India today

M. K. Gandhi was born in Porbandar, a village in Gujarat province in India in 1869. He became the father of Indian independence, and one of the greatest spiritual and political leaders of modern times. His teachings have inspired countless movements and individuals.
Unfortunately, the surviving audio material of Mahatma Gandhi is limited. One of the best surviving sound recordings of his voice, it was recorded on the 17th of October 1931 in Kingsley Hall, London. Gandhi was visiting London in connection with the Second Round Table Conference to broker a peave between colonial Britain and the broad Indian freedom movement. It was just before he would be jailed again after the breakdown of the Gandhi-Irwin pact.
The title of this talk was "My Spiritual Message." It is likely to have been have pressed on a 78 rpm record in a studio. This recording was optimized by the musician Max Flury in 2006, and part of the musical CD Gandhi 1001 Ways by Andreas Huber.
Near the beginning of his address, Gandhi says:
"In my tour last year in Mysore [State], I met many poor villagers, and I found upon inquiry that they did not know who ruled Mysore. They simply said some God ruled it. If the knowledge of these poor people was so limited about their ruler, I, who am infinitely lesser in respect to God than they to their ruler need not be surprised if I do not realize the presence of God, the King of Kings. Nevertheless I do feel as the poor villagers felt about Mysore, that there is orderliness in the universe."

http://4betterworld.ning.com/group/indiatoday/forum/topics/gandhiserve-foundation-video

"You must be the change you wish to see in the world."

Influence of Mahatma Gandhi on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.


Mohandas K. Gandhi, known to the world as The Mahatma, or the "Great Soul", brought a great gift to the modern world. That gift was the light of Non-Violence, of Service to the Community and of Social Justice. His life served as an example and this light became a torch which illuminated our world and which saved us from our own inhumanity to each other.

The torch was carried by many hands. They included Dr. Benjamin Elijah Mays, the principal of Morehouse College, who returned from India as one of the growing number of African-American disciples of Mahatma Gandhi. When Dr. King entered Morehouse at the age of 15, Dr. Mays became one of the great influences in his life. And there, the torch was passed on. In February of 1959, Dr. and Coretta Scott King spent a month in India studying Gandhi's March techniques of nonviolence as guests of Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. The impact of Gandhi's teaching and example on Dr. King's life was considerable, and he carried Gandhi's message with him back to America.

Dr. King once told a story of his visit to India to the congregation of the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. Dr. King told the members of his church, "I remember when Coretta Scott King and I were in India, we journeyed down one afternoon to the southernmost part of India to the city of Trivandrum in Kerala. That afternoon I was to speak at a school, what would be the equivalent of what we call a high school in this country. This particular school was attended by and large by students who were the children of former 'untouchables'.

"The principal of the school introduced me and then as he came to the conclusion of his introduction, he said, 'Young people, I would like to present to you a fellow untouchable from the United States of America,'. And for a moment, I was a bit shocked and even peeved that I would be referred to as an untouchable.

"I started thinking about the fact that twenty million of my brothers and sisters were still smothering in an air-tight cage of poverty in an affluent society. As I thought about this, I finally said to myself, 'Yes, I am an untouchable, and every negro in the United States is an untouchable.'"

In 1959, Dr. King gave a sermon on the life of Gandhi in Birmingham Alabama. In that sermon, Dr. King says "The world doesn't like people like Mahatma Gandhi. That's strange, isn't it? They don't like people like Christ, nor do they like people like Lincoln. They killed Gandhi – this man who had done all of that for India, who gave his life and who mobilized and galvanized 400 million people for independence. One of his own fellow Hindus felt that he was a little too favorable to Muslims, felt that he was giving too much to the Muslims.

"Here was the man of non-violence, falling at the hands of a man of violence. Here was a man of love falling at the hands of a man with hate. This seems the way of history. And isn't it significant that he died on the same day as Christ died? It was on a Friday. And this is the story of history, but thank God it never stopped there. Thank God that Good Friday is never the end. The man who shot Gandhi only shot him into the hearts of humanity. For the same reason that Abraham Lincoln was shot, mark you, for the same reason Gandhi was shot – that is, the attempt to heal the wounds of a divided nation – when Abraham Lincoln was shot, Secretary Stanton stood by and said, 'Now he belongs to the ages.' The same things is true of Mahatma Gandhi now: He belongs to the ages."

The teachings of Gandhi and his love for the poor and impoverished had a tremendous influence on Dr. King. And he repeatedly made references To Gandhi throughout his career. Thus, Dr. King made Gandhi an integral part of the civil rights movement in America. Ambassador Lalit Mansingh spoke about the Gandhi-King connection at a ceremony last year at the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, Tennessee, saying, "Gandhi and King joined India and the United States together through the bonds of shared suffering and struggle," The Ambassador expressed a keen understanding of the influence of Gandhi on Dr. King when we said, "Dr. King synthesized Gandhi's method of nonviolence and the Christian ethics of love to develop a powerful weapon in the struggle of the African-American community for human dignity."

Coretta Scott Scott King has said, "Mohandas K. Gandhi's teachings and example provided a pivotal influence on Martin's leadership." She was influential in the establishment of the Gandhi Room at the King Center, which paved the way later for the installation of the Gandhi Statue on the grounds of the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site.



