Religion is often the subject of controversy today. Maybe by remembering the words of Mahatma Gandhi about faith, we can become more open and tolerant and strengthen our connection with other people? After all, the very word “religion” means “reestablishment of communication.”
- “My religion has no geographical boundaries. If my faith is alive, it will surpass my love for India.”
- “I will not make a fetish of religion, and I will not justify any evil in its holy name. I don’t want to drag a single person with me if I can’t appeal to his mind. I am ready to reject the divinity of the most ancient Shastras* if they do not convince my mind.”
- “My faith does not require me to regard all verses as inspired by God… I refuse to be bound by any interpretation if it is unacceptable to reason and moral sense.”
- “I do not believe in the exclusive divinity of the Vedas. I believe that the Bible, the Koran and the Zend-Avesta are just as divinely inspired as the Vedas… Hinduism is not a missionary religion. It has a place for worship before all the prophets of the world … He orders everyone to honor God according to their own faith or Dharma; and thus it peacefully coexists with all religions.”
- “All religions are different paths converging on one goal. Everything is based on the same moral laws. My ethical religion consists of laws that unite all people in the world.
- “I can describe my feeling for Hinduism in the same way that I feel for my own wife. She excites me like no other woman in the world. At the same time, this does not mean that it does not have flaws; I’m sure she has even more of them than I notice; but I always have a feeling of an inextricable bond between us. So it is with Hinduism, despite all its faults and limitations.”
- “I knew the Bhagavad-gita before and admired it. But it was the New Testament that taught me the value of passive resistance. Joy overwhelmed me when I read it. The Bhagavad Gita has reinforced this impression; and Tolstoy’s article “The Kingdom of God is within you” gave it a solid form. “Seek the kingdom of God and righteousness, and everything else will be added to you.”
- “God has incarnated throughout the ages in various forms. In the Gita, Krishna says, “When religion declines, when non-religion prevails, then I manifest. To protect good, to destroy evil, to firmly establish the Dharma, I am reborn again and forever. Christianity is part of my theology. Christ is the brilliant manifestation of God. But not the only manifestation. I don’t see him on a secluded throne.”
- “I am sure that if Christ lived among people now, He would bless the lives of many of those who, perhaps, have never even heard his name … exactly as it is written: “Not everyone who says to Me:“ Lord! God!” enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in heaven.” As a lesson in His life, Jesus gave humanity a great goal, a single goal to which we should all strive. I believe that He belongs not only to the Christian world, but to the whole of humanity, to all countries and peoples.
About this: M. Gandhi “My Faith” (Yoga Ex-Press, 2009).