GANDHI AND APPLIED SPIRITUALITY

One of the founders of the Network, George Blaker, knew Gandhi when he was working as a civil servant in India. He told me the story that he once went for a walk outside the place he was staying and down the hill. At a certain point, a car stopped and the driver enquired if he would like a lift back up. George felt it polite to accept, and on climbing into the back seat, found himself sitting next to Gandhi. He tried to engage him in conversation, but without success. It turned out that this was Gandhi's day of silence, so he would not speak to anyone. There is spiritual power in silence, as Gandhi himself remarked: 'a man of few words will rarely be thoughtless in his speech, he will measure every word.'

These two books on Gandhi complement each other. The first, by a distinguished philosopher, places Gandhi not only within his Indian cultural context, but also relates his work to applied spirituality more broadly. The second is an international conference bringing together India and South Africa and speakers from around the world to commemorate the centenary of Satyagraha dating from 1906. It is richly illustrated with black and white photos of and quotations from Gandhi, who himself stated that his life was his message and that he was constantly undertaking experiments in truth. He never regarded himself as perfect, but he was always striving towards perfection. One story relates a mother coming to him to ask if he could persuade her son to give up sugar. Gandhi asked her to come back in a fortnight. It turned out that he felt that he himself had to give up sugar before he could advise anyone else to do so. Equally, it is hard to live up to Gandhi's ideals. In the foreword to Rao's book, the Dalai Lama draws inspiration from the simplicity and discipline of his way of life, which he himself emulates; also the fact that personal liberation is integral to the successful achievement of national liberation - he sees nonviolence as an expression of compassion. By the same token, Barack Obama is inspired by Gandhi but he leads a country whose policies are the antithesis of Gandhi's approach.

Rao explores Gandhian thought within the current context of terror and identity violence, framing it as a form of pragmatic spirituality; rather than the politicisation of spirituality, he sees it as the spiritualisation of politics where it becomes a branch of ethics and not the other way round. This raises the important question, mentioned by Desmond Tutu in the second book, that we live in a moral universe where there is 'no way that injustice, oppression and evil can ever have the last word.' He relates his own experience of using forgiveness, negotiation and compromise with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa, epitomised by himself and Nelson Mandela, who also spoke at the conference. According to Mandela, Gandhi was right in believing in the efficacy of pitching soul force against brute force. Returning to Rao's analysis, he sees Gandhi as bridging the gap between the secular and sacred, science and spirituality, the mundane and the moral, ideals and action.

A central concept in both books is satyagraha, explained by Gandhi himself: 'Truth (Satya) implies love, and firmness (agraha) engenders and therefore serves as a synonym for force…the force which is born of truth and love or nonviolence. Rao provides a more extensive philosophical analysis where it is understood as an active mobilisation of a force 'generated by rigorous practice of love, compassion and altruism and unwavering commitment to truth.' It is more than abstention from violence or passive resistance and civil disobedience - it is an intensely active state, as Gandhi himself insisted. He went as far as saying that it is the moral equivalent of war, a phrase used by William James in a very different sense in an essay dating from a similar period. As we know from Gandhi's life, the practice of satyagraha demanded enormous self-sacrifice in the generation of this spiritual force.

Rao provides a rigorous analysis of key concepts relevant to Gandhi's philosophy. He discusses identity, conflict and violence with a special emphasis on identity violence and structural violence. He asks how relevant Gandhi's practice of nonviolence is to current predicaments - it always constitutes a risk to the practitioner. There are also essays on Indian identity and national integration, the relevance of Buddhist social philosophy, and Nehru and Gandhi and legacy. The second half of the book addresses the much wider context of the relationship between science and spirituality and the relevance of yoga psychology as a framework for understanding western parapsychology (these topics are treated at far greater length in Rao's book Cognitive Anomalies, Consciousness and Yoga, which I reviewed in the Journal of Consciousness Studies last December).

The later chapters discuss the common ground between science and spirituality, highlighting the limitations of the current practice of science and psychology, and arguing for parapsychology to be taken seriously. Classical Indian philosophy also has valuable insights to offer to modern cognitive science, as does Buddhist psychology. There is a further chapter on hypnosis, yoga and psychic phenomena and on parapsychology and yoga psychology. The final chapter presents the author's Trident BMC model of the person based on yoga psychology. Consciousness is defined in the widest sense and differentiated from mind as the active instrument of thought, feeling and action. It represents the witness or observer. Importantly, the final goal of Indian philosophy is not refined analysis but rather liberation so that the Self can shine through the self, implying a journey towards and expression of higher levels of being. He relates this to Gandhi's life as a spiritual flowering of consciousness in the person leading to a more inclusive and altruistic outlook characterised by vast and compassion. He concludes that Gandhian philosophy does indeed have a scientific basis for human application, which Rao demonstrates with enormous erudition and sophistication.

Returning now to the conference book, this is divided into five sections with many distinguished contributors: Gandhian Philosophy in the 21st Century, a Nonviolent Approach to Conflict Resolution and Peace Building, Gandhian Philosophy for Poverty Eradication, Education and People's Empowerment, Dialogue among Peoples and Cultures, and finally Towards a Nuclear Weapons-Free and Nonviolent World Order. This all adds up to 45 sections with many inspiring contributions, of which I can only highlight a few.

Kenneth Kaunda characterises Gandhi as a 'legend of extraordinary quality, endowed with a depth of vision, humility and wisdom without parallel, with exemplary passion for justice, and indefatigable fighting spirit for what was right, courage to face any risk and readiness to make the supreme sacrifice in the service of mankind. Nothing that touched humanity was foreign to him.' In his view, the relaunch of the Satyagraha movement can provide a new impetus for serious consideration of the implications of Gandhi's approach. Pragmatists will say that violence and war will always be unavoidable, but this in turn rests on an assumption about human nature questioned by Maria Pereira in her article and book in this issue. Gandhi realised, partly inspired by the Sermon on the Mount and the philosophy of Tolstoy, that violence is ultimately self-defeating and is only a short-term solution to our challenges. The contribution by Lech Walesa provides another inspiring example of its application.

Janez Drnovsek calls for individuals and institutions to move beyond a culture of selfishness and self-interest that destroys the Earth and our climate for profits. Violence, he argues, cannot achieve any sustainable change and without a higher more inclusive consciousness the world will collapse. If we realise and become conscious of this fact, then perhaps we can act and make the impossible possible. A quote from Nehru emphasises the importance of Gandhi's fearless attitude when the pervasive atmosphere in India was one of fear on all fronts. Gandhi's approach to dialogue was uncompromising in standing against the oppression and injustice. His own dialogue operated at political, cultural and spiritual levels involving the quest for freedom, love and justice, as explained in a brilliant essay by Rajiv Vora. At the end of this book comes the conference declaration, a truly inspiring document. However, along with many other such documents like the Earth Charter, it gathers dust while the world continues much as before. We have sufficient declarations of intent about all the challenges we face, but we lack the political will and sense of urgency to put these into practice.

Gandhi's life and indomitable spirit as represented in these two books asks each individual a series of questions: are we really being the change that we seek to bring about? Are we doing all we can? What more could we do if we truly put Gandhi's inspiration into practice? Lives like Gandhi's are reminders of our extraordinary potential, which few of us fully realise. However, inspiration is essential, and from my own work with schools - including some in India - I know that Gandhi will continue to provide inspiration to future generations.