Mahatma Gandhi - Karma Yogi

All great saints and sages have been karma yogis for they truly perform perfect actions
without the slightest hint of egoism. They work for the sake of the work and often help others
to raise themselves above the mire of social conditions or spiritual poverty. Perhaps one of
the most well known examples in this century is Mahatma Gandhi.

Throughout his life, Gandhi performed incredible amounts of work, for he was very little
influenced by personal likes and dislikes, whims and fancies. He cleaned his mind of the
dross that clutters the mind of most people. Because of this, he was able to view the
problems of India and the work that was his duty with pristine clarity. He was able to see only
the facts of a situation, without the superimposition of his imagination. His mind was like a
magnifying glass - able to see all the details of a situation with heightened clarity. Most
people have a mind that is like a misted magnifying glass - only able to see a distorted
picture of things because of inner problems.

Most decisions in the world are influenced by personal friendships and enmities. Gandhi was
able to overcome this one-sidedness, and it is through this that he obtained his strength. He
had no real personal friends in the usual sense of the word, for all people were his friends,
even his so-called enemies. None of his actions were done as a favour. He acted because
something needed to be done; the situation demanded it to be so. He did that which
benefited people in general, that which was for the overall good of the people of India. Some
people say that he was stubborn, but actually he did things because he knew his own mind,
could understand the mind of other people and the world situation in a clear light and not in a
distorted light. He was a politician who had a strong mind, yet he showed deep and sincere
compassion for all. By vocation he was a politician; by aspiration he was a great karma yogi.

Mahatma Gandhi achieved what he did by cleaning out his mind, by continuous effort, and
by karma yoga. Because of this, he did tremendous amounts of work, both efficiently and
without leaving things half done. He never seemed to tire of his work, unlike most other
people who do an hour's work and then lose interest or become fatigued. Why was this? The
answer of course lies with the mind. Gandhi, through relentless practice of karma yoga,
backed up by other forms of yoga including bhakti and kriya yoga, was able to clean his
mind. A mind that is calm can do the most intense work for long periods of time without
fatigue. It doesn't become diverted by external distractions or inner disturbances. It remains
focused on the work in hand. Most people waste their energy on useless petty egotistical
arguments, or heated discussions about nothing. Their mental energy and in turn their
physical energy, is dissipated in all directions. Little or no power goes towards the work that
is to be done. If it did, then large amounts of work would be done; each and every person
would be transformed into a Gandhi.

The combination of concentrated power and detachment becomes almost irresistible. It

moves mountains, as the saying goes. Gandhi clearly illustrated this, and we emphasise
once more that detachment doesn't mean disdain for the things of the world. Gandhi, though
he was surely detached, nevertheless felt and expressed overwhelming compassion.
Detachment is the attitude of mind where no matter what happens, there is no negative
repercussion and resulting mental disturbance in the mind. One does the best that one can
do with one's ability, but at the same time one doesn't allow external events to unbalance or
'throw' the mind. This attitude can be slowly developed and applied as it was so successfully
done by Mahatma Gandhi.

Gandhi saw that every action he did was part of the divine process of the universe in
accordance with the will of the cosmic consciousness. He was only an instrument, a mere
witness of his actions. He did not believe in building complex structures of idea but always
tried to implement his idea in everyday practice.

Gandhi equates salvation with self-realisation. He equates self-realisation with the realisation
of God . And he equates God with truth . By ' truth ' he does not mean subjective or relative
truth , but the absolute truth , ' the Eternal principle ' , that is God. As he says , " I worship
God as truth only .I have not yet found him but I am trying seeking after him and daily the
conviction is growing upon me that he alone is real and all else is unreal ". Later on, Gandhi
went one step further to say ' Truth is God ' . Thus for him truth was the sovereign principle
of morality and it was also the absolute truth , the eternal principle . Truth is , therefore , both
the definition of the most central moral dimension and the very essence of the Absolute .
And by saying ' Truth is God ' , he affirms that God is to be found whenever there is
truth-in-action. Therefore Truth or God meant the genuine morality of action here and now
.Since this is so, the end does not justify the means . The means must be equally noble and
pure . Thus his religion is not about mythology and rituals , but about the moral action of the
individual . ' Truth is God ' means that God is essentially to be found in the truthful , moral act
performed here and now.

The doctrine of Ahimsa , non-violence was always at the very center of Gandhi's thought and
work . He always believed in non-violence and lived by it. There was an obvious relationship
between the doctrine of truth and non-violence :Satya and Ahimsa. As Gandhi says , I made
the early discovery that if I was to reach God as truth and truth alone I could not do so
except through a perfect vision of truth can only follow a complete realisation of Ahimsa .To
see the universal and all- pervading spirit of truth face to face one must be able to love the
meanest of creation as oneself Ahimsa is the farthest limit of humility

For Gandhi , Truth and Ahimsa are so intertwined that it is practically impossible to
disentangle and separate them . As he puts it , Ahimsa is the means and Truth is the end .
Thus, Ahimsa becomes our supreme duty and Truth becomes God . " Truth exists , it alone
exists. It is the only God and there is but one way of realising "Thus, Ahimsa is the
fundamental means by which Truth can be realised , that is , Moksha can be achieved .
Ahimsa includes non-violence in thought , feeling and action and also means total humility ,
love , compassion and service .The idea of Satyagraha is the logical culmination of the
ideals of Truth and non-violence.Gandhi used Satyagraha - passive resistance- as a strategy
very successfully during the freedom struggle and in fact , it remains the most important
aspect of the Gandhian thought .The novelty of this concept was the re-interpretation of both
, the political action and the political aim in religious terms.Gandhi's political thought is
obviously influenced by his religious ideas and therefore truth and non-violence are the
important aspects . He also gives equal importance to the means with which to achieve the
end. For him , the end does not justify the means .As a political thinker he was obviously an
anarchist. He saw both , property and the state , as statement of violence . He believed that
as people realize themselves and as they became natural , they will start regulating
themselves . In such a case , there will be no need for any extent, regulatory mechanism
and then state will wither away.The ideal society envisaged by Gandhi would be a class-less
and state society , where every village will be a self - sufficient unit . There will be no cities ,
and no heavy industry and there will be no need for the police and the counts and pressers.
Political power will be completely de-centralized and voluntary co-operation will characterize
economic , political and social relations.Thus, in Gandhi , the saint and the politician go in
hands , proclaiming the power of truth , non-violence , love and peace