The Gandhi Project by Nashid Fareed-Ma’at

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Mohandas K. Gandhi, Non-Violent Resistance (Satyagraha), 1961, p. 384, excerpt from The Nation’s

Voice, 1947, p. 109 - 110, Part II.

Mohandas K. Gandhi, An Autobiography: The Story of My Experiments with Truth, 1957, p. 13.

Mohandas K. Gandhi, Hind Swaraj (Indian Home Rule), 1938 reprint from original publication in 1909,

p. 55, Chapter XVII: Passive Resistance.

Mohandas K. Gandhi, Non-Violent Resistance (Satyagraha), 1961, p. 298, excerpt from Harijan, July 8,

1939.

of love were greater scientists than any of our modern scientists.

Only our explorations have not gone far enough and so it is not

possible for every one to see all its working.”

Gandhi sought to assist others in realizing the workings of the law of love and other laws that

affect the unity of all life. To the extent we achieve this goal we can bring an end to the illusions

of having enemies and that our individual existences are not affected (or significantly affected)

by others. For Gandhi, Satyagraha is a science seeking to better understand, apply, and increase

awareness of these laws -- even if Satyagrahis must take on pure self-suffering to advance this

science. For if we succeed in sufficiently advancing the spiritual science of Satyagraha, we will

cultivate a world without enemies: a world (and possibly an universe) that rests upon the

foundation of a collective beneficent experience.

“I know that nothing is impossible for pure love.”

“The force of love is the same as the force of the soul or truth.”

THE BRAHMACHARYA CONNECTION

“Non-violent action without the co-operation of the heart and

the head cannot produce the intended result. The failure of our

imperfect ahimsa is visible to the naked eye.”

Mohandas K. Gandhi, Non-Violent Resistance (Satyagraha), 1961, p. 44, excerpt from From Yeravda

Mandir, 1932, Chapter III: Brahmacharya Or Chastity.

Mohandas K. Gandhi, An Autobiography: The Story of My Experiments with Truth, 1957, p. 210.

The heart is tied to the search for Truth, the mind greatly informs how this search is

carried out. This makes their beneficent cooperation essential to living ahimsa. The human

heart is already attuned to Truth, and if we honor it, listen to it, and do not cover it with

impurities it will naturally fulfill its role in the search for Truth. Similar to how the physical

heart will pump blood throughout the body if maintained with health and left unimpeded, the

“spiritual” heart will serve its function. But the mind: oh, how countless human societies have

conditioned and polluted generations of human minds with selfishness, destruction, and evil. We

must address the mind if we wish to attain its necessary cooperation to live ahimsa and embrace

Truth. To this point, Gandhi stated, “Victory will be ours in the end, if we non-cooperate with

the mind in its evil wanderings.”

Gandhi embraced brahmacharya, in part, as a method to address the mind. Brahmacharya

is often perceived as a vow of celibacy, but this is only a partial understanding. Gandhi

explained, “Brahmacharya means control of the senses in thought, word and deed.”

And there

are ways to attain such control outside of oppressive methods, ways that are instead rooted in

beneficence and (inner) strength. To bring further clarity to his definition of brahmacharya,

Gandhi wrote:

“Brahmacharya means control of all the organs of sense. He, who

attempts to control only one organ, and allows all the others free

play, is bound to find his effort futile. To hear suggestive stories

with the ears, to see suggestive sights with the eyes, to taste

stimulating food with the tongue, to touch exciting things with the

hands, and then at the same time expect to control the only

remaining organ is like putting one’s hands in the fire, and

expecting to escape being burnt. He therefore who is resolved to

control the one must be likewise determined to control the rest. I

have always felt, that much harm has been done by the narrow

definition of brahmacharya [as celibacy]. If we practise

Mohandas K. Gandhi, Non-Violent Resistance (Satyagraha), 1961, p. 45, excerpt from From Yeravda

Mandir, 1932, Chapter III: Brahmacharya Or Chastity.

