Modern Religious Experience: Reflection #3- Gandhi: Hindu and Activist

Modern Religious Experience: Reflection #3- Gandhi: Hindu and Activist: "In class, your small groups went over movie questions about the content in Gandhi. You should know who each of the main characters are and t..."

I believe Gandhi felt that a true Hindu acted in a way that was intertwined with nature, and very simplistic in its form. I always perceived that Gandhi thought that to be a idealistic Hindu, you must be as close to nature, and as pure as nature as possible. For example, everyone knew that Gandhi lived a very simple life, living in ashrams and dressing in simple clothes, although these did help fight  for the cause of Indian independence, I beleived that it also helped Gandhi feel as if he was living a low maintenance lifestyle and that he was becoming closer to Brahman by living in a non-materialistic way. Gandhi also made a vow of chastity. He only broke this vow four times, each leading to the birth of one of his four sons. Gandhi believed that sexual relationships were disgraceful acts, and that these actions should only be performed with the purest intentions, the intention of bringing life onto this earth. I felt that it made him feel more natural to only undertake in these activities when it was to done with the motive for which it was created in nature, to create life, not what it has become today, a form of pleasure. Since Gandhi lived with this mindset, he probably never really fel that he was attaining moksha fo all the luxuries he received in life, such as trains, mansions(prison), and cars.

Gandhi once said, "A vow is a purely religious act which cannot be taken in a fit of passion. It can be taken only with a mind purified and composed and with God as a witness." Many people find it hard to understand how Gandhi could be so indifferent about how he treated his family, compared to how he treated others. An example of this is when he forces his own wife to clean the toilets, when that was a job of people from lower classes. Yet, in Hindu culture the final stage of life is sannyasin, this is the stage where the person is relieved of all worldy possessions. Gandhi must have been trying to dig close to this level early on in life, and trying to seperate himself from his materialistic views. Therefore when he made his vow of chastity it was without any emotion, or feeling, which was what he beleived was the path of ultimately obtaining moksha. He tried to distance himself from all things that were unnecessary in an attempt to move farther from the world, and closer to god.