GANDHI: A Spiritual Journey

It should become apparent to anyone who has read Gandhi or has read on him that the one all-absorbing subject he was never tired of talking or writing about was God. It was not that he was imposing his views on anyone but he was constantly questioned on the subject. Happily for him, throughout his life he edited a weekly in which he could express his views freely and frankly. Thus, on one occasion, a young man wrote to Gandhi: “You have mentioned in your article (in Harijan) of a living faith in a living God. I shall feel highly gratified, and I think you will be rendering a great benefit to the young world, if you put forth some positive, undeniable proofs of the existence of God. I have the confidence that you will no more mystify the already mystified problem and will throw some definite light on the subject.” That was indeed a challenging poser. But Gandhi did not hesitate to reply. He conceded that what he wrote “will not remove the mist to which the correspondent alludes”. Having said that, he continued: The writer supposes that I might have realized the existence of a living God. I can lay no such claim. But I do have a living faith in a living God even as I have a living faith in many things that scientists tell me. It may be retorted that what the scientists say can be verified if one followed the prescription given for realizing the facts which are taken for granted. Precisely in that manner speak the Rishis and the Prophets. They say anybody following the path they have trodden can realize God. Gandhi said that the fact is “we do not want to follow the path leading to realization and we wont take the testimony of eye witnesses about the one thing that really matters. Not all the achievements of physical sciences put together can compare with that which gives us a living faith in God. He said, “Those who do not want to believe in the existence of God do not believe in the existence of anything apart from the body . . . For such persons the weightiest argument in proof of the existence of soul or God is of no avail. You cannot make a person who has stuffed his ears, listen to, much less appreciate, the finest music. Even so can you not convince those about existence of a living God who do not want the conviction.”