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Earth Ethics
of

M. K. Gandhi
with teachings from

Holy Mother Amma

an Introduction

P. K a m a l a W i l l e y, Ph. D.

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Copyright © 2010, P.K. Willey. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may
be reproduced, displayed, modified or distributed, without prior written permission from the
copyright holder.
That said, Wise Earth Publishers encourages the dissemination of Mahatma Gandhi’s and
Holy Mother Amma’s Earth Ethics, through educational, non-profit, and humanitarian means.
The quotations from Gandhi’s writings are published by Navajivan Press, Ahmedabad,
Gujarat, India, and have been used here with their kind permission. Photos and images of
Gandhi’s life are from the collection at Gandhi Ashram, Sabarmati, and are used here with the
kind permission from Sri Amrut Modi.
Quotations and photographs of Mata Amritanandamayi Devi, her charitable works, and her
community members are used here with her gracious permission, and that of the M.A. Mission
Trust and M.A. Center.
Photographs of Medha Patkar are courtesy of Medha Patkar and the Narmada Bachao
Andolan, Madhya Pradesh, India. These and other pictures can be seen at www.Narmada.org.
Other photographs and illustrations are the courtesy of their respective owners.

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

ISBN 978-0-9820200-0-5

Printed at Thomson Press (India) Ltd., Mumbai.

www.WiseEarthPublishers.com
For enquiries, please contact us at: mail@WiseEarthPublishers.com.

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To My Daughter, and All Our Daughters.

May our children rise
to fearlessly face the coming Dawn,
Knowing they are part of Life, Unending.

Green Grass, Blue Skies,

In this Beautiful World,
One Lord, One Love,
Has Created it So...
Can’t we Love each other?
Fill this place with Harmony?
One Time, Everywhere,
Let’s Try! Make it happen today...
Mountains, Valleys,
On our sweet planet Earth.
One Love, One God,
Has Created it So.
Everywhere beauty abides,
Singing aloud the Glory of Thee.
Flowers, Fields and Rivers,
Alive with your sweet song of Day...
Anni
Strive for
The Wonder of Wonders,
Who has made it So.
Love Her, With All your Heart,
And All the People will Know...
-Anni

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The song “Green Grass, Blue Skies” was written and tuned by Anni during the last day she
spent in University. The sketch of the Lotus on the dedication page was one among many found
in her diaries.

