Mahatma Gandhi Philosophy

We are living in the most peaceful century of human history, yet everywhere we turn we see only violence and hatred towards each other. Often we wonder what happened to compassion and consideration for our fellow human beings, why we go to war over ideological differences and why we waste so unnecessarily when we have the solutions within our grasp. These relate to some of the key teachings of one of the world’s most loved and influential leaders of our recent history: Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. Gandhi believed in a free world. He believed in global peace and community, people living in tune with nature, self-efficiency and love for one’s self and others, and despite his assassination in 1948, Gandhi’s teachings still hold unquestionable significance and relevance in our world today.

His teachings and philosophy were known an Gandhism. One of the two most key principles of Gandhism were Ahisma and Satyagraha. Ahisma can be translated to non-violence – one of Gandhi’s most fundamental ways of being – and Satyagraha which can be translated to “truth-force” (Satya – truth, Agraha – firmness of force). Gandhi believed that through Ahisma one could achieve Satyagraha. Passive resistance and non-violence was Gandhi’s method to achieving successful protest. He did not believe in fighting fire with fire, or using any kind of aggressive tactics in protesting. For Gandhi, it was not about fighting that which one believes is evil, but rather to shun and not participate in that one deems to be evil. In relation to the wars we’ve fought in recent times, the applications of Ahisma today, could mean avoiding wars and coming to peaceful

Gandhism can be used to solve a number of our world’s problems. With the destruction of habitats and extinction of species, eco systems are failing to self-sustain themselves. Our water sources are depleting and access to quality and quantity food sources with them. Although the world’s military spending has seen a decline since the cold war, since 2008 the years have not shown the same evidence of this decline, and have been increasing. Youth unemployment and underemployment is as high 50%, and there is evidence of profound political and social instability in our