Mahatma Gandhi
Velandy Manohar, MD
151st Birth Anniversary [Oct 02, 1869]
Aa No Bhadraha, Krutva Yantu Viswatataha
May noble thoughts come to us from all directions
The Father of our Nation Bharat that is India was martyred 9 months and 15 days after India earned her Independence after a struggle that extended at least to 1857 when Rani Lakshmi Bhai of Jhansi, India lead an uprising for Independence. From 1885 when it was formed the Indian National Congress dominated the struggle for Freedom.] Rani Lakshmi Bhai was The Symbol of Resistance against British Rule. She died a martyr’s death as did Mahatma Gandhi. She dressed as a man and fought valiantly on horseback and died on Field of Battle of Kotah Ki Serai on June 17, 1858
Ba aur Bapu Amar Rahe!
[ May Kasturba and Mahatma Gandhiji live in the hearts of all forever.]
As we seek the best means of honoring the life of Mahatma Gandhiji affectionately addressed as Bapu we can find within our own selves, families and nations creative strategies to exemplify these Five Key Concepts enunciated by Bapu which brought self-respect and self-rule to the people who lived in the subcontinent of India Swaraj, Swadeshi, Satya, Satyagraha, and Sarvodaya steadfastly securely, and unwaveringly anchored in A-hinsa [Non-violence] in one’s life can engender the experience of a darshan of Mahatma Gandhi.
“On the occasion of Mahatma Gandhi's 70th birthday. "Generations to come, it may well be, will scarce believe that such a man as this one ever in flesh and blood walked upon this Earth.”
Albert Einstein
https://www.nytimes.com/1991/03/14/opinion/albert-einstein-universe-maker.html
I offer brief excerpts from a speech George Bernard Shaw made at the Savoy Hotel in London on Oct. 28, 1930, at a public dinner in Einstein's honor sponsored by a committee to help needy Jews in Eastern Europe.
“Napoleon and other great men were makers of empires, but these eight men whom I am about to mention were makers of universes and their hands were not stained with the blood of their fellow men. I go back 2,500 years and how many can I count in that period? I can count them on the fingers of my two hands.”:
Pythagoras, Ptolemy, Kepler, Copernicus, Aristotle, Galileo, Newton and Einstein -- and I still have two fingers left vacant.” No longer.VM
If I may please make a couple of nominations to take their rightful places on the two remaining fingers it would include the illustrious names of two martyred Satyagrahis who adopted Non- Violent Civil Disobedience to achieve liberty and equal justice for all : Mahatma Gandhi and Nobel Peace Prize Winner Dr. Martin Luther Jr. VM
Mahatma Gandhiji’s Policy Screening Test.
“Before you do anything, stop and recall the face of the poorest, most helpless destitute person you have seen and ask yourself this, “Is what I am about to do going to help him.”
“My notion of democracy is that under it the weakest shall have the same opportunities as the strongest…No country in the world today shows any but patronizing regard for the weak...True democracy cannot be worked by twenty men sitting at the center. It has to be worked from below, by the people of every village.”
Even if you are a minority of one, the Truth is the Truth. Mahatma Gandhiji [Bapu]
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/why-we-need-heroes/201412/why-jesus-is-hero-billions
Mahatma Gandhi, a Hindu, had nothing but praise for Jesus, describing him as "a man who was completely innocent, offered himself as a sacrifice for the good of others, including his enemies, and became the ransom of the world." Referring to Jesus' sacrifice at the cross, Gandhi said, "It was a perfect act." Would like to add these truths: “ Deus caritas est” God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him" (I Jn 4:16 POPE BENEDICT XVI’S encyclical). Mahatma Gandhi practiced both aspects of this Axiom- Self less for all aspects of Creation and established communities of love for God and Humanity and the communities they worked in and in his Ashrams in South Africa and in India where caste and creed were subsumed into a community of love for your neighbors even those who seek to enslave you with the yoke of the British Empire.
In the Encyclical entitled Caritas in Veritate Pope Benedict XVI explores “Human Development” and postulates the truths subsumed in the state of Caritas in Veritate. Mahatma Gandhiji’s life appears to correspond to the Mission of the Catholic church postulated by Pope Benedict XVI, “to recall "the great principles that show themselves to be indispensable for building human development in the coming years" It was clear to Mahatma Gandhiji Swaraj Self Rule of one’s passions and ambitions is the prerequisite to achieve and sustain Political Independence from the British Empire by being committed indefatigably to Truth [Satya],Satyagraha and Sarvodaya in all aspects of our life in our relationships with every one regardless of their race, faith tradition, caste, gender, ethnicity, political affiliations and especially if they advocated views that differed entirely from our own. Pope benedict XVI vision for authentic human development and considered key is the Respect for life. “Openness to life is the Center of True development”.
