Gandhi's Philosophy and Quest for Harmony

A remarkable and original study of Gandhi building on his contention that the modern world needed a working harmony between secular and spiritual pursuits, especially as lived in economics and politics. The framework is given by the four aims of life: dharma (ethics and religion), arha (wealth and power), kama (pleasure),and moksha (liberation). It can readily be seen that the modern world focuses on the second and third at the expense of the first and fourth aims. The book is structured around the four aims, discussing them in relation to Gandhi's life and writings. Having recently reread Tolstoy's book 'The Kingdom of God is Within You', it was interesting to discover how seminal the book had been when Gandhi read it soon after its appearance in 1893.

Parel's conclusion reflects the views that we arrived at after an International Futures Forum trip to India earlier this year. He thinks that the Gandhian paradigm is more relevant now than ever before, even as India is emerging as a major political and economic power. In his words 'it teaches the Indians of how to pursue arha (wealth and power) without sacrificing the pursuit of moksha (liberation). Indeed, he adds, if they do not follow this paradigm they may well lose their identity as a polity and as a civilisation.' and this can be an example to other countries of how to succeed economically without sacrificing 'ethics, beauty and transcendence.'