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Acknowledgements
This work has only been possible due to the Grace of Truth and Love in all
aspects of our lives and through all people and agencies of support and seeming
adversity. Ever present in Nature, this Grace asks nothing from us, yet we men-
tion it only as we hope to be of service. We are grateful to have experienced this
Grace through Holy Mother Amma.
We are deeply thankful to Amma, known as Mata Amritanandamayi Devi,
and through her the M.A. Mission Trust and the M.A. Center for permission to
use the photographs of her person, Ashram scenes, as well as extensive quotations
of her translated words from books published by her Ashram. We are deeply
grateful for the privilege and opportunity to live in her Ashram, with our fellow
community family members, each one of whom has contributed to our growth
and understanding of these Earth ethics.
We are thankful to Amma’s Father, Sri Sugunanandan-Acchan, for his kind
permission to use the photographs of his family members.
We thank the people at Gandhi’s Sabarmati Ashram, Mr. Amrut Modhi, and
Navajivan Press, Mr. K. Rawal, for their kind assistance, permissions and licence
to use the extensive quotations and photographs of Gandhiji included herein. We
deeply appreciated the kindness and helpful assistance given to scholars at the
Gandhi Sabarmati Ashram.
We are grateful to Medha Patkar and the Narmada Bachao Andolan for the
photographs of her and the N.B.A. herein. We thank also Dr. Vandana Shiva
and her organisation for the photograph of her, and to Sri Daya Mata of Self-
Realization Fellowship.
This book has been a family project. As a mother, it is difficult to speak
of the devotion and selfless service of one’s children. Mother’s feel so close to
their children that to separate oneself from them in order to give objective ac-
knowledgement even, seems almost unnatural, for we work as one. Nonetheless,
without the help of my daughter Anni and son, Linkesh, also known as Lincoln,
this work would not have happened. Their unceasing efforts, support, and re-
spect for this project is why it is here today. While she was with us, Anni poured
over its pages, making corrections, and gave beautiful suggestions for the cover,
which have been incorporated. Over the years, both children listened endlessly
and critically to innumerable renditions of each chapter, as bedtime reading.
After Anni left her form, Linkesh started Wise Earth Publishers to bring out
our books. He and his heart-brother Brahmachari Rishikesh (Matthew Petrilla),
voluntarily carried out most of the initial proof-reading and editing for this tome.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Linkesh also saw the placement of the book into an open-source dtp applica-
tion, tweaked the photographs, did all of the run-around, pursued the printing,
companion web-site construction, and innumerable other tasks associated with
the project. He assisted in interviews as well. This process has provided him
with a valuable and practical crash-course education into innumerable forms of
research and media for document preparation, as well the business of the pub-
lishing sphere. He has managed all this during a time of deep sorrow about his
sister, with zeal and courageousness, in addition to his regular full-time college
program in Mechanical Engineering at Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Amrita-
puri Campus.
As a family, we have never sought a ‘vacation’ from the duties that we see
before us. This understanding is enhanced by ashram life and living. Sadhana
never stops for one second. It is our joy to live in this awareness. All those
who have joined us in this quest, to see this project through to completion, have
become in a very real way, members of our immediate family, for it is the ideals
of Truth and Love that we are all seeking to serve selflessly. The philosophical
outlook expressed herein, is one we seek to actualize within ourselves.
My late parents, my Father, C. Francis Willey, Mother, G. Indira Willey and
brother, Jefferson Mohandas Willey. May the noble intentions of our great father
who named my brother Mohandas after Gandhi, come through in our lives.
We are grateful to (U.S.) Janani, Amma’s videographer, and photographer
(Swiss) Prabha and others who took photos of Amma, Anni and Linkesh with
Amma, which we have been able to include here.
Without interviews with people who have known Amma intimately, construc-
tion of Chapters 2 and 42 would have been impossible. For their invaluable
testimony, we are thankful to: Sri Sugunanandan-Acchan, Sri Sudheer Kumar,
Manisha Sudheer and Hridaya, Teacher Celine Rodriquez, Rema Padmavilasan,
Amma’s cousin Harshan, his Mother, his wife Jaya, Brahmacharinis and Brah-
macharis, and other neighbours and friends of Holy Mother Amma.
For their invaluable feedback, moral support and suggestions, I thank my
beloved advisors, Dr. Joseph Elder of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and
Dr. Patricia S. Weibust from the University of Connecticut.
We are thankful to Karuna Gomez for her rendition of the elephant and cart,
which Linkesh made into the Wise Earth Publishers logo.
Our gratitude also goes to our international panel of moral supporters, readers
and proofreaders, Gwen-wei Tang, Sarah Lowe, Kerstin Utas, Sylvia Braillier,
Janice and Suzanne Moreno, the Maulder family, Kerry Brinks, her mother, the
late Margaret Brinks, Ajay and Arun Balakrishnan, John Ayer, Marjorie Blizard,
Amy Ayer, Sharadamba, Hal Beery, Patricia Eberle, Triguna, Nirakar (Kartik
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Shah and Nirali Udeshi), Aparna Ashok, Lakshmi and Sheila Satish, Mamta
Ito, and to Kollam Professors: Dr.’s Haridran and C.K. Thankachy, Dr.’s J. and
Radha Somadas, Dr. N.K. Baskaran, Amritapuri ashram artist R. Sukanya and
her mother. Also to Lata Wadhwani, who taught us about Paryusha day. There
are many more of you who have been invaluable to us in this project, and although
at the time of this typing, your names have slipped our minds, we will remember
you.
We are grateful to Arthur Harvey, of Hartford, Maine, USA, who was able to
provide us with an additional 7 volumes of the The Collected Works of Mahatma
Gandhi, bringing the total of The Collected Works up to 100 volumes.
There are many whose humble presence in this undertaking goes seemingly
unnoticed: librarians, paper-makers (the trees, the birds, the bees! the oceans
of air and water), printers, taxi and bus drivers, cooks, and you, the reader
who makes it all worthwhile. Our reflection upon this endless intricate web of
interdependence, shows us that it is incumbent upon us to acknowledge the whole
of the Creation, the stream of life, here with us, today, yesterday and tomorrow,
we thank you, we are deeply grateful.
We all stand on the shoulders of other minds to broader thinking and richer
understanding. Years ago, I told His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama that I wanted
to help him. We hope that this book manages to help this dear and great Teacher
of ethical life in his kindest prayers for humanity. In this vein, we gratefully
acknowledge all of our teachers to have led us into an awareness of our ethical
instincts, and towards ethical life, including the teachings of Jesus Christ, Abdu’l-
Bahá, Paramahansa Yogananda, John Muir, Peace Pilgrim, Mother Theresa,
Dr. King, Anandamoyi Ma and innumerable others, whose light from the ideal
has lit our path, including the experience of love and truth through Nature,
animals and birds that has graced our lives.
We are deeply grateful to our country, the United States of America, for the
practical sustenance we have received from Her, and the Earth ethics we have
imbibed through her innumerable great Teachers of Earth ethical life, and most
of all for Her spirit of human brotherhood.
We can never repay our debt to India, and the legacy of her sacred and holy
Teachers past, present and to come. To their vast wisdom of the ways of Earth
ethical life, the scientific knowledge of the intricacies and riches of the heart and
soul, we eternally bow in endless and adoring gratitude.

P. Kamala Willey, Ph.D.

and Linkesh Diwan (Lincoln)
Wise Earth Publishers

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Contents
Dedication i
Acknowledgements v
List of Images xix
Foreword by Dr. Joseph Elder xxi
Introduction xxv
Evolving to Earth Ethics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxv
Gandhi and Holy Mother Amma . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxvi
Uniqueness of India to Earth Ethics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxviii
Duty of America . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxxii
About this Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxxvi
Format of this Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxxix
Amends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xli

I The Mandala of India’s Earth Ethics

1 Relevance of Gandhi to Earth Ethics 3
1.1 About Gandhi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.2 Gandhi from Outside Eyes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
2 Relevance of Holy Mother Amma to Earth Ethics 17
2.1 The Rose of Awareness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
2.2 Views of Amma . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
3 Opening the door to Earth Ethics 41
3.1 Defining Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
3.2 The Role of Our Thoughts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
3.2.1 Changing Our Self-Identification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
3.3 Universal Motherhood and Ahimsa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
4 Early Framework of Gandhi’s Earth Ethics 67
th
4.1 Factors in the 19 Century . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
4.2 Early Ethical Responses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
4.3 Early Use of the Vow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
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CONTENTS

