The Story of My Experiments with Truth
The Story of My Experiments with Truth (available at wikisource) is the autobiography of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (or Mahatma Gandhi) and was first published in two volumes, Volume I in 1927 and Volume II in 1929.
Mahatma Gandhi (1869 - 1948) was a charismatic leader who brought the case for India's independence to world attention. His philosophy of nonviolence, for which he coined the term satyagraha, has influenced nonviolent resistance movements to this day.
Overview
In his own words Gandhi takes us through some of the experiences in his life, with each chapter forming at least one important learning lesson to him.
One of his main beliefs was using nonviolence as a means of protesting against acts of oppression and using international law to seek justice. This meant he never raised his fists or lowered himself to barbarism however much he was provoked, violated or attacked. As Gandhi said:
- An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.
- There are many causes I am prepared to die for but no causes I am prepared to kill for.
The embracing of nonviolence was part of his wider mission to seek truth. Gandhi tried to achieve this by learning from his own mistakes and conducting experiments on himself.
Gandhi found that uncovering the truth was not always popular as many people were resistant to change, preferring instead to maintain the existing status quo because of inertia, self-interest or misguided beliefs. He also discovered that once the truth was on the march nothing could stop it. All it took was time to achieve traction and gain momentum. As Gandhi said:
- The Truth is far more powerful than any weapon of mass destruction.
Gandhi said that the most important battle to fight was in overcoming his own demons, fears and insecurities. He thought it was all too easy to blame people, governing powers or enemies for his personal actions and wellbeing. He noted the solution to problems could normally be found just by looking in the mirror.
Gandhi questioned religious practices and doctrines regardless of traditions or beliefs. On the subject of Christianity he noted that:
- The only people on earth who do not see Christ and His teachings as nonviolent are Christians.
Although Gandhi was born a Hindu he was critical of many religions, including Hinduism. He wrote in his autobiography:
- Thus if I could not accept Christianity either as a perfect, or the greatest religion, neither was I then convinced of Hinduism being such. Hindu defects were pressingly visible to me. If untouchability could be a part of Hinduism, it could but be a rotten part or an excrescence. I could not understand the raison d'etre of a multitude of sects and castes. What was the meaning of saying that the Vedas were the inspired Word of God? If they were inspired, why not also the Bible and the Koran? As Christian friends were endeavouring to convert me, so were Muslim friends. Abdullah Sheth had kept on inducing me to study Islam, and of course he had always something to say regarding its beauty.
He then went on to say:
- As soon as we lose the moral basis, we cease to be religious. There is no such thing as religion over-riding morality. Man, for instance, cannot be untruthful, cruel or incontinent and claim to have God on his side.
Gandhi was critical of the hypocrisy in organised religion, rather than the principles on which they were based. He also said the following about Hinduism:
- Hinduism as I know it entirely satisfies my soul, fills my whole being ... When doubts haunt me, when disappointments stare me in the face, and when I see not one ray of light on the horizon, I turn to the Bhagavad Gita, and find a verse to comfort me; and I immediately begin to smile in the midst of overwhelming sorrow. My life has been full of tragedies and if they have not left any visible and indelible effect on me, I owe it to the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita.
Later in his life when he was asked whether he was a Hindu, he replied:
- Yes I am. I am also a Christian, a Muslim, a Buddhist and a Jew.
One of Gandhi's sources for inspiration came from Leo Tolstoy's Christian anarchist book The Kingdom of God is Within You [1] of which he described in his autobiography as having "overwhelmed me" and "left an abiding impression".
Reference
- An Autobiography: The Story of My Experiments with Truth (available at wikisource) [2] ISBN 0807059099