Mohandas K. Gandhi, An Autobiography: The Story of My Experiments with Truth, 1957, p. 317.

simultaneous self-control in all directions, the attempt will be

scientific and possible of success.”

Gandhi, as influenced by his religious path of Hinduism, sought self-control through various

practices of self-restraint. And such restraint is necessary. Think about it: if one has little or no

control over what enters one’s mind, the case for many humans, what is there to stop a person

who receives an angry thought from acting out on that thought with violence? Restraint. And

restraint can be carried beyond merely addressing thoughts that appear in one’s mind, it can

mature to the stage of restraining certain types of thoughts (i.e. destructive) from even entering

one’s mind. Gandhi affirmed this with the following remark about brahmacharya:

“It [brahmacharya] begins with bodily restraint, but does not end

there. The perfection of it precludes even an impure thought.”

For Brahmacharya, this is pursued by controlling one’s senses. Other religions and spiritual

traditions may provide other means to develop and spiritually mature the benefits attained

through brahmacharya. Thus, I will not focus so much on the specifics of living brahmacharya,

but instead on what is to be gained through this approach that is required to live ahimsa and

Satyagraha.

Let me take a moment to comment on the shift of language from Gandhi’s time to now.

In dealing with brahmacharya, Gandhi made references to passions, animal passions, lusts, the

carnal mind, brutes, and self in various contexts. The spiritual vocabulary has shifted since his

time such that some of what he referred to with these terms are now more commonly connected

with the term “ego.” I will leave his words unchanged but, when appropriate, I will use ego in

my writing to contextualize Gandhi’s points.

Brahmacharya begins with taking a vow. Vows are not things to be made lightly or

created from a place of ignorance. Many religious and spiritual traditions of vows have been

carefully developed and perfected over time through the trial and experimentation of many

aspirants, so that lessons acquired can be applied by future aspirants. For this reason, it is

And these need not always be human, as mystics throughout the ages have had non-human teachers and

guides. But for most humans, they should probably seek human teachers and guides.

Mohandas K. Gandhi, An Autobiography: The Story of My Experiments with Truth, 1957, p. 207.

strongly suggested that anyone seeking to take on a vow consult guides or teachers.

They will

be able to discuss what is entailed, so possible vow aspirants can seriously reflect on if they

sincerely wish and are ready to embrace a vow process. Guides and teachers will also be able to

provide guidance and support to fulfill the vow(s) and attain the benefits to be gained from the

process. To share a mystic saying that has some relevance, “a student draws the teacher right for

her or him.” If the student is sincere, she or he will draw (or be drawn to) a teacher or guide who

can serve that sincerity. If a student is not sincere, well, many false teachers and guides

abound...

Vows are commonly associated with restraints and limitations on behavior. To this

Gandhi responded, “I realized that a vow, far from closing the door to real freedom, opened it.”

The brahmacharya vow includes refraining from actions that feed and sustain the inability to

control one’s senses. If we accept this as the full extent of brahmacharya, then it is we who have

prematurely limited its scope. It is by working within appropriate restraints that we cultivate

(personal) space, skills, understanding, and abilities to realize the extent to which we surrender

control of our senses, so we may then acquire (or re-acquire) such control for ourselves. The

restraints of vows should be crafted with great care so that they guide aspirants away from

actions and practices that are counter to the goal. And they should include practices that will

move us toward the goal, even if the purpose of such practices is not evident to those of us in the

early stages of living the vows. To give an example, a person who has taken a vow of celibacy

may not be aware how food directly affects one’s senses and behavior. Thus, a vow condition

that restricts choice of food (i.e. no spicy food, no meat) may seem absurd to this person. But if

the person adheres to the vow condition, she or he may come to see the wisdom of this

restriction. Even if the person does not realize it, she or he still receives the benefit of fulfilling

the vow condition. This same dynamic played out with many who doubted Gandhi’s early calls

to affect social change non-violently: they did not realize until after the fact how a path of

ahimsa and Truth-holding (Satyagraha) could transform persons and structures rooted in

violence.

