A Few Theosophical
Teachings
As Expressed by Mohandas
Gandhi
Carlos Cardoso
Aveline
Gandhi (1869-1948)
1. Religion Must Not Separate People
According to Theosophy, the same universal truth
permeates all legitimate religions, philosophies and sciences.
And Mohandas “Mahatma” Gandhi wrote:
“Religions are not for separating men from one
another, they are meant to bind them. I should love all the men - not only in
India but in the world - belonging to different faiths, to become better people
by contact with one another, and if that happens the world will be a much
better place to live in than it is today. I plead for the broadest toleration
and I am working to that end. I ask people to examine every religion from the
point of view of the religionists themselves. I do not expect India of my dream
to develop one religion, that is, to be wholly Hindu or wholly Christian or
wholly Mussalman, but I want it to be wholly tolerant, with its religions
working side by side with one another.”
He added:
“The need for the moment is not one religion, but
mutual respect and tolerance of the devotees of the different religions. We
want to reach not the dead level, but unity in diversity. Any attempt to root
out traditions, effects of heredity, climate and other surroundings is not only
bound to fail, but it is a sacrilege. The soul of religions is one, but it is
encased in a multitude of forms. The latter will persist to the end of time.
Wise men will ignore the outward crust and see the same soul living under a
variety of crusts. (…) Truth is the
exclusive property of no single scripture.”
“Every religion is as precious to me as my own
Hinduism (…..) No thought of conversion is permissible to me at all. We must
help a Hindu to become a better Hindu, a Mussalman to become a better Mussalman
and a Christian to become a better Christian (…..) We must eradicate from our
midst the secret pride that our religion is more true and that another’s is
less so. Our attitude towards all religions must be absolutely clear and
sincere.” [1]
2. The Problem With Christianity
Gandhi knew how to face error and hypocrisy, and he told
his readers:
“An English friend has been at me for the past thirty
years trying to persuade me that there is nothing but damnation in Hinduism and
I must accept Christianity. When I was in jail I got from separate sources no
less than three copies of Life of Sister
Therese, in the hope that I should follow her example and accept Jesus as
the only begotten son of God and my Saviour. I read the book prayerfully but I
could not accept even St. Therese’s testimony. I must say I have an open mind,
if indeed at this stage and age of my life I can be said to have an open mind
on this question. Anyway, I claim to have an open mind in this sense that if
things were to happen to me as they did to Saul before he became Paul, I should
not hesitate to be converted. But today I rebel against orthodox Christianity,
as I am convinced that it has distorted the message of Jesus. He was an Asiatic
whose message was delivered through many media and when it had the backing of a
Roman emperor, it became an imperialist faith as it remains to this day. Of
course, there are noble but rare exceptions, but the general trend is as I have
indicated.” [2]
3. Truth is Better Than God
Theosophy dismantles the
sectarian idea of monotheistic gods. Although Mohandas Gandhi frequently refers
to “God” in his writings, this does not constitute a problem from the point of
view of theosophy, for he often clarifies:
“My
uniform experience is that there is no other God than Truth.” [3]
This statement is correct
in esoteric philosophy, and it essentially
coincides with the motto of the theosophical movement: “There is no religion
higher than truth”.
The definition of God as Nothing
but Truth also means that there is no monotheistic god and therefore
churches are both godless and truthless.
Gandhi’s definition of God is basically
consistent with the teachings of the famous Letter 10 in the Mahatma
Letters (or letter 88 in the Chronological edition):
“We deny God both as
philosophers and as Buddhists. We know there are planetary and other spiritual
lives, and we know there is in our system no such thing as God, either personal
or impersonal. Parabrahm is not a God, but absolute immutable law, and Ishwar
is the effect of Avidya and Maya, ignorance based on the great delusion. The
word ‘God’ has been invented to designate the unknown cause of those effects
which man has either admired or dreaded without understanding them…” [4]
Though technically not a “Mahatma” - a title which he
honestly refused to accept - many of Mohandas Gandhi’s ideas were in tune with
the teachings of the true Mahatmas.
4. Nothing New Under the Sun
Gandhi did not want to create a sect around himself. He
wrote:
“There is no such thing as ‘Gandhism’ and I do not
want to leave any sect after me. I do not claim to have originated any new
principle or doctrine. I have simply tried in my own way to apply the eternal
truths to our daily life and problems. (…) I have nothing new to teach the
world. Truth and non-violence areas old as the hills. (…) Our scriptures have
declared that there is no dharma
higher than truth. But non-violence, they say, is the highest duty.” [5]
That there is no dharma (or religion) higher than
truth was an important idea for Gandhi. He stated this motto of the
theosophical movement elsewhere with almost the same words:
“There is no religion higher than Truth and
Righteousness.”[6]
5. The Transcendent Beauty of Truth
According to a popular axiom, the worst sort of blind
man is he who refuses to see. Such an individual is naïve enough to get afraid
of truth, or to believe it is something ugly and destructive.
