Power to the People: Mahatma Gandhi’s Key to Change

1404 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Mahatma gandhi-the power of influence

Power to the People: Mahatma Gandhi’s Key to Change
According to Indian social activist Mahatma Gandhi, selfless service is the foundation for creating change throughout the world. “Action is one’s duty”, and one’s duty is actuated by “the spirit of service” (9) which one must take on in order to understand humility and selflessness, strengthen himself, and become an advocate for ahimsa, nonviolence (9). Like so many other social activists, Gandhi had a vision for the future: a vision of peace, independence, and equality for all. To Gandhi, nonviolence is essential if one ever wishes to see this change that he envisioned for the world. Gandhi fought relentlessly for India’s independence from Britain, but he did not fight in the way many people today think of when they hear the word “fight”. Gandhi fought without fists but with courage, heart, empathy, and, most importantly, with love – love for self, love for others, and love for his country. Gandhi confirms that one who loves himself, others, and his country enough to sacrifice himself and devote himself to ahimsa has the power to change the world. If an individual wants to make a difference he should follow the ways in which Mahatma Gandhi lived his life; Gandhi led a life of nonviolence in his everyday life, in the form of civil disobedience, and as a foundation for independence. As Gandhi did, when one reaches a full understanding of nonviolence and acts upon it, he alone can make a difference.
Gandhi advocated nonviolence as a way of life because it is the foundation for furthering ahimsa onto a greater scale. The individual is the gateway to universal reform and once he recognizes and understands selfless action he, too, can become an advocate for ahimsa as he practices i...

... middle of paper ...

...dependence, and chaos that violence brings with it. By seeing these ideals, even if they are never reached, one is doing something beneficial. Having the ideal or the ultimate goal in mind is what truly matters to Gandhi. Completely aware that not everyone will ever be able to fully devote himself to ahimsa, Gandhi confirms that it is okay to never reach these things, as long as one strives for them and makes a positive difference in the process. Gandhi himself was not the ideal individual that he described for people to strive to be, but he was real and he too strived, just as others should. He, by himself, changed so much for so many people and is the prime example of his own philosophy that one person is enough to change the world. With his firm and unabating commitment to making a difference he empowered people worldwide and his influence continues to this day.

Show More
Related

  • Mahatma Gandhi Dbq Essay

    590 Words  | 2 Pages

    “ First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win” (Mahatma Gandhi). Gandhi was born in 1869 in Porbandar. Throughout his life Gandhi helped those in need. He was taught that everyone and everything is holy. He married at the custom age of 19 and went to London to study law. The thing that helped Gandhi promote nonviolence is that he worked his entire life saying that violence didn’t change the way people acted. He lived his life saying that an eye for an eye only made the whole world blind. Gandhi’s nonviolent movement worked because he had something to prove and everyone else in the world agreed with him.

    Read More

  • Mohandas Gandhi`s Use of Nonviolent Methods to Achieve Independence

    3658 Words  | 8 Pages

    The mission of Gandhi’s life was to help the people of India free themselves from British rule. Many people have struggled for independence. They have fought bloody battles or used terrorism in an attempt to achieve their goals. Gandhi’s revolution was different. He succeeded as an independence leader with the use of nonviolent methods. The young Mohandas Gandhi did not seem as a boy that would become a great leader. He changed as he studied in Britain and practiced in South Africa. He fought for the rights of Indians in both South Africa and India. Gandhi believed that all people in the world are brothers and sisters. He didn’t hate the English. Actually, he saw a lot that was good about them. His nonviolent means of revolution was referred to as satyagraha, which is a combination of two Sanskrit words, satya, meaning truth and love, plus agraha, meaning firmness. Many people were influenced by satyagraha.

    Read More

  • The Power of Nonviolent Resistance (NVR)

    1378 Words  | 3 Pages

    Gandhi once said “An eye for an eye and the whole world is blind.” This is true in most circumstances but there are exceptions. By comparing acts of nonviolent civil disobedience with acts of violent civil disobedience it is apparent that force or violence is only necessary to combat violence but never if it effects the lives of the innocent. A recurrent theme in each of these examples is that there is a genuine desire to achieve equality and liberty. However, one cannot take away the liberties of others in order to gain their own. Martin Luther King Jr. believed that political change would come faster through nonviolent methods and one can not argue his results as many of the Jim Crow laws were repealed. Similarly, through nonviolent resistance Gandhi was able to eventually free India from the rule of Britain. It is true that sometimes the only way to fight violence is through violence, but as is apparent, much can be said of peaceful demonstrations in order to enact change. Thus, it is the responsibility of we as individuals to understand that nonviolence is often a more viable means to an end than violence.

    Read More

  • Philosophies Of Sri Mahatma Gandhi Essay

    1617 Words  | 4 Pages

    Sri Aurobindo said that nothing can be taught, the try principle of a teacher is to be a guide and not an instructor. A teacher’s role was

    Read More

  • Dr. Martin Luther King's Six Steps Of Nonviolent Social Change

    111 Words  | 1 Pages

    In our country, Dr. Martin Luther King embraced the tenets of non-violence in his leadership within the Civil Rights Movement and enduring philosophy for bringing about social change. Dr. King wrote about those who inspired his philosophy of nonviolent social change and Gandhi was a significant influence. According to Pal, Dr. King took a month-long trip to India in 1959 to visit the country of his inspiration. The King Center is dedicated to preserving his legacy and providing support for social change. Based on Dr. King's teachings, The King Center published, “Six Steps of Nonviolent Social Change”. These six steps are: information gathering, education, personal commitment, negotiation, direct action, and reconciliation.