Mohandas K. Gandhi, An Autobiography: The Story of My Experiments with Truth, 1957, p. 461.

Mohandas K. Gandhi, An Autobiography: The Story of My Experiments with Truth, 1957, p. 211.

Mohandas K. Gandhi, An Autobiography: The Story of My Experiments with Truth, 1957, p. 455.

“A pledge once taken, I argued, must not be broken afterwards...”

This is important,

especially since inclinations to break vows are usually only encountered when we face difficulty.

Think about it: who breaks an easy vow? Gandhi stated the following regarding some of his

difficulties with brahmacharya:

“Let no one think that it is impossible because it is difficult. It is

the highest goal, and it is no wonder that the highest effort should

be necessary to attain it.”

A vow aspirant rarely realizes the full scope of transformation required to move from a

destructive state to a beneficent state. For brahmacharis (one who has taken the brahmacharya

vow), they rarely fully realize the extent to which they do not control their senses -- and often

how much their senses control them -- until they progress in fulfilling the vow. The same is true

for those who seek to free themselves from the reign of their ego. Addressing these unforeseen

challenges can seem quite daunting, especially when these may bring one to face the core of who

one is -- or perceives one’s self to be. Rare is the selfish person who is willing to release who

she or he is to fulfill a vow, let alone anything else. For this reason, Gandhi constantly preached

the importance of selflessness. But even for difficulties that emanate from causes other than

selfishness and ego, commitment to fulfill the vow will go a long way to carrying vow aspirants

through difficult periods. And for those who fulfill the vows, the difficulties encountered are

often seen as minimal to the benefits attained by completely fulfilling the vow.

Gandhi also offered another valuable piece of advice regarding vows:

“The ideal of truth requires that vows taken should be fulfilled in

the spirit as well as in the letter.”

The letter of a beneficent vow keeps us clearly away from destructive acts; but it is the pursuit of

the spirit of the vow that leads us to the bountiful beneficence that lays beyond the mere

abstinence of destruction. In this way, living the spirit AND letter of the vow, we are able to

Mohandas K. Gandhi, An Autobiography: The Story of My Experiments with Truth, 1957, p. 209.

Mohandas K. Gandhi, An Autobiography: The Story of My Experiments with Truth, 1957, p. 321.

Mohandas K. Gandhi, An Autobiography: The Story of My Experiments with Truth, 1957, p. 209.

discover and embrace the fullness of the vow. This leads to wholeness and completeness, this

transforms vow aspirants into something more than they were prior to fulfilling the vow.

Many vow processes will look to affect beneficent shifts in the fundamental life

approaches of aspirants -- which also sometimes elicits resistance from some aspirants unwilling

to release destructive fundamentals. An example of a fundamental life approach is how Gandhi

dealt with his diet in the context of brahmacharya:

“Control of the palate is the first essential in the observance of the

vow. I found that complete control of the palate made the

observance [of brahmacharya] very easy, and so I now persued

[pursued] my dietetic experiments not merely from the

vegetarian’s but also from the brahmachari’s point of view. As

the result of these experiments I saw that the brahmachari’s food

should be limited, simple, spiceless, and, if possible, uncooked.”

As a result, Gandhi shifted from eating merely “to please the palate, [instead] just to keep the

body going.”

The “limited, simple, spiceless” approach to eating also permeated into his

general way of life. He embraced a path of limited possessions, taking only what he needed. He

embraced living in simplicity: from his way of dress to his actions, refraining from extravagance

and luxuries. He even embraced a spiceless, or what some may call a “boring,” way of life that

focused on seeking Truth and living ahimsa - shedding the pursuit of adventure and “having

fun.” This, in part, reflected his sincerity to his vow: that when a vow is embraced with depth,

more profound lessons can be gained from living seemingly basic tenets. Consider how many

people have embraced the diet restriction as merely that: a restriction on food selection, not a

lesson to be applied to the whole expanse of one’s life.