In fact, Truth can only be ugly in the eyes of those
who prefer to be blind, and Mohandas Gandhi wrote about the deep and transcendent
beauty of truth:
“I see and find beauty in Truth or through Truth. All
truth, not merely true ideas, but truthful faces, truthful pictures and songs
are highly beautiful. People generally fail to see beauty in Truth, the
ordinary man runs away from and becomes blind to the beauty in it. Whenever men
begin to see beauty in Truth, then true art will arise.” [7]
Moral beauty predominates even when stern truthfulness
reveals the ugliness of some situations. Any true vision of human failures
includes the perception of their potential correction. Thus it brings with it
the seeds of the healing process.
6. One Energy Permeates All
In the Declaration of the United Lodge of Theosophists
(ULT), which was founded in 1909, one can read: “The true Theosophist belongs
to no cult or sect, yet belongs to each and all.”[8]
This is a universal truth; and many years after 1909 Mohandas
Gandhi wrote: “If a man reaches the heart of his own religion, he has reached
the heart of the others too.” [9]
The idea applies to every aspect of life. If one knows
himself he will more easily know others. If one is his own friend he will be
friendly to others. If one struggles against mistakes in himself, he will
struggle against mistakes in the outer world, for one’s basic energy inevitably
goes into everything one does.
7. Finding Deep Joy
What is the best way to happiness?
Mohandas Gandhi wrote a few insightful paragraphs on
the art of finding joy by not caring to possess, or control, things. He said:
“I’m a poor mendicant. My earthly possessions consist
of six spinning wheels, prison dishes, a can of goat’s milk, six homespun
loin-cloths and towels, and my reputation which cannot be worth much.”
And he added:
“When I found myself drawn into the political coil, I
asked myself what was necessary for me, in order to remain untouched by
immorality, by untruth, by what is known as political gain. I came definitely
to the conclusion that, if I had to serve the people in whose midst my life was
cast and of whose difficulties I was a witness from day to day, I must discard
all wealth, all possession.”
“I cannot tell you with truth that, when this belief
came to me, I discarded everything immediately. I must confess to you that
progress at first was slow. And now, as I recall those days of struggle, I
remember that it was also painful in the beginning. But, as days went by, I saw
that I had to throw overboard many other things which I used to consider as
mine, and a time came when it became a matter of positive joy to give up those
things. One after another then, by almost geometric possession, things slipped
away from me. And, as I am describing my experiences, I can say a great burden
fell off my shoulders, and I felt that I could now walk with ease and do my
work also in the service of my fellow men with great comfort and still greater
joy. The possession of anything then became a troublesome thing and a burden.”
“Exploring the cause of that joy, I found that if I
kept anything as my own, I had to defend it against the whole world. I found
that there were many people who did not have the thing, although they wanted
it; and I would have to seek political assistance also if some hungry
famine-stricken people, finding me in a lonely place, wanted not only to divide
the thing with me, but to dispossess me. And I said to myself: if they want it
and would take it, they do not do so from any malicious motive, but they would
do it because theirs was a greater need than mine.”
“And I said to myself: possession seems to me to be a
crime; I can only possess certain things when I know that others, who also want
to possess similar things, are able to do so. But we know - everyone of us can
speak from experience - that such a thing is an impossibility. Therefore, the
only thing that can be possessed by all is non-possession, not to have anything
whatsoever. Or, in other words, a willing surrender ….. Therefore, having that
absolute conviction in me, such must be my constant desire that this body also
may be surrendered at the Will of God [10],
and while it is at my disposal, must be used not for dissipation, not for
self-indulgence, not for pleasure, but merely for service and service the whole
of your waking hours. And if this is true with reference to the body, how much
more with reference to clothing and other things that we use?”
Gandhi concluded:
“And those who have followed out this vow of voluntary
poverty to the fullest extent possible - to reach absolute perfection is an
impossibility, but the fullest possible for a human being - those who have
reached the ideal of that state, testify that when you dispossess yourself of
everything you have, you really possess all the treasures of the world”.[11]
Writing in the 19th century, Ernest Renan suggested
that the doctrine of voluntary poverty, as lived and taught by Francis of
Assisi, consists of enjoying a usufruct of the whole universe. For such
a joy to occur, it is important not to search for possession of material
things. [12]
This general model of relationship to the material
world has been adopted by many individuals along the history of the modern
theosophical movement. Among notable examples are Helena Blavatsky, Damodar Mavalankar,
William Judge and Boris de Zirkoff.
