Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born and raised in the town of Porbandar in the State of modern day Gujarat. He was born on 2nd October 1869. He schooled in a nearby Rajkot, a place where his father served as the prime minister to the local rulers. He gained fame and recognition through his extraordinary autobiography. “The Story of My Experiment with the Truth” which forms the basis of this thesis is recorded in detailed form in the autobiography. This paper focuses on the major items outlined in the book. Among the major issues that the essay seeks to address include development of his principles of the truth, the goals he envisioned for his society, and finally, how he employed his principles and truths to achieve the goals.
The philosopher who is commonly described as a ‘compassionate person’ made a myriad of contributions on the idea of the truth. His approach on the aforementioned issue is critical and clear owing to the fact that it is a matter touching on the contemporary world. His arguments are informed by a number of questions without answers. He focuses on an evergreen ideology in the world of today and who is in a better position to say it. It creates the perception of an age where everything does not appear to be absolute but instead keeps on changing. An age where one changes spouses at a rate that is faster as compared changing jobs, jobs faster than cars, and cars at a rate faster than changing hairstyles. The truths in this context are those that have stood the test of time and will surely continue to stand. These are the truths that the philosopher, Gandhi, has emphasized.
In the development of the entire principle of the truth, he strategically combined the truth, sacrifices, non-violence, selfless service and cooperation. In fact, he says that for one to achieve a lot in life, one has to be brave and shun acts of cowardice. He further mentions that the views, suggestions and thoughts should be presented in a manner that does not lead to violence. The author reiterates that the truth is at the top of everything. In reference, he says that there is no god that is higher than the truth. This confirms the idea that the truth tops everything. He presents an important view that non-violence in the real sense is the ultimate solution to all the problems in the world.
The ideologies that were presented by the author are still relevant to date. For instance, his truths are formed by the aspect of non-violence. These two ideas remain the two sides of the same coin. The two issues are pegged on each other and none could work on its own. It is realized that issues such as evil thought, false utterance, hate or wishing of something bad unto someone would automatically shatter the aspect of non-violence thus killing the truth.
Gandhi’s truths are founded on his teachings, and the spirit of his whole life to understand oneself, and the aspect of not taking any ideology for granted. He views the truth as a powerful tool that cannot be compared to the weapons of mass destruction. Truth which he often refers to as ‘Satya’ was actually the sovereign principle of his life. The philosopher dedicated his entire life to the conquest of the truth. The journey of the search for the truth was full of experiments and through it he could learn from his mistakes. The said experiment was termed ‘My Experiments with Truth.’ The concept of the truth as per Gandhi is beyond any comparison and consideration. It is one that must embrace the truth and nothing else throughout one’s life. In his conquest for the matter in issue, he came up with the term Satyagraha, which translates in layman as an endeavor for truth. This truth was backed by important ideas such as non-violence. This was pivotal to the entire idea. It has been mentioned as an aspect which formed the other side of the coin with the truth taking the remaining side of the said coin.
Apart from his tireless conquest for the truth, Gandhi also envisioned a number of goals for his society. He had a number of contributions in the search of the solution to societal problems. To begin with, his attempt to make or rather create a difference in the lives of those who are suffering is an indication of his strong belief in the well-being of humanity. He actually dedicated his life to address problems associated with the world-order by attempting to provide answers. It is evident that his teachings have enabled the world to share in abundance the spirituality and dynamic of his philosophy. He strongly believed that all people are equal and important, class or race notwithstanding. His major object was the welfare of the people.
Gandhi impacted new ideas to the society. Many of the ideas that he proposed were pegged on the concept of Sarvodaya. These were based on certain specific issues; for instance, the idea that the good of an individual is contained in the good of all. This factored in the aspect of viewing each and every individual as equally important and that one should not be looked down upon. The other argument is that the work of a lawyer is more or less the same as that of a barber. This would be observed as long as both of them do the work to earn a living or rather draw their livelihood from the work. The final aspect is the fact that life is compared to labor.
He looks at the ‘Sarvodaya’ society based on equality and liberty. He perceives of a society without a centralized authority. This kind of society is one where the economic and political atmosphere rests at the village. The philosopher envisioned a kind of society where the spirit of love, fraternity, truth, non-violence and self-sacrifice are the pillars of its foundation. In this kind of system, every individual is expected to do individual labor, and to embrace the ideas of non-possession. Gandhi’s ideals in the fight for a better society have been realized well beyond the achievements of any other individual. He also opted for the state to be an agency of power. This was informed by the idea of desiring to realize the good for all and not an individual. The other important goal that he envisioned for his society was the service for common welfare. This was meant to create new social and economic values. It is from this that the concept of possession bears the idea of trusteeship. This would mean that the people would work for the good of any other individual.
It would be proper to note that the goals that were envisioned by Gandhi could not be realized in any typical society. This is due to the fact that they demanded more than that which could be achieved. The so called Sarvodaya ideals are not practical or rather cannot be realized. The ideas will, however, be recognized as so noble and worth being embraced. An attempt to put them into practical application cannot be realized. The reason for the impracticability of them is rather simple, as to the fact that to establish a society on the basis of the mentioned principles in India is out of reach.
The last part of the paper seeks to address how the author employed his principles/ truths to achieve the goals. He mentions that the truth is actually the sovereign principle which employs a number of other principles. This is demonstrated through a number of aspects. First, it lays the emphasis that the author placed on the idea of practicing a lifestyle. This particularly construed the act of avoiding bad karma. It addresses the issue of violence which is viewed as a common part of the lives of residents all over the world.
The second aspect is pegged on his life experiments with the truth. He dedicates his entire life to non-violence as a major priority and in fact one of the top priorities. He regarded non-violence as a way of seeking the truth. Truth and non-violence are perceived by him as two ideas which are inseparable. He views them as two issues which formed each side of the same coin. He often found himself in a personal fight with the idea. He strongly believed that he was morally and spiritually incapable applying his belief in non-violence. Despite the fight at some point, which was inbuilt, he progressively gained insight and stronger conviction and went ahead to seek non-violence throughout his life.
The third aspect of his vision encapsulates ending pain and suffering. In his conquest for the truth, he sought to end pain and suffering inflicted on the people. This was one important area that allowed people to seek intellectual development and accorded people an opportunity to pursue social avocations. He advocated for the avoidance of being consumed through obtaining power and pleasure which would prompt destructive behaviors. The fourth and the final aspect critical to understanding is the gentleness. This is pegged on the idea of non-violence. It embraces the aspect of choosing to be noble. All the ideas captured were employed by Gandhi in ensuring that the goals he wanted to achieve pertaining to his truths were realized.
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