4.4 Becoming Aware of India’s Earth Ethics . . . . . . . . . . . 83

4.5 Jail's Effect on Gandhi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

5 The Influence of Hinduism 93

5.1 The Spirit of India . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
5.2 A Quick look at Hinduism . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
5.3 Foundation Stones of Hinduism . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
5.3.1 Vedanta . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
5.3.2 The Shad Darshana . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
5.3.3 Angamas . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
5.3.4 Sutras Past and Present . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
5.3.4.1 Formats of Sutra Interpretation . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
5.3.5 Vedanga . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
5.3.5.1 Jyotish—Vedic Astrology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
5.3.6 Smritis and Shastras . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
5.3.7 Itihasa, Purana and Secular Literatures . . . . . . . . . . 115
5.3.8 Three Philosopher Sons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
Adi Shankaracharya . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
Ramanuja . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Madhava . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
5.4 Gandhi and Hindu Literature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

6 Secular Life and Vedic rites 125

6.1 Folklore, Melas, and Pilgrimage in Secular Life . . . . . . . . 126
6.2 Use of Idols or Pratishtas . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
6.2.1 Gandhi and Idols . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
6.2.2 Beyond Idols . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
6.3 Meanings Behind Temples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
6.3.1 Holy Mother Amma’s Brahmasthanams . . . . . . . . . . 134
6.4 Rituals and Pujas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
6.5 Home Life and Vedic Rites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139

7 Love, Law, and Gandhi 143

7.1 Spiritual Love . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
7.2 What is Karma? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
7.3 About Reincarnation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
7.4 Gandhi’s God: Law is Truth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
7.5 Gandhi and Nature—Live and Let Live . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
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8 Ashrama System: Ethical Family Life 169

8.1 Natural Stages of Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
8.2 Grihasta Ashrama—The Family . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
8.2.1 The Feminine Mystique . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
8.2.2 Ethical Preparation for Marriage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
8.2.2.1 Pati Vrata Dharma . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
8.2.2.2 The Gandhis and Pati Vrata Dharma . . . . . . . . . 186
8.2.2.3 Kasturba’s Thanks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
9 Marriage Reform 189
9.1 New Ideals for Family Life Today . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
9.2 Marital and Sexual Relations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
9.3 Ethical Development in Children . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
9.4 Home Life Ethics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
9.5 Ethical Considerations for Children Today . . . . . . . . . . 214
10 Retiring to Freedom 219
10.1 Vanaprastha . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
10.2 Sannyasa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222
10.3 What is a Guru . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226
10.4 Gandhi and Guru . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232
11 Varna is Dharma, not Caste 237
11.1 The Three Gunas and Varna Ashrama . . . . . . . . . . . . 240
11.2 Varna Ashrama Dharma . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244
11.2.1 A Hereditary System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247
11.2.2 Varna and the Goal of Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249
11.3 Women and Varna Ashrama for Today . . . . . . . . . . . . 252
11.4 Caste problems now—Indian apartheid . . . . . . . . . . . . 256
11.5 New Sounds For Varna . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262
11.6 Gandhi and His Religion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265
12 Gandhi’s Evolving Vegetarianism 269
12.1 An Ethical Platform . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269
12.2 Vegetarianism for Caring Reform . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275
13 Ahimsa is Love is Truth 287
13.1 Ideal of Ahimsa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288
13.2 Nuts and Bolts of the Practice of Ahimsa . . . . . . . . . . . 292
13.3 Examples of Ahimsa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295
13.4 Fruits of Ahimsa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300
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13.5 Sakshi Bhava: the Witness State of Truth . . . . . . . . . . 302

13.6 Amma's Response to the Tsunami . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304

II Awareness, Practices, and Observances

14 Awareness of Mind and the Role of Death 311
14.1 Orderliness of the Mind . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315
14.1.1 Cleanliness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315
14.1.2 Concentration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 317
14.1.3 Practice of the Present Moment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 320
14.1.4 Three Metaphysical Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322
14.1.4.1 Shraddha—Vigilance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322
14.1.4.2 Viveka—Discrimination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 324
14.1.4.3 Vairagya—Dispassion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325
14.2 The Role of Death . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 329
14.2.1 About Suicide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331
14.2.2 On Mourning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 334
15 Awareness of Heart, Humility, Duty, and Sacrifice 339
15.1 Developing Awareness of Heart or Hridaya . . . . . . . . . . 339
15.2 Humility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 344
15.2.1 Approaching Humility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 346
15.3 Duty or Dharma . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 349
15.3.1 Awakening to Duty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 351
15.3.2 Dutiful Fruits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 356
15.4 Yajna . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 356
15.4.1 Ritual and Yajna . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 360
16 The Practice of Prayer 363
16.1 The Exercise of Prayer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 369
16.2 Prayer and Food . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 373
16.3 Public Prayer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 374
16.4 Bhajan or Hymn Singing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 378
16.5 Japa or Rama-nama . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 379
16.5.1 Ideal of Rama-Nama and Japa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 386
16.5.2 The Practice of Japa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 387
16.5.3 The Results of Japa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 389
16.5.4 Mantras, Japa and Guru . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 390
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17 Selfless Service, Simplicity and Repentance 393