The search for depth in the dietetic vow tenet led Gandhi to another significant

realization: “As an external aid to brahmacharya, fasting is as necessary as selection and

restriction in diet.”

Much has been made of some of the public fasts Gandhi undertook to

Mohandas K. Gandhi, Non-Violent Resistance (Satyagraha), 1961, p. 318, excerpt from Harijan, April

15, 1933.

Mohandas K. Gandhi, An Autobiography: The Story of My Experiments with Truth, 1957, p. 56.

Mohandas K. Gandhi, An Autobiography: The Story of My Experiments with Truth, 1957, p. 320.

affect change in India, examples including his fast almost till death to end violence among

Hindus and Muslims. But there was something deeper Gandhi discovered in fasts:

“A complete fast is a complete and literal denial of self. It is the

truest prayer.”

Referring to fasts as prayer clearly makes fasts a spiritual act. And the complete denial of self

may be interpreted in modern vocabulary as a complete denial of the ego. The pursuit and

embrace of selflessness, even if only temporarily, may allow us to realize the extent of our

selfishness. And selfish beings often crave and seek out pleasures, acting on passions that lack

restraint and willingly seek satisfaction through even harmful means. But following pleasures

and passions to their source leads to the mind.

Gandhi’s self-examination of himself in living the dietetic vow tenet brought him to

realize: “the real seat of taste was not the tongue but the mind.”

He further expounded upon

this point:

“Passion in [humanity] is generally coexistent with a hankering

after the pleasures of the palate. And so it was with me. I have

encountered many difficulties in trying to control passion as well

as taste, and I cannot claim even now to have brought them under

complete subjection.”

Lack of complete control does not mean we should compromise our efforts in seeking complete

control or the various stages of control we develop in quest of the ultimate goal. And certainly

every progressive step toward the goal should be well maintained so that we do not regress.

Even in striving for and progressing toward the goal we are able to learn lessons that bring us

closer to it -- an important aspect of the vow process.

Mohandas K. Gandhi, An Autobiography: The Story of My Experiments with Truth, 1957, p. 329.

But back to the mind as being the seat of pleasures and passions. As much as fasting led

Gandhi to his own mind, he realized there are limitations for using fasting to address the mind:

“Though I have made out an intimate connection between diet and

brahmacharya, it is certain that mind is the principal thing. A

mind consciously unclean cannot be cleansed by fasting.

Modifications in diet have no effect on it. The concupiscence of

the mind cannot be rooted out except by intense self-

examination, surrender to God {Truth} and, lastly, grace. But

there is an intimate connection between the mind and the body,

and the carnal mind always lusts for delicacies and luxuries. To

obviate this tendency dietetic restrictions and fasting would appear

to be necessary. The carnal mind, instead of controlling the

senses, becomes their slave, and therefore the body always needs

clean non-stimulating foods and periodical fasting.”

(bold emphasis

mine)

I would caution readers against taking the previous quote as a blind endorsement of fasting. As

will be addressed later in the book, Gandhi put certain preconditions in place before engaging in

fasts -- notably that anyone who fasts be in good health. But whether we engage in fasts or not,

intense self-examination, personal cleansing and development, surrender to Truth, grace, and

refraining from “feeding” passions and attachments (and the ego) are practices we can embrace.

Effective vow processes bring an aspirant to face one’s self, and provide the opportunity

(some say invitation) for the aspirant to understand who she or he truly is and has become.

Aspirants who embrace the vow process with depth will not only fulfill the vow tenets, but

engage the process as one of self-discovery. Gandhi was brought face to face with his carnal

mind, in which his fixation with taste and other selfish passions were rooted. He confessed such

in his autobiography:

“I have considered myself to be a heavy eater. What friends have

thought to be my restraint has never appeared to me in that light.

If I had failed to develop restraint to the extent that I have, I should

Mohandas K. Gandhi, An Autobiography: The Story of My Experiments with Truth, 1957, p. 320.

Mohandas K. Gandhi, Non-Violent Resistance (Satyagraha), 1961, p. 44, excerpt from From Yeravda

Mandir, 1932, Chapter III: Brahmacharya Or Chastity.

Mohandas K. Gandhi, Non-Violent Resistance (Satyagraha), 1961, p. 95 - 96, excerpt from Harijan,

October 13, 1940.

have descended lower than the beasts [animal passions] and met

my doom long ago.”

He also confessed to struggles with sexual passion and lusts at various points in his life. These

can be very difficult things to face, but be faced they must lest they prevent us from seeking and

living Truth. Passions and wants for pleasure very rarely extinguish themselves and vow

processes will seek to have these addressed so aspirants do not remain bound to them. Gandhi

gave the following warning to those who will allow passions and desires to remain in their

minds, even if they refrain from acting them out:

“We are told in the [Bhagavad] Gita, and experience will

corroborate the statement, that the foolish man, who appears to

control his body, but is nursing evil thoughts in his mind, makes a

vain effort. It may be harmful to suppress the body, if the mind is

at the same time allowed to go astray. Where the mind wanders,

the body must follow sooner or later.

“... we must put forth a constant endeavour to bring the mind under

control. We can do nothing more, nothing less. If we give way to

the mind, the body and the mind will pull different ways, and we

shall be false to ourselves.”

To further emphasize the importance of dealing with one’s mind, Gandhi cautioned:

“For he who lusts with the thought will ever remain unsated and

will end his life a moral wreck and burden on the earth. Such a

one can never be a full Satyagrahi.”

Mohandas K. Gandhi, Non-Violent Resistance (Satyagraha), 1961, p. 318, excerpt from Harijan, April

15, 1933.

Mohandas K. Gandhi, Non-Violent Resistance (Satyagraha), 1961, p. 320, excerpt from Harijan, March

18, 1939.

Mohandas K. Gandhi, Non-Violent Resistance (Satyagraha), 1961, p. 322, excerpt from Harijan, October

13, 1940.

Mohandas K. Gandhi, Non-Violent Resistance (Satyagraha), 1961, p. 322, excerpt from Harijan, October

13, 1940.

Thus, the importance of a pure, clean mind that holds nothing contrary to its purity is made

evident.

As helpful as fasts are in cultivating benefits of the brahmacharya vow, no vow tool is

without dangers. Gandhi explained, “There is no doubt that, like everything that is good, fasts

are abused. That is inevitable.”

He acknowledged:

“Fasting is a potent weapon in the Satyagraha armoury. It cannot

be taken by every one. Mere physical capacity to take it is no

qualification for it. It is of no use without a living faith in God

{Truth}. It should never be a mechanical effort nor a mere

imitation. It must come from the depth of one’s soul. It is

therefore always rare.”

This genuine living of Truth, which comes from one’s soul, that is necessary for fasting also

guided Gandhi’s approach to Satyagraha. And such genuineness can be cultivated through a

vow process. The warnings of “mechanical effort” and “imitation” apply as much to fasting as

to Satyagraha work -- or what is sometimes referred to as “non-violent” work modeled after

Satyagraha. Fasting and Satyagraha are potentially powerful weapons that have a science of

their own. They have limitations that are shaped by self-restraint and humility. They require

careful planning, preparation, and training -- not training in its more limited contemporary

context, but in the moral / spiritual development approach of Satyagraha. Purity and a living

confidence in Truth are mandatory. Also, “Infinite patience, firm resolve, single-mindedness of

purpose, perfect calm, and no anger must of necessity be there.”

In fact, Gandhi went on to

declare: “no one who has not devoted himself to following the laws of ahimsa should undertake

a Satyagrahi fast.”

And I stress: all the above conditions apply not only to fasting but to

embracing Satyagraha too.