by 1920, he was leading the Non
-Cooperation movement.
Most relics of Gandhi including the clothes he wore when he was shot are still preserved in Gandhi Museum, Madurai.
Einstein said of Gandhi:
Generations to come will scarce believe that such a one as this walked the earth in flesh and blood.
Gandhi died without any property or a will.
The film "Gandhi" won eight academy awards - the highest for a movie based on a real life person.
Gandhi never held a official position in any political body during the final years of his life.
Gandhi was thinking of dissolving the Congress a day before he died.
Gandhi was held in high regard by every leader of the time in India -
Jinnah, Bose and Gaffar Khan included, despite their political
differences.
Steve Jobs was a fan of Gandhi - his glasses are a tribute
-Some mind boggling facts about Mahatma Gandhi by Amar Prabhu. Source : email from ilango sir
Dr S.Radhakrishnanproclaimed about Gandhiji:
"He has nothing to hide and so is fearless. He looks everyone in
the face. His step is firm, his body upright, and his words are direct
and straight."
What Plato had said long ago is applicable for
Gandhiji. He had said, "There always are in the world a few inspired
men whose acquaintance is beyond price."
Such was the man Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi - a man considered
one of the great sages. He was held as another Buddha, another Jesus,
Indians called him the "Father of the Nation". They showered
their love, respect and devotion on him in an unprecedented measure. They
thronged his way to have a glimpse of him, to hear one world from his
lips. They applied on their foreheads the dust on the path he had trodden.
For them, he was almost an incarnation of God, who had come to break the
chains of their slavery. The whole world bowed to him in reverence. Even
his opponents held him in great respect. His Unlimited Greatness
Mohandas Gandhi was not a great scholar, nor was he a
great warrior. He was not born with exceptional faculties. Neither was
he a good orator, nor a great writer. He did not claim anything exclusively
divine in him. He did not claim being a prophet or having superhuman powers.
He considered himself an average man with average abilities. Born in a
middle class Bania family in an obscure princely State in a corner of
India, he was a mediocre student, shy and nervous. He could not muster
courage to speak in public. His first attempt at legal practice miserably
failed.
But he was a humble seeker to Truth. He was a man with
exceptional sincerity, honesty and truthfulness. For him, understanding
meant action. Once any principle appealed to him, he immediately began
to translate that in practice. He did not flinch from taking risks and
did not mind confessing mistakes. No opposition, scorn or ridicule could
affect him. Truth was his sole guiding star. He was ever-growing; hence
he was often found inconsistent. He was not concernedwith appearing to
be consistent. He preferred to be consistent only with the light within.He
sacrificed his all and identified himself with the poorest of the poor.
He dressed like them, lived like them. In the oppressed and the depressed
people, he saw God. For him, they too were sparks of the divine light.
They might not have anything else, but they too had a soul. For Gandhiji,
soul-force was the source of the greatest power. He strove to awaken the
soul-force within himself and within his fellowmen. He was convinced that
the potentialities of the soul-force have no limit. He himself was a living
example of this conviction. That is why this tiny and fragile man could
mobilise the masses and defeat the mighty British empire. His eleven vows,
his technique of Satyagraha, his constructive programme - all were meant
to awaken and strengthen the soul-force.
He awakened and aroused a nation from semi-consciousness.
It was a Herculean task. For India was not a united country, it was a
sub-continent. It was a society divided in different classes, castes and
races, in people with different languages, religions and cultures. It
was a society where almost half of the population, women, was behind purdah
or confined to the four walls of houses, where one-fourth of the population,
the depressed classes, was living marginalised life, Where many did not
have a single full meal every day. Gandhiji made the oppressed sections
wake up and break their chains. He mobilised the people and united them
to work for the cause of Swaraj, which gave them a sense of belonging,
a sense of purpose. Gandhiji wanted to win Swaraj (Independence) for the
masses. For him, Swaraj did not mean replacement of White masters by brown
masters. Swaraj meant self-rule by all. He said: Real Swaraj will come,
not by the acquisition of the authority by a few, but by the acquisition
of the capacity by all to resist authority when it is abused. He worked
to develop such a capacity. Development of such a capacity involved transformation
of the individual.
