Mohandas K. Gandhi: The Story of My Experiments with Truth Essay

Truth is the like a vast tree, which yields more than and more fruit, the more you nurture it. The deeper the hunt in the mine of truth the richer the discovery of gems buried there, in the condition of openings for an of every time greater variety of service (Gandhi 191). Mohandas K. Gandhi was born on October 2, 1869, and ever since that day has dedicated his life to the search for truth. During this quest, he became a draw of the Indian Nationalist Movement against British rule and to this day stay a loftyly influential figure in political activism and favorable progress.In his autobiography The Story of My Experiments with Truth, Gandhi parcel of lands stories of his triumphs and falls magic spell trying to innocent(p) India from British rule, all the musical composition trying to stay true to his vows to his fetch and to himself. The point that shows through brightly in Gandhis autobiography is that his determine and deterrent founts about life coincide with his political philosophy. Gandhis master(prenominal) consider on business and politics is the strictness to truth. He explains this considerably when he states Business, they conjecture, is a very practical affair, and truth a motion of trust and they argue that practical affairs are wiz thing, while religion is quite a nonher.Pure truth, they hold, is out of the question in business, one substructure speak it only so far as is suitable. I strongly contested the position in my speech and awakened the merchants to a sense of their duty, which was two-fold. Their responsibility to be truthful was all the greater in a foreign land, beca riding habit the conduct of a few Indians was the measure of that of the millions of their fellow-countrymen (109).Gandhis devotion to truth begins as far back as his high school days. During a spelling examination Gandhi has trouble spelling the vocalize kettle. Seeing this the teacher tries to prompt Gandhi with the point of his boot to model h is neighbors answer, with which Gandhi does not respond cooperatively and was the only one in the clique to misspell the word. He explains, I never could learn the art of write(4). His devotion to truth only is strengthened as he matures at weather he states that he is a, Worshiper of Truth(6) and that, The passion for truth was indispensable in me(9).Gandhi shows an admiration for truth that runs deep in his blood. Most apparent he obtained this ideology from the devotion his mother held within her. He explains of the contact of his mother while stating, The outstanding impression my mother has left on my memory is that of saintliness. She was deeply religious. She would not think of taking her meals without her daily prayers(2). distinctly Gandhi received his committed, religious mindset from his mother the exception was that Gandhis religion was his search for ultimate truth. To begin his odyssey Gandhi travels to London for training to become a barrister.The profession o f barrister comes with the reputation of being filled with lies and trickery, which one might say disputes the purpose of Gandhis existence. However, Gandhi does not mean this is so explaining, As a student I had heard that the lawyers profession was a liars profession. But this did not influence me, as I had no intention of earning either position or money by lying(324). Gandhis pure heart could not be mar by even the most corrupted of professions. After school he returned to India in 1891 and in 1893 accepted a job at an Indian law firm in Durban, atomic number 16 Africa.Gandhi was appalled by the interference of Indian immigrants there, and joined the struggle to obtain basic rights for them. Gandhis intent to honesty and truth combined with his uprising political carriage minded(p) him great respect in the political company. He realizes this when he states, I also saw that my devotion to truth enhanced my reputation amongst the members of the profession, and in spite of the handicap of colour I was able in rough cases to win even their affection(328). Not only is he gaining complete p tranquillityige to win the cases he is doing it despite the nonwhite color of his skin.The honor he earns in and out of the court room allows him to put up a valiant effort in his dispute for Indian rights. His values in his political war are synonymous with the strict values he holds in his real life. One of the primary(prenominal) aspects of his life is religion. To prove this he states, It is that faith which sustains me(335). Faith and religion holds a deep place in his heart and coincides with how he feels politics should be handled. He states, I can say without the slightest hesitation, and yet in all humility, that those who say that religion has nonentity to do with politics do not know what religion mover(454).For instance, when Gandhi goes to experience the Bengal religion he is deeply troubled by the impost of sacrificing a lamb and explains To my mi nd the life of a lamb is no less precious that that of a humilitary psychenel being. I hold that, the more helpless a creature, the more entitle it is to protection by musical composition from the cruelty of man(208). In Gandhis eyes it is not moral to kill any life including one that is less powerful