17.1 Selfless Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 393
17.1.1 The Ideal of Selfless Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 396
17.1.2 The Practice of Selfless Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 397
17.1.3 Joy, the Fruit of Selfless Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 401
17.2 Simplicity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 402
17.3 Repentance and Forgiveness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 404
18 The Practice of Silence and the Use of Vow 409
18.1 Silence—Maunam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 409
18.1.1 Speech, from Interior Silence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 411
18.1.2 The Ideal of Silence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 413
18.1.3 The Practice of Silence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 414
18.2 Vow or Observance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 416
18.2.1 The Ideal of Vow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 419
18.2.2 Taking a Vow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 420
18.2.3 The Results of Taking Vows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 422
18.2.4 The Use of Vows in Gandhi’s Earth Ethics . . . . . . . . . 423
19 The Vows of Truth, Ahimsa, and Fearlessness 425
19.1 Truth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 428
19.1.1 The Ideal of Truthfulness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 428
19.1.2 The Observance of Truthfulness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 430
19.2 Ahimsa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 434
19.2.1 The Ideal of Ahimsa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 435
19.2.2 The Observance of Ahimsa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 435
19.2.3 Ahimsa and the Vows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 437
19.3 Fearlessness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 439
19.3.1 The Ideal of Fearlessness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 440
19.3.2 The Cause of Fear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 441
19.3.3 The Observance of Fearlessness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 443
20 The Vows of Tolerance and Touchability 447
20.1 Tolerance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 447
20.1.1 The Ideal of Tolerance . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 448
20.1.2 The Observance of Tolerance . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 448
20.2 Touchability . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 451
20.2.1 The Ideal of Touchability . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 453
20.2.2 The Observance of Touchability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 454
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21 The Vows of Non-possession and Non-stealing 461

21.1 Evolving to Non-possession and Non-stealing . . . . . . . . . 462
21.1.1 The Ideals of Non-possession and Non-stealing . . . . . . . 462
21.1.2 The Observance of Non-possession and Non-stealing . . . . 464
22 Starting Towards Brahmacharya 473
22.1 Control of the Palate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 475
22.2 Celibacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 483
22.2.1 Gandhi Turns to Celibacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 485
22.3 Warnings for Beginners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 497
23 Women and Brahmacharya 505
23.1 Awakening World Sisters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 505
23.2 The Path of the Female Sadhak . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 509
23.2.1 Women and Violence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 511
23.2.1.1 Women and Rape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 512
23.3 Gandhi and Women . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 514
23.3.1 Gandhi and Purdah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 517
23.4 Brahmacharya in the Communities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 520
24 Gandhi’s Politics 525
24.1 Politics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 527
24.2 Original Democracy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 528
24.3 Swaraj—Refined Democracy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 531
24.4 Socialism and Communism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 536
24.4.1 Resource Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 536
24.4.2 Class Conflicts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 538
25 Moral Economics 541
25.1 India’s Rural Civilisation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 542
25.2 Balancing the Role of Machinery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 546
25.3 Defining Moral Economics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 553
25.4 Applying Moral Economics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 556
26 Ethics of Capital and Labour 559
26.1 Towards Moral Power Structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 561
26.2 The Obligations of Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 564
26.3 The Rights and Duties of Labour . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 568
26.4 On Unions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 572
26.5 The Use of the Strike . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 574
26.6 Directions for Labour Now . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 576
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27 The Vows of Trusteeship and Bread labour 579

27.1 Trusteeship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 579
27.1.1 The Ideal of Trusteeship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 585
27.1.2 The Observance of Trusteeship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 587
27.1.3 Amma and Trusteeship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 596
27.2 Bread labour . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 601
27.2.1 The Ideal of Bread labour . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603
27.2.2 The Observance of Bread labour . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 604
27.2.3 Bread labour and Earth Ethical Economics . . . . . . . . 605
27.2.4 Machinery and Bread labour . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 607
28 The Vow of Swadeshi 611
28.1 Defining Swadeshi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 611
28.2 Observance of Swadeshi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 620
28.3 Swadeshi and Swaraj . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 625
28.4 Swadeshi Spirit Abroad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 629
29 Satyagraha 633
29.1 A Natural Law in Human Evolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 634
29.2 Defining Satyagraha . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 634
29.3 Arriving at Satyagraha . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 638
30 The Way of the Satyagrahi 647
30.1 Internal Dedication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 647
30.2 External View of the Satyagrahi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 652
30.3 National Ethical Education Through Satyagraha . . . . . . . 653
30.4 Women and Satyagraha . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 655
30.5 Response of Satyagraha . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 658
30.6 Personal Applications of Satyagraha . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 665
30.6.1 Dr. King and Changes in Satyagraha . . . . . . . . . . . . 667
31 The Fast 671
31.1 Why Gandhi used the Fast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 672
31.2 How to use the Fast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 677
31.2.1 Cesar Chavez and the Fast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 684

III Earth Ethics in Communities and Education

32 Community and Education 687
32.1 The Concept of an Ashram Community . . . . . . . . . . . . 689
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32.2 Gandhi’s Love of Ashram Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 692

32.3 Ideals in Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 695
32.3.1 Ideals for Teachers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 698
32.3.2 Holy Mother Amma’s Ideals for Education . . . . . . . . . 700

33 A Pattern for Basic Education 707

33.1 Gandhi’s Educational Philosophy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 707
33.2 Champaran’s Effect on Gandhi’s Basic Education . . . . . . 713
33.3 Evolving National Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 715
33.4 Patterns for Schools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 720
33.4.1 Sexual Science Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 722
33.4.2 Arts and Music . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 724
33.5 School Cooperatives in Harmony with Nature . . . . . . . . 727

34 Quit-School Movement 731

34.1 Awakening the Need . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 731
34.2 Quit-School Rebounds: Constuctive Programme . . . . . . . 739
34.3 Rise of a New University System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 742
34.4 Post-Basic Education & Constructive Programme . . . . . . 744

35 Gandhi’s National Work in South Africa 747

35.1 Factors in South African History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 747
35.2 Gandhi Gets Involved . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 755
35.3 The Start of Satyagraha . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 766
35.4 Mandela and Gandhi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 775

36 Phoenix 777
36.1 The Spirit of Phoenix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 777
36.2 Becoming an Inmate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 780
36.3 The Newspaper for Earth Ethical Education . . . . . . . . . 788
36.4 Life at Phoenix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 793
36.5 Children’s Education at Phoenix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 796
36.6 Diet and the Fast at Phoenix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 800
36.7 Gandhi, Post-Phoenix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 801

37 Tolstoy Farm 807

37.1 Life on the Farm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 811
37.2 Children’s Education at the Farm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 820
37.3 Post-Tolstoy Farm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 825
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38 Sabarmati 829
38.1 Back in India . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 829
38.2 Satyagraha Ashram at Sabarmati . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 831
38.3 Ashram Vows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 833
38.4 Becoming an Inmate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 837
39 Ashram Educational Pattern for Children 845
39.1 Goal of Ashram education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 845
39.2 Daily-Doings in School . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 849
39.3 Montessori Influence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 855
39.4 Co-education Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 857
40 Difficulties in Ashram Life 859
40.1 Women in the Ashram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 862
40.2 The Change to Udyoga Mandir . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 866
40.3 Ashram Break-up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 869
41 Sevagram and Beyond 873
41.1 Satyagraha Ashram at Wardha . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 873
41.2 Considering Segaon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 875
41.3 The Shift to Segaon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 877
41.4 Earth Ethics in Segaon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 880
41.5 Sevagram Ashram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 885
41.6 Sevagram in Gandhi’s Absence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 888
41.7 Rising Communal Disturbances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 889
41.8 Gandhi’s Last Fast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 891
42 Amritapuri 893
42.1 Holy Mother Amma’s Ashram Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 893
42.2 Formal Ashram Begins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 895
42.3 Advent of the Brahmacharinis or Nuns . . . . . . . . . . . . 901
42.4 Amritapuri Today . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 907
42.5 An Unlimited Mother . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 908
43 Expanding Ethical Reaches 911
43.1 Nation Souls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 911
43.1.1 National Dharmas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 918
43.2 Ethical Care our Planet’s Soul . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 921
43.3 Caring for the Earth Commons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 927
43.3.1 The Precautionary Principle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 928
43.4 Ahimsa for Eco-justice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 929
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43.4.1 Chipko . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . 930
43.4.2 Dr. Vandana Shiva and the IFG . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . 932
43.4.3 Captain Paul Watson and Sea Shepard .
. . . . . . . . . . 933
43.4.4 Medha Patkar and the NBA . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . 934
43.5 Moving towards the Beloved Community . . . . . . . . . . . 936
43.6 Onward and Upward . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 939

Addenda
A Gandhi’s Chronology 947
B Holy Mother Amma’s Chronology 961
C The Way of the Satyagrahi in Corinthians 965
D Gandhi’s Ten Commandments on Picketing 966
E Gandhi's Theory of Trusteeship 968
F Gandhi’s Views on Education 969
G My India by Paramahansa Yogananda 971
H Yuga Theory Discussion by Linkesh Diwan 973
I The Universal Declaration of Human Rights 980
Glossary of Terms 986
Biographical Glossary 1015
Bibliography 1058
Index 1061

Supplementary Materials
Supplementary materials to this book are available online at EarthEthics.org.in
for free download. EarthEthics.org.in also hosts more information, projects related
to Earth Ethics, and discussions related to the contents of this book.

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List of Images
1 Griha-Lakshmi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183

2 Ahimsa—Vows Diagram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 438

3 Early Map of South Africa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 748

4 The Yuga Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 975

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Foreword by Dr. Joseph Elder

I first met Kamala Willey in 1983, when she went to Varanasi (Benares), India
with the University of Wisconsin’s College Year in India Program, with which I
was associated as Faculty Coordinator. During her academic year in Varanasi
Kamala studied (and became quite good at) Hindi. She also wrote her field work
project on Pandey Ghat—one of the many stone stairways leading down through
the city street to the flowing Ganges river.
Kamala completed her B.G.S. degree from Eastern Connecticut State Uni-
versity in 1985 and gave herself the ninety-three volume The Collected Works of
Mahatma Gandhi as a graduation present. For several years the 50,000 pages
of The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi remained virtually unread on her
shelves as young-adult life intervened. Kamala married and gave birth to two
children, a son Lincoln and a daughter, Annika. Combining motherhood with
advanced education, Kamala earned her M.A. from the University of Connecti-
cut in 1990 to be followed by her Ph.D. from the same University. For her
Ph.D. dissertation Kamala chose “The Ecological Mandala of M.K. Gandhi.”
Beginning in 1995, the ninety-three volumes of The Collected Works of Mahatma
Gandhi began to come off Kamala’s shelf one-by-one as Kamala sought to dis-
cover Gandhi’s views on the environment and ecology. Kamala’s search was
hindered by the fact that neither “environment” nor “ecology” appeared in the
index of The Collected Works. To the best of her ability she selected index terms
that might provide relevant ecological information—terms such as nonviolence,
equality, trusteeship, self-reliance, service, bread labor, latrines, night-soil, cap-
italism, city, education, basic education, industrialization, justice, populations,
duty, rights, self-sufficiency, work, cow protection, and vegetarianism. She dis-
covered that approaching the ecological topic piecemeal through indexed words
failed to provide her with the chronological thought-development she wanted. To
quote from the first chapter of her dissertation:

There was no choice but total immersion into the subject, by chrono-
logically perusing the volumes page by page in order to glean the subtle
processual and interrelationship connections that the environmental as-
pects of Gandhi’s thought and life demanded.

So Kamala read each volume (averaging over 550 pages) of The Collected
Works in chronological order. This took her seventeen months. To quote again
from her dissertation:
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FOREWORD

This approach had great advantages, despite the time factor. It pro-
vided a base for empathy with the life of Gandhi on an extended daily
basis…Relationships stood bared in their contextual remains. There was
space between and during readings to process and grow in understand-
ing…The time factor allowed a ‘companionate’ relationship to develop…

After reading all 93 volumes of The Collected Works, Kamala photocopied

8,000 pages chosen for their relevant data. She then spent another six months
analyzing, coding, and categorizing those data. As she began writing her disser-
tation, Kamala faced another problem:

Looking for consistency was challenged by Gandhi who…adamantly

insist[ed] on the right to revise his opinions or change them outright. He
saw himself as being helpless to go counter to his vision of truth, which
was liable to change even beyond his own expectations…Gandhi wanted all
his writings to be burnt along with him upon his death. He wished that
people would say of him: “He fearlessly placed before us what he thought
to be the truth at that time [Kamala’s italics].”

In its final form, Kamala’s dissertation was an “explication of Gandhi’s ecolog-

ical education within the eco-communities and educational dimension of the con-
structive program.” Kamala focussed on Gandhi’s “eco-communities” or ashrams:
Phoenix and Tolstoy ashrams in South Africa, and Satyagraha Ashram in Sabar-
mati and Wardha in India and finally Gandhi’s ashram at Sevagram, a small
village near Wardha. Kamala studied these ashrams’ purposes, how they were
established and maintained, and what their membership requirements were. She
focussed on their constructive programs and especially on their eco-educational
experiments involving spinning, Khadi (hand-spun and hand-woven cloth), diet,
celibacy, fearlessness, abolition of untouchability, tolerance, equality, non-poss-
ession, trusteeship, bread labor, nonviolence, and Satyagraha (the application of
truth-force for change).
In 1991 in the United States, Kamala first met Mata Amritanandamayi (or
“Amma,” mother). Amma had been born in a small village near Kollam in the
state of Kerala in the southwestern corner of India in 1953. At the age of five,
Amma began composing devotional songs. As she grew older, she increasingly
experienced moments of inner bliss in the presence of the Divine Mother. One
day she heard a voice within her calling her to move beyond her inner bliss and
to give solace to suffering humanity. Following her call, Amma’s home became a
pilgrimage place for people asking her advice and seeking her blessing—often in
the form of a motherly hug. In time, Amma founded the Mata Amritanandamayi
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BY DR. JOSEPH ELDER

Mission Trust that started an orphanage, free medical dispensaries, a vocational-

training center, a computer-training institute, and a hospice for terminally ill
patients. In 1987, some of Amma’s followers asked her to come to the West to
meet people who could not come to India. In 1989 Amma started the Mata
Amritanandamayi Center in San Francisco for followers wishing to live in an
ashram. Amma went on to found a university, an institute of medical science and
research, hospitals and medical training centers, eye clinics and speech centers,
homes for the aged and community aid centers, women’s shelters and pensions
for widows—supported by voluntary financial contributions. In the United States
many of Amma’s followers regularly prepared vegetarian meals for the poor.
Amma had a world wide reputation as the “hugging saint.” She hugged anyone
who wished to be hugged. Many whom Amma hugged reported a deep sense of
being loved. In 1993, Amma represented Hinduism in Chicago Parliament of
World Religions.
There were many reasons why Kamala was attracted to Amma. In Amma’s
presence, Kamala felt in touch with India’s ancient heritage and relieved of the
cynicism and materialism of the West. Kamala concluded that Amma’s ashram
in India provided the kind of spiritual setting where she could happily raise her
children. Therefore, in 1999, she, her son Lincoln (age 12), and her daughter An-
nika (age 10) moved from the United States to begin their new life in Amritapuri,
Kerala.
Even before Kamala moved to Amritapuri, Amma had suggested that Ka-
mala produce a book from her research on Gandhi’s earth ethics. After Kamala
arrived in Amritapuri, Kamala recognized that Amma’s teachings and the eco-
community life in Amma’s ashrams both reproduced and enriched what she had
learned while studying Gandhi’s ecological education and earth ethics. So Kamala
began to write this book. Kamala noted that Gandhi established his ashrams to
engender rural community development in India. Amma established her ashrams
in response to the “deluging oceanic love within her.” Her ashrams existed for
service to the world. As such they extended beyond Gandhi’s ashrams.
During the years Kamala was writing this book, Amma’s mission raised mil-
lions of dollars to relieve the victims of the 2004 tsunami that devastated parts of
southeast and south Asia. In 2005 Amma’s mission donated one-million dollars to
the hurricane-Katrina victims in the United States. In 2006 Amma received the
James Park Morton Interfaith award in New York. All of these reflected Amma’s
ashram activities extended beyond the ashram activities of Mahatma Gandhi.
This book includes two unique components: (1) It contains an exhaustively-
researched, carefully-aggregated, series of observations by Mahatma Gandhi re-
garding ecological education within eco-communities (ashrams) and educational
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dimensions of his constructive program. For Gandhi, a major purpose of his

ashrams was to develop a model community that could be replicated and adapted
throughout the world. (2) It contains observations from Amma drawing on her
own experiences with her ashrams. For Amma, a major purpose of her ashrams
was to provide golden opportunities for participants to concentrate on the ethical
life. To the extent Amma’s observations repeat those of Gandhi, Kamala points
out the remarkable parallels reflecting the fact that both of them draw upon In-
dia’s ancient heritages. To the extent Amma’s observations go beyond those of
Gandhi, Kamala suggests that this may be through Amma’s greater sensitivity
to the role of Mother, her application of that sensitivity to her ashrams, and her
awareness of the heritage of the Divine Mother. Those everywhere in the world
interested in enhancing women’s roles will find these observations particularly
valuable.
India, Gandhi, and Amma have provided unique contributions to worldwide
earth ethics. Their contributions are well worth reading—and contemplating. We
are indebted to Kamala for having made them available.

23 January, 2009

Joseph W. Elder, Ph.D.

Professor of Sociology/Languages and Cultures of Asia
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Madison, Wisconsin 53706
USA

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Introduction
In the relations of man with the animals, with the flowers, with the
objects of Creation, there is a great ethic scarcely perceived as yet
which will at length break forth into light.
Victor Hugo

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation
where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin but by the
content of their character.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

I don’t want to be a great leader, I want to be a man who goes around

with a little oil can and when he sees a breakdown offers his help. To
me, the man who does that is greater than any holyman in saffron-
coloured robes. The mechanic with the oil can, that is my ideal in
life.
Baba Amte

Evolving to Earth Ethics

Earth ethics are the ideals that we use to light our way into harmony with the
Earth and the qualities they inspire in us to nourish that relationship. It is
not a new realm, but one that is natural to us all and as old as the hills. Its
importance appears new, as we dress it in language that relates to our time and
conditions. The hope for unity and planetary healing lies in the admission of
our common human dignity and interdependence with the life sustaining systems
all around us. It is through responsible personal and community life that Earth
ethics demonstrate their social and ecologically transforming power.
Earth ethics are part a budding global recognition of the necessity for a world
philosophy. We need to develop a humane human civilisation as we face the
climate crisis together—as we face the desecration of our planet, and the systems
within her that have commonly sustained humanity for thousands of years. With
each breath we touch our common gifts from the Earth: the ocean of air we
breathe, the waters that surround us, the soils which bear our activities upon
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INTRODUCTION

them. As we begin to turn to a universal consensus, we must ask ourselves many

questions and seek many answers from one another.
In this process, the spirit and voice of India, through M.K. Gandhi, and Holy
Mother Amma have eternal veracities to teach and tell us. We are evolving to
an awareness of our shared life which will ultimately bring about consensus on
what the ideals of our ethics and morals are, what we all know and hold to be the
Truth. This Truth will include the whole of the Creation here with us. Gaining
an understanding of India’s contribution to this philosophical accord of ideals is
essential for the establishment of a global consensus on ethics in practical terms.

Gandhi and Holy Mother Amma

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi lived from 1869–1948, yet today there is greater
interest world-wide than ever before in his teachings and thinking. His ethical
awareness was unconsciously born in India and initially honed in South Africa.
Through his ideals he was to develop new economic patterns for social action in
India, working through communities and environmental upliftment. He was not
alone in his efforts, nor were his ideas new. He took his inspiration wherever
he found it. Yet Gandhi pierced through to the ethical core of each ideal, and
presented that to himself, his communities, and to the nations, by the means he
employed to actualise them.
Gandhi’s effort towards realizing his ideals, towards actualising his Love, has
touched millions, regardless of culture, clime and time. In a world abounding
with false prophets, teachers and self-acclaimed healers, with the blind leading
the blind, he stands as a beacon of hope for many as to the innate sanctity of the
human heart, knowable through sincere integrity and effort. Somehow we regard
him with reverence and awe; for he demanded of himself and went within that
Self where we all know we ought to go, but haven’t yet mustered up the gumption
to go to, for whatever reason.
Holy Mother Amma’s birthday is celebrated on September 27, 1953. She
was named Sudhamani (nectar’s pure jewel) at birth. As a child, she used to
write a prayer Amrita jyotir mayame—a short, sweet call to God as the One
who is the pure nectar and light of bliss.* Later, some disciples renamed Holy
Mother Amma as Amritanandamayi—the Mother of Nectarous bliss. In India,
versed as it is linguistically in terminologies that reflect an ancient metaphysical
understanding and heritage, such a name readily conveys her spiritual stature to
those who hear it. In other countries, ‘nectar’ conjures to mind a thick, sweet
*
As told by Holy Mother Amma in The Week. September 21, 2003.

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juice or syrup. In order to keep the import of the Indian terminology in mind,
here she is referred to as Holy Mother Amma, or simply Amma as she is known
to her millions of children.*
In her youth, Amma was surrounded by the natural tropical splendour of
coastal Kerala. It was an atmosphere that was largely politically untouched, with
traditional rural life, steeped in India’s glorious spiritual heritage. She has often
spoken of the deep kinship and caring that the villagers had collectively towards
one another in her youth. High standards existed despite the lack of material
opulence. As a woman, who was bearing and self-identified with a consciousness
that cannot be shackled to gender-bound, social or cultural and caste-minded
conditioning, Amma has risen and continues to rise above tremendous obstacles
to hold the Truth of our being aloft before us, inviting us all to join her in an
opening and out-pouring of our hearts in Love for the Creator and Creation, as
being one another, the great consciousness of which we are all a part. Hers is
the way of unconditional, merciful Love. In the Holy Mother we see the living
biblical precept: “Love the Lord thy God, with all thy heart, with all thy mind,
with all thy strength, and thy neighbour as thyself.”
The inspiration behind countless humanitarian projects in India and abroad,
in 2002 Amma was given the Gandhi-King award in Geneva, Switzerland for her
efforts to promote peace and harmony on Earth. In 2006, her unique ability
to impart deep philosophical understanding in down-to-earth ways was again
publicly acclaimed with the award of the Philosopher Saint Shree Dnyaneshwara
World Peace Prize in Pune, India. Of both Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King,
Jr., Amma said:

Both Mahatma Gandhi and Reverend Martin Luther King dreamt of

a world in which human beings are recognised and loved as human beings,
without prejudice of any kind. Remembering them, Amma also places a
vision of the future before you.
Amma too, has a dream. It is a vision of a world in which women and
men progress together, a world in which all men respect the fact that, like
the two wings of a bird, women and men are of equal value. For without
the two in perfect balance, humanity cannot progress.
Dr. King was courageous like a lion, yet in his heart he was as soft as a
flower. He risked his life for the sake of Love, equality and the other noble
*
She is also called ‘Ammachi’—a more formal version of ‘Amma’ which means ‘Respected
Mother’ in her language, Malayalam. In the media, she is often referred to as the ‘Hugging
Saint.’

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ideals he upheld. He had to struggle with great perseverance against the

people of his own country.
And Mahatma Gandhi didn’t just preach. He put his words into action.
He dedicated his whole life to peace and nonviolence. Even though he
could have been the prime minister or president of India, Gandhi declined
because he had no desire whatsoever for fame or power. In fact, at the
stroke of midnight, when India was declared independent, Gandhi was
found consoling the victims of a riot-affected area.1
Both Gandhi and Holy Mother Amma were and are dedicated to the actuali-
sation of ethical ideals on personal and societal levels. Both are national leaders
and global figures, whose inspiration alone has generated numerous other social
and environmental uplift projects. In Gandhi’s time, these works were known
as the Constructive Programme. Holy Mother Amma has established the Mata
Amritanandamayi Mission Trust (1981) and the Mata Amritanandamayi Math
(1984), which work in numerous avenues for social uplift and betterment, not
unlike the widespread umbrella of the Constructive Programme. These works
include: widow and disabled people’s pension programs, homes for the homeless,
cancer and AIDS hospices, job creation, addressing farmer’s issues, tribal outreach
and uplift, legal aid cells for the poor, soup kitchens, youth fellowships, schools,
scholarships, hospitals, medical camps, disaster relief, a stream of projects and
services too numerous to include here. The paths for social welfare are mush-
rooming fast as her simple message of Love and service to all inflames willing
hearts across the planet. Much of the humanitarian and charitable efforts that
Amma is making are at a very basic level—food, shelter, clean water, clothes,
medical attention, a chance at education, job training, etc. The scope of these
works alone is too vast to see clearly, but it is evident that ceaseless service to
all is the intention behind them. The wonderful aspect of her work at present is
that it is under her living inspiration, and exists for all to participate in now, or
to take inspiration from to start their own.
As a student of Love and Truth, I have found that Gandhi’s ideals, works and
words were directed to the same source that Amma identifies herself wholly with.
The effort that one makes to gain oneness with the Creator and Creation requires
the Earth ethics that Gandhi strove for and thereby elucidated in his own life,
the practice of which naturally adheres to the teachings of Holy Mother Amma.

Uniqueness of India to Earth Ethics

Both Gandhi and Amma have proclaimed that India has special gifts to offer
to the development of human philosophical thought and civilisation that will
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enhance the beauty of collective life. The original name of India is Bharat. Bharat
means to honour, guard, protect. The ancient seers of India gave this name to
inspire her people to protect India’s true wealth, her ethical principles that have
infused and pervaded every aspect of life. Amma tells us:

Our country and its soil have a unique fragrance: the fragrance of
principles like sacrifice, Love, austerities and spirituality. The deep bond
of Love between parents and children, the reverence towards teachers and
elders, the loving relationship between neighbours—these are our wealth.
Similarly, even our art forms were means of worshipping God. What we
need are entertainment and knowledge that have been sanctioned by this
tradition and culture. That is the only way for us to build a society of
excellence.2

In the above quote, Amma refers to India’s soil as also being a bearer of
ethical principles. It is a point to bear in mind when one is overwhelmed by the
present day problems India is facing, and confronted with the erosion of ethical
thinking and corruption in her present social, municipal, educational, medical,
legal and political institutions. At present, India has only shreds of her former
ethical glory, the sanctity of which has been regaled in historical records. Yet
still, India is the home of great qualities that we often liken to one who is called
‘Mother’—qualities of absorption, synthesis and integration. India exalts the
principle of motherhood leading to Universal Motherhood. Most of India was
invaded time and again by rulers who ruled the roost far from the lives of the
‘common man’, yet, for the people, India has gone on unchanged in many ways
long before the dawn of human memory, centuries of centuries past. Modern
archaeological evidence* is finally arriving at the conclusion which the common
man is already aware of—that there has been a continuous, unbroken stream of
an advanced rural civilisation in India which predates our earliest expectations.
This continuity has produced a honing, a fine tuning in the fabric of human life