Transformation of the individual and transformation of
the society - they were not separate, unrelated things for Gandhiji. Revolutionary
social philosophies had concentrated on changing the society. On the other
hand, spiritual seekers had concentrated on the inner change. Gandhiji
not only bridged the gap between these extremes, he fused them together.
Gandhiji was thus both a saint and a social revolutionary.
For Gandhiji, unity of life was great truth. His principle
of non-violence stemmed from this conviction. Non-violence was not a matter
of policy for him; it was a matter of faith. He applied the doctrine to
all the departments of individual and social life and in so doing revolutionized
the doctrine, made it dynamic and creative. He believed that a true civilization
could be built on the basis of such non-violence only.
He rejected the modern civilization. For him, it was
a disease and a curse. This civilization leads to violence, conflicts,
corruption, injustices, exploitation, oppression, mistrust and a process
of dehumanisation. It has led the world to a deep crisis.The earth's
resources are being cornered by a handful of people without any concern
for others and for the coming generations. The conventional energy sources
are getting depleted. Forests are being destroyed. Air, water, soil-everything
has been polluted. We are living under the shadow of nuclear war and environmental
disasters. Thinking men the world over are looking to Gandhiji to find
a way out of this crisis and to build an alternative model of sustainable
development. Gandhiji knew that the earth has enough to satisfy everybody's
need but not anybody's greed. He had called for the replacement of
greed with love.
Gandhiji is, therefore, now a source of inspiration and
a reference book for all those fighting against racial discrimination,
oppression, domination, wars, nuclear energy, environmental degradation,
lack of freedom and human rights; for all those who are fighting for a
better world, a better quality of life.
Gandhiji is, therefore, no longer an individual. He is
a symbol of all that is the best and the most enduring in the human tradition.
And he is also a symbol of the alternatives in all areas of life-agriculture,
industry, technology, education, health, economy, political organization
etc. He is a man of the future - a future that has to be shaped if the
human race has to survive and progress on the path of evolution.
Ganesha
is the God who helps overcome obstacles; but, He will create obstacles
when good endeavor is obstructed by bad influences; He will clear the
path for the sincere sadhaka. He is Prasannavadanam (of bright countenance)
He is Pranava-Swarupa, the Om personified; so He is auspiciousness itself. Every element of the body of Ganesha has its own value and significance:
The elephant head indicates fidelity, intelligence and discriminative power;
The wide ears denote wisdom, ability to listen to people who seek help and to reflect on spiritual
truths. They signify the importance of listening in order to assimilate
ideas. Ears are used to gain knowledge and his large ears indicate that
when God is known, all knowledge is known;
The curved trunk indicates the intellectual potentialities which manifest themselves in the faculty of discrimination between real and unreal;
The single tusk (the other being broken off) indicates Ganesha’s ability to overcome all forms of dualism
On the forehead, the Trishul (weapon of Shiva, similar to Trident) is depicted, symbolising time (past, present and future) and Ganesha's mastery over it;
Ganesha’s potbelly
contains infinite universes. It signifies the bounty of nature and
equanimity, the ability of Ganesha to swallow the sorrows of the
universe and protect the world;
The position of his legs
(one resting on the ground and one raised) indicate the importance of
living and participating in the material world as well as in the
spiritual world, the ability to live in the world without being of the
world.
The four arms of Ganesha represent the four inner attributes of the subtle body, that is: mind (Manas), intellect (Buddhi), ego (Ahamkara), and conditioned conscience (Chitta). Lord Ganesha represents the pure consciousness - the atman - which enables these four attributes to function in us;
The hand waving an axe,
is a symbol of the retrenchment of all desires, bearers of pain and
suffering. With this axe Ganesha can both strike and repel obstacles.
The axe is also to prod man to the path of righteousness and truth;
The second hand holds a whip,
symbol of the force that ties the devout person to the eternal
beatitude of God. The whip conveys that worldly attachments and desires
should be overcome;;
The third hand, turned towards the devotee, is in a pose of blessing, refuge and protection (abhaya);
The fourth hand holds a lotus flower (padma), and it symbolizes the highest goal of human evolution, the sweetness of the realised inner self.
