MAHATMA GANDHI: FAQs / Myths

A collection of FAQs / Myths about Mahatma Gandhi


Maharma Gandhi

ABOUT GANDHI


MYTH & FAQ

  1. Father of the Nation
  2. Responsible for Pakistan
  3. 55 Crores to Pakistan
  4. Belligerence of Muslims
  5. Sufficient for everybody's Need, not for Greed
  6. Nobel Peace Prize
  7. Quotation of Customer
  8. Seven Social Sins
  9. Gandhi's 11 Vows
  10. Scrawny Man?
  11. Was Gandhi a Saint?
  12. His Tradition Carried On?
  13. Was Indira Gandhi Related to Gandhi?
  14. Nonviolence According to Gandhi
  15. Inventor of Nonviolence?
  16. Is Nonviolence Hard to Practice?
  17. What is Satyagraha?
  18. Is Nonviolent Action Easiest Way?
  19. Nonviolence Works?
  20. Myth about Gandhi's Nonviolent Action
  21. Solving Unemployment
  22. Advocating Vegetarianism?
  23. What do Gandhi think about Christianity?
  24. Why Gandhiji was against Violence?
  25. Gandhiji, you have said that men who do not work, eat stolen food. What does it mean?
  26. Gandhi's letter to the Viceroy regarding the sentence of death to Bhagat Singh

ARTICLES

  1. Gandhi And The Black People of South Africa By James d Hunt
  2. Resistance To The Soul: Gandhi And His Critics - By Michael F. Plotkin

Further Reading

(Complete Book available online) Spitting At The Sun

SPITTING AT THE SUN
(Assassination of Gandhi :
Facts vs. Falsehood)

About This Book


Written by :Chunibhai Vaidya
Translated by :Ramesh Dave
Printed by : Umiya Offset,
Tavdipura,
Ahmedabad - 380 014,
India.
First Published : November 1998
Printed and Published by :
Gujarat Loksamiti,
Loksamiti Compound
Lal Darwaja,
Ahmedabad - 380 001


Mahatma Gandhi And His Myths

MAHATMA GANDHI AND HIS MYTHS

About This Book


Written by : Mark Shepard
I.S.B.N : 0-938497-19-7
Copyright : © 1990, 1996, 2001, 2002 Mark Shepard

All rights reserved.
Permission is granted to copy or reprint for any noncommercial use.
Earlier versions of this book were published in booklet form by Simple Productions, Arcata, California, 1990, and in ebook form by Simple Productions, Los Angeles, 2001. This is the first paperback edition.
Ordering: Print-on-demand distributors of this book include Replica Books (Baker & Taylor). It can be ordered through most U.S. booksellers, but not from the publisher


Other Useful Links


A Myth About Gandhi's Non-violent Action

I'd like to bust one more myth about Gandhi's non-violent action. This one is held both by many of Gandhi's critics and by many of his admirers. In fact, the misunderstanding is so common and so basic that I have to say that many-maybe most-admirers of Gandhi's methods really miss the point.
Just as I did when I began my study of Gandhi.
Prior to that study, most of my experience with political activism had been with Marxists, and I had pretty well absorbed their worldview. But later, after exploring several spiritual traditions, I felt I could no longer endorse the Marxists' methods.
How then to oppose injustice and reform society? I hoped that Gandhi held the answer. It seemed to me he had meant to work out just what I was looking for a way of defeating and overthrowing the oppressors of the world, but by moral means.
That was my myth about Gandhi; that was my filter. I had to read an entire book and a half about Gandhi before it struck me-and it struck me hard-that Gandhi was not talking about defeating or overthrowing anyone.
Satyagraha-Gandhi's non-violent action-was not a way for one group to seize what it wanted from another. It was not a weapon of class struggle, or of any other kind of division. Satyagraha was instead an instrument of unity. It was a way to remove injustice and restore social harmony, to the benefit of both sides.
Satyagraha, strange as it seems, was for the opponent's sake as well. When Satyagraha worked, both sides won.
That concept did not pass at all easily through my filter, and I understand why so many others miss it entirely. But it is, really, the essential difference between Gandhi's Satyagraha and so much of the non-violent action practiced by others.
You may wonder, how did Gandhi himself come to this amazing attitude? He said it this way: "All my actions have their source in my inalienable love of humankind."
You see, love for the victim demanded struggle, while love for the opponent ruled out doing harm. But in fact, love for the opponent likewise demanded struggle.
Why? Because by hurting others, the oppressor also hurts himself.
Of course, the oppressor isn't likely to be aware of that. He may be thoroughly enjoying his power and wealth. But beneath all that, his injustice is cutting him off from his fellow humans and from his own deeper self. And when that happens, his spirit can only wither and deform.
Now, that's not obvious, and if you don't believe it, I don't know any way I might convince you.
But if that does pass through your filter, you may be well on your way to understanding Gandhi.

Source: Mahatma Gandhi and His Myths- By Mark Shepard