Renunciation is related to Ethics, and Mohandas Gandhi
wrote:
“From my youth upward I learnt the art of estimating
the value of scriptures on the basis of their ethical teaching.” [13]
Decades before him, H. P. Blavatsky had stated this
same ancient principle of renunciation to selfishness:
“… The life of altruism is not so much a high ideal as
a matter of practice. (….) The Ethics of Theosophy are even more necessary to
mankind than the scientific aspects of the psychic facts of nature and man.” [14]
Gandhi rejected titles and
homage. Although the word Mahatma has now become universally attached to
his name, he was not happy to be called that way. He said:
“I am conscious of my own limitations. That
consciousness is my only strength. Whatever I might have been able to do in my
life has proceeded more than anything else out of the realization of my own limitations.”
“The only virtue I want to claim is truth and
non-violence. I lay no claim to superhuman powers. I want none. I wear the same
corruptible flesh that the weakest of my fellow being wears and am liable to
err as any. (…) For, confession of error is like a broom that sweeps away dirt
and leaves the surface cleaner than before. I feel stronger for my confession.”
“The mahatma I leave to his fate. Though a
non-cooperator [15] I shall gladly
subscribe to a Bill to make it criminal for anybody to call me mahatma and to
touch my feet. Where I impose the law myself, at the ashram, the practice is criminal.” [16]
In another occasion, Gandhi wrote:
“Truth to me is infinitely dearer then ‘mahatmaship’,
which is purely a burden. It is my knowledge of my limitations and my
nothingness which has so far saved me from the oppressiveness of
‘mahatmaship’.” [17]
He also confessed:
“I have become literally sick of the adoration of the
unthinking multitude. I would feel certain of my ground if I was spat upon by
them.” [18]
NOTES:
[1] “The Message of Mahatma Gandhi”, Compiled and Edited
by U.S. Mohan Rao, Publications Division, Ministry of Information and
Broadcasting, Government of India, New Delhi, 1968, 136 pp., see pp. 37-38.
[2] “All Men Are Brothers”, Life and Thoughts of Mahatma
Gandhi, UNESCO, p. 46.
[3] “All Men Are Brothers”, Life and Thoughts of Mahatma
Gandhi, UNESCO, p. 39.
[4] “The Mahatma Letters”, T.U.P.,
Pasadena, California, USA, 494 pp., Letter X, p. 52. In the Chronological
edition (Philippines), see Letter 88. The
quotation is in the first paragraph.
[5] “All Men Are Brothers”, UNESCO, 1958, p. 47.
[6] “All Men Are Brothers”, p. 75.
[7] “All Men Are Brothers”, UNESCO, p. 74.
[8] “The ULT Declaration” is easy to find in our associated
websites.
[9] “All Men Are Brothers”, UNESCO, p. 59.
[10] As we have seen, the word
“God”, for Gandhi, means but Truth and Altruistic Love. For further examination
of the issue, see “All Men Are Brothers”, UNESCO, pp. 39, 58, 61, 65. The
difference between Gandhi’s and Theosophy’s viewpoint regarding this topic is only
nominal and has no real substance.
[11] “All Men Are Brothers”,
UNESCO, pp. 44-45.
[12] “Nouvelles Études D’Histoire
Religieuse”, Ernest Renan, Calmann-Lévy, Éditeurs, Paris, 1884, 533 pp., see
Preface, pp. III-IV.
[13] “All Men Are Brothers”, p.
45.
[14] “Five Messages”, H.P.
Blavatsky, The Theosophy Company, Los Angeles, 1922, 32 pp., see p. 12. The
pamphlet is available at our associated websites.
[15] Non-cooperation - M. K. Gandhi
did not recognize the legitimacy of colonial State in India.
[16] “All Men Are Brothers”, Life
and Thoughts of Mahatma Gandhi, UNESCO, 1958, Paris, 196 pp., see pp. 38-39.
[17] “All Men Are Brothers”, Life
and Thoughts of Mahatma Gandhi, UNESCO, 1958, Paris, 196 pp., p. 43.
[18] “All Men Are Brothers”, Life
and Thoughts of Mahatma Gandhi, UNESCO, 1958, Paris, 196 pp., p. 39.
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See also the text “Mahatma Gandhi and Theosophy”, which is
easy to find in our associated websites.
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On the role of the esoteric movement in the
ethical awakening of mankind during the 21st century, see the book “The Fire and Light of Theosophical Literature”, by
Carlos Cardoso Aveline.
Published in
2013 by The Aquarian Theosophist,
the volume has 255 pages and can be obtained through Amazon Books.
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