Mahatma Gandhiji’s deep commitment to serving as a diligent conserving steward in harmony with the environment, the people of India and the world steward finds echoes in vision of Pope benedict XVI’s “ "The way humanity treats the environment influences the way it treats itself, and vice versa", cautions the Pontiff, adding: "The book of nature is one and indivisible: it takes in not only the environment but also life, sexuality, marriage, the family, social relations: in a word, integral human development" (51). Pope Bendict XVI -Encyclical Caritas in Veritate
I offer translations of a few verses from the song - Ae Maalik Tere Bande hum : O! God our Creator. We are your People. The film “Do Aankhen Bara Hath”[2 loving eyes and 12 industrious hands] has a poignant story line, an enlightened Jail Warden takes on six notorious, surly murderers and makes them work hard with him on a dilapidated country farm and produces great harvest. He wants to rehabilitate them through hard work and kindly guidance. The film ends with the death of the warden at the hands of his enemies, and manifests how reformed his pupils after all his work with them indeed considering Mahatma Gandhi was martyred by people opposed to his leadership which enshrined the belief that the World is my family which informs these pleas for grace: May there be no desire for revenge May every step ahead be for love May every thought of enemity be banished. O! Lord, we are your people”
“Frail is the human being With a million shortcomings
The world exists due to your benevolence Since you have given us birth You will also bear our burdens
May we walk the path of righteousness and refrain from evil So that we may depart fulfilled and smiling”
“When we are faced with atrocities O Lord, hold us firm
We reply with kindness for their evil
May there be no desire for revenge May every step ahead be for love May every thought of enemity be banished. O! Lord, we are your people”
I would like in conclusion share these noble insights of the martyred Ms. Anne Frank which like many millions of people I have cherished and treasures. These perfectly convey my thoughts and feelings on this august remembrance of the Birth of a martyred revered Soul who once like Ms. Anne Frank walked, laughed, loved and shared their blessed lives generously and magnanimously with us and generations to come.
- Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl
- “In the long run, the sharpest weapon of all is a kind and gentle spirit.” Encapsulates the Soul of Bapu [Mahatma Gandhi]
- “Look at how a single candle can both defy and define the darkness.”
- “How wonderful it is that nobody needs wait a single moment before starting to improve the world”
- “He who has courage and faith will never perish in misery!”
- “Human greatness does not lie in wealth or power, but in character and goodness. People are just people, and all people have faults and shortcomings, but all of us are born with a basic goodness.”
- “Riches can all be lost, but that happiness in your own heart can only be veiled, and it will still bring you happiness again, as long as you live. As long as you can look fearlessly up into the heavens, as long as you know that you are pure within, and that you will still find happiness.
- “Everyone has inside of him a piece of good news. The good news is that you don’t know how great you can be! How much you can love! What you can accomplish! And what your potential is!”
- I’ve found that there is always some beauty left – in nature, sunshine, freedom, in yourself; these can all help you. Look at these things, then you find yourself again, and God, and then you regain your balance
- “As long as this exists, this sunshine and this cloudless sky, and as long as I can enjoy it, how can I be sad?”
- “It’s difficult in times like these: ideals, dreams and cherished hopes rise within us, only to be crushed by grim reality. It’s really a wonder that I haven’t dropped all my ideals, because they seem so absurd and impossible to carry out. Yet I keep them, because in spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart”
Om Asato Maa Sad-Gamaya |
Tamaso Maa Jyotir-Gamaya |
Mrtyor-Maa Amritam Gamaya |
Om Shanti, Shanti Shaantih ||
1: Om, Lead us from Unreality (of Transitory Existence) to the Reality (of Self),
2: Lead us from the Darkness (of Ignorance) to the Light (of Spiritual Knowledge),
3: Lead us from the Fear of Death to the Knowledge of Immortality.
4: Om Peace, Peace, Peace
Sarvesham Svastir Bhavatu, Sarvesham Shantir Bhavatu, Sarvesham Poornam Bhavatu, Sarvesham Mangalam Bhavatu
Sarve bhavantu sukhinaḥa, Sarve santu niraamayaha, Sarve Bhadraani pasyanti, Mā kaścit dukha bhāgbhavet.
May there be happiness in all, May there be peace in all, May there be completeness in all, May there be success in all. Om May all be happy. May all be healthy. May we all experience what is good and let no one suffer. May peace prevail in all the spheres
Samaano Mantra…
Let our speech be one; united our voices! May our minds be in union with the thoughts of the Wise. Sharing a common purpose; we worship as one.
Let our aim be one! Let our hearts be joined as one. United be our thoughts. At peace with all, may we be together in harmony
May peace prevail in all three spheres.
Durjana Sajjana…
"May evil minded individuals be transformed to humane persons. May humane persons attain to peace within. May those who have attained to Peace achieve freedom.
Poornam-Adaha Poornam-Idam
The infinite being has assumed unto Himself the mystery of finitude. And in him who is love the finite and the infinite are made one.
Joy is the realization of the truth of oneness, the oneness of our soul with the world and of the world-soul with the supreme lover.
Velandy Manohar, MD
Past Chairman, CT Valley Hindu Temple Society and for a blessed period of time I served with rpofound gratitude ad Priest.
Distinguished Life Fellow- Am. Psychiatric Assoc.[APA]
Past President, Indian American Psychiatric Association.
Past President, Asian American Caucus of APA
Founding and Past Steering Committee of Psychotherapy Caucus-APA
Founding Member- Community Resilience Collaborative of Middlesex County- CT
Member Steering Committee- Doctors for America-CT