than a human being. This religious view that he holds translates to how he deals with issues in society. such(prenominal) as the terrible Zulu rebellion, a rebellion in South Africa against British rule.Hearing of the rebellion Gandhi did not fight back or fight with the South Africans he exactly set up an Ambulance Corps and helped the South African victims. Through out all of his life Gandhi never at a time harmed anyone to get his political point across, for that was not in his religion to do so. Just as religion affected the way he viewed politics, so did his diet. For a majority of his life Gandhi has been a vegetarian, which was all started by a vow that he promised to his mo ther in his young adult life. The main value that his strict diet has taught him is self restraint in the rest of his life.He mentions this saying, One should eat not in order to transport the palate, but dear to keep the body going(287). When Gandhi gives up the delectation one gets from eating he leaves it simply to the biological need of the task. He explains the difference between his life and of others when he states The diet of a man of self-restraint must be different from that of a man of pleasure, just as their ways of life must be different (292). He uses his value of self restraint to his political advantage when he makes his stance simply by being controlled and not reacting to the situation.For example, while him and some of his pursuit are retrieving water from the well they are faced with great exclaim and are told that they would pollute the water. To combat this, Gandhi uses great self restraint and simply tells everyone, put up with the abuse and continue draw ing water at any cost, this works beautifully, later when he saw that we did not return his abuse, the man became ashamed and ceased to bother us(356). Gandhis use of self restraint and self control give him up the speeding hand in any political fight and like this one, unendingly almost end up in a victory for him in the end.Both his self restraint and non violence values come in to play in Gandhis main political weapon, civil disobedience. courtly Disobedience involves making a stand and taking action against a social injustice, however, using complete peace and never once resorting to violence. Gandhi explains it shell when he says, A nation that wants to come into its own ought to know all the ways and means to freedom. Usually they include violence as the last remedy,civil disobedience, on the other hand, is an absolutely non-violent weapon. (339).An instance where this strategy is used is while the government is trying to force its Indian citizens to pay an unnecessary v aluate on their crops with no exceptions, even in a famine. Gandhi forms a contract to be signed by all the affected citizens that simply states that they testament not pay the taxes anymore. No violence is used and no steamy or physical pain comes in to play. While Gandhi does not share the consequences of the pledge in his autobiography the reader realizes the courage it takes to stand up to authority calmly and not defensively.A more famous example where there was a beautiful demonstration of civil disobedience is the sodium chloride march that Gandhi led his followers on. When the citizens were being taxed excessively on salt, Gandhi leads them on a march to the sea to make their own salt in protest to the governments taxes. Gandhi explains the powerful affect this has on the tidy sum when he states, The people had for the moment lost all fear of penalisation and yielded obedience to the power of love which their new friend exercised(367). genteel disobedience not only wor ks magically to solve social problems it does it without create harm to either party involved and causes a strong friendship atmosphere to develop, which works faster to solve difficult political issues. Civil disobedience is a contribution to todays society that impart never be forgotten and never taken for granted. Gandhi will unceasingly leave an impact in every persons heart. He used his extraordinary values and morals to free the Indian citizens from acidulated British rule.His politics never deterred from what he held deep in his heart. He answered the tough questions such as, What if everything is pointing me to do something I do not cogitate in? and Where do you pure tone aside from your values for the betterment of your community? . His answer to these questions are always follow your heart and follow what you believe is true. Gandhi dealt with extreme turmoil and through out every obstacle never stopped on his quest for the truth. While not every step there was smo oth, it was a determined path none the less.When Gandhi explains the symbol of a Court of Justice he states that it is a pair of scales held evenly by an impartial and blind but sagacious woman. Fate has purposely make her blind, in order that she may not judge a person from his exterior but from his intrinsic worth(127). This is comparable to Gandhis view on life and politics. He does not judge the people around him, he takes the situation for what it is, truly, and does what he believes in his heart is right. While Gandhi has had an unimagined impact in politics forever his real lessons begin in finding ourselves, and the truth within ourselves.