Dr. King received the torch from Mahatma Gandhi, before the Mahatma's assassination in 1948, and held it high until his own assassination three decades later. It was kept burning by the civil rights movement. And today, it is we who must carry on the torch and keep it ever lifted up, that it may be passed on to future generations. The Gandhi Foundation is honored to continue this tradition of bearing the torch of Non-Violence, of Service to the Community and of Social Justice.



Dr. H.V. Shivadas, D.D. is the Director of Operations and Assitant Executive Director of the Gandhi Foundation USA , a 501(c)3 non-profit organization headquartered in the Martin Luther King National Historic District of Atlanta, Georgia. The GFUSA is dedicated to promoting non-violent conflict resolution, community service and social justice.

While visiting India in March 03, 2006, George W Bush laid a wreath at Mahatma Gandhi's memorial.

He actually had the nerve to refer to Gandhi when talking about a responsibility to "bring light and freedom to the darkest corners of our earth," obviously completely oblivious to the latter's adherence to nonviolence, and with no sense of irony that a warmonger is exploiting the memory of a pacifist. Light and freedom are good things, but they can't be imposed from without. They can be encouraged, but not imposed.

Here are a couple of responses from the Gandhi family:

Arun Gandhi, grandson:



India is seeking business from the U.S.; the U.S. wants markets for its products so this Indo-U.S. relationship is nothing but an attempt to exploit each other. From the western point of view it is economic colonization. India has sold its soul to materialism and will bend over backwards to get some dollars from the U.S. ... The only way Bush can honor Gandhi is by taking a chapter from his life and showing greater compassion for the poor people of the world and not by laying a wreath at his memorial. Bush is a warmonger, he believes in peace through the barrel of a gun and has set the world on a course of violent devastation. Gandhi had hoped for greater compassion, respect, understanding between the peoples and nations of the world.


Ela Gandhi, granddaughter:


Gandhiji's entire philosophy was based on two fundamental principles, among others: one the belief that people can change -- that people, groups and communities can transform, and two that the force of truth and love or Satyagraha driven by the spirit, or soul force, can make a huge difference in the world, in bringing about transformation. So when Bush who is planning to lay a wreath on the Gandhi Memorial in New Delhi, during the year when we celebrate the centenary of Satyagraha, performs this act, I hope and pray that this act may help towards changing his beliefs and attitudes. I can only hope and pray that maybe some truth and some possible transformation in his own philosophy is driving him to this sacred place.

I pray that this contact with the spirit of Gandhiji may inspire him into changing his position on war and violence. I pray that this gesture may help him to see that he must desist from committing the same error he did with Iraq, with Iran or any other country or peoples. I hope he will be inspired by Gandhiji's implicit belief in the fact that wars cannot solve the problems of the world, they only aggravate them. We need peace, we need some sanity in the world. Gandhiji said, 'An eye for an eye will make the whole world blind.' That truth should help caution Bush against war and the use of war and violence for any purpose. I truly and deeply hope that the spirit of Gandhiji will help to transform his views and he will stop using violence and war. If Bush really wants to honor Gandhiji he will lay a wreath at the memorial and in so doing commit himself to renounce his use of violence and war.

http://www.hindu.com/2006/03/04/stories/2006030417811600.htm

WELCOME

I am happy and proud of your presence, I hope with the heart to be able to conduct a dialogue together and the ability to integrate knowledge and understanding to a continent so complex and full of millennial culture. I hope to find in this group must all work together and the opportunity to build a bridge that do rise and gives life to those who have expertise in those who have approached the spirituality of India but also to that fundamental policy analysis and territorial that puts the beloved India in a position to focus on the current route after the revolution and inner strength of Gandhi.

I think it's possible in these pages open posts on what is knowledge: mantra, yoga, Ayurvedic medicine and all that we have touched the heart. But it is also important to act as the glue between humanitarian groups, between the provinces and the efforts being made to give dignity to women, children, sick with AIDS and people who seek entry.

For you this space that I hope to be useful, because I want the West embraces the East to be unity and love.


To all my thanks!

Daniela

Io sono felice ed onorata della vostra presenza, io spero con il cuore di poter condurre insieme un dialogo e la capacità di integrare le conoscenze e la comprensione verso un continente così complesso e ricco di millenaria cultura. Io auguro e spero di trovare in questo gruppo la collaborazione di tutti e la opportunità di costruire un ponte che faccia risorgere e offra vita a quelle conoscenze che sono in chi si è accostato alla spiritualità dell'India ma anche a quella fondamentale analisi politica e territoriale che mette l'amata India in una condizione di attenzione verso il percorso attuale dopo la rivoluzione interiore e forte di Gandhi.

Io credo sia possibile in queste pagine aprire dei post su quello che è nelle conoscenze : mantra, yoga, medicina ayurvedica e tutto quello che noi abbiamo toccato con il cuore. Ma è importante anche fare da collante tra i gruppi umanitari, tra le province e gli sforzi che vengono fatti per dare dignità a donne, bambini, ammalati di AIDS e persone che cercano voce.

Per voi questo spazio che spero essere utile, perchè io desidero che l'occidente abbracci l'oriente per essere unità ed amore.


A tutti il mio grazie!

Daniela