    Read More

  • Comparison of Civil Disobedience

    3701 Words  | 8 Pages

    From the onset of man fighting for freedom or his beliefs, the question has always been whether one person can make a difference using words rather than wars. Philosophically, the concept of civil disobedience would appear to be an ineffective weapon against political injustice; history however has proven it to repeatedly be one of the most powerful weapons of the common man. Martin Luther King Jr. looked at the way African Americans were treated in the United States and saw an inequality. By refusing to pay his taxes and subsequently being imprisoned for a night, Henry David Thoreau demonstrated his intolerance for the American government. Under British rule, India remained oppressed until Mohandas Gandhi, with his doctrine of non-violence lead the country to freedom.

    Read More

  • Nonviolent Organizing

    1766 Words  | 4 Pages

    Prominent leaders such as Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Theresa and Martin Luther King Jr. are known all around the world for teaching and practicing nonviolence while fighting for human justice and peace. They are graced throughout history books, not only for their commendable actions but for their effective manner of inducing change around the world. Although these prominent figures leave everlasting footprints on the soil of this earth, there are many more that have contributed and still contribute to the struggle of human survival.

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Gandhi And Martin Luther King

    844 Words  | 2 Pages

    Gandhi and King both agreed that nonviolence is accomplished by revolutionizing the relationship between adversaries, and that its strength lies in their commitment to justice. However, Gandhi puts emphasis on a need for personal suffering in the practice of nonviolence, a stance that is somewhat less aggressive than

    Read More

  • An Analysis Of Gandhi's Essay 'My Faith In Nonviolence'

    697 Words  | 2 Pages

    Mohandas K. Gandhi, a great Indian philosopher, wrote the essay “My Faith in Nonviolence”. His essay focuses on the use of nonviolence means on overthrowing the British rule of India. Gandhi’s main claim on this essay is that love is the higher law of life and that “every problem lends itself to solution” (p. 203) , if we followed that law.

    Read More

  • The Approach of Nonviolence

    986 Words  | 2 Pages

    There is a considerable debate about the precise meaning of nonviolence. Some people believe that nonviolence is a philosophy and strategy for social change that rejects the use of violence. In other words, nonviolence is a method for resolving a conflict without the use of physical power nor enmity towards opponents. Instead, it emphasizes you to look beyond convictions and one’s urge for victory, it is the motto behind the saying “hate the sin and not the sinner”. For others it is a way of living and an essential part of their values and norms, for those people, nonviolence is the road which will lead them towards attaining inner piece and moral satisfaction. “Learn and teach nonviolence as a way of life; reflect it in attitude, speech and action” say’s Gerber in his article The Road to Nonviolence. Thus making nonviolence the ultimate behavior towards achieving truthful, spiritual, loving life. Mahatma Gandhi, the nonviolence guru, defines nonviolence as “a power which can be wielded equally by all-children, young men and women or grown-up people, provided they have a living faith in the God of Love and have therefore equal love for all mankind”. (mkgandhi.org) Therefore we understand that nonviolence has some terms and conditions to be met; living faith in God, truthfulness, humility, tolerance, loving kindness, honesty and the willingness to sacrifice. ...

    Read More

  • gandhi

    591 Words  | 2 Pages

    Try living in a society where starving children lay on the streets looking for food, or where lack of education leads you nowhere. However, a man with knowledge and wealth helped his people fight for their rights. Gandhi’s background made him who he was; giving him an idea of how to get India’s independence, and impact on India helped people realized you can fight with knowledge and nonviolence to change a way of life.

    Read More

  • Why Are We Considered Unjust

    501 Words  | 2 Pages

    When I first examined the central question of this essay, I immediately wanted to declare that peaceful resistance to laws one considers unjust could only have positive effects on a free society. In this day and age, men and women like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Mahatma Gandhi, and Rosa Parks, along with countless others, are rightfully regarded as heroes who stood firm in the face of nearly unimaginable injustice. Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks both utilized peaceful protest to challenge the segregation laws which prohibited them from exercising their right to vote, along with other civil liberties that we take for granted. Mahatma Gandhi demonstrated the effectiveness of civil disobedience during his lifelong quest to achieve Indian Independence. The men and women overcame the evil laws which discriminated against them, and their final

    Read More

  • Mahatma Gandhi: A Hero to All Indians

    536 Words  | 2 Pages

    Gandhi was a great man in a lot of ways he was born on October 2, 1869 in Western India. At the age of thirteen he married Kasturbi who was also thirteen before his father died. When he did his mother sent him to law school in England this was in 1888. While he was there he fell in love so to speak with the nonviolent ways of the Hindu scriptures of the Bhagavad-Gita, and in the bible tellings of Jesus.

    Read More

  • Mahatma Gandhi’s Role in India’s Fight for Independence

    1328 Words  | 3 Pages

    “The strongest physical force bends before moral force when used in the defense of truth.” - Mahatma Gandhi (Bondurant). Mahatma Gandhi was the main leader in helping India become independent through the principles of non violence, self-rule, and the unity of Hindus and Muslims. His full name was Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, but he was given the name Mahatma later on in his life. He wanted to see an united India without the rule of the British Empire. He accomplished this with passive resistance or resistance by non violence because he wanted to show that violence is not always the best answer.

    Read More

  • Mahatma Gandhi's Inspirational Role Model

    801 Words  | 2 Pages

    Ever wonder what to do when you are in a situation that most people react in violence? Ever think that violence is the only way out? Mahatma Gandhi is a very inspirational role model who not only reacted to violence without violence but overcame it and (for the most part) succeeded in life without violence. He was a victim of bullying and segregation and looked past the odds and was inspirational for many people.

    Read More

More about Power to the People: Mahatma Gandhi’s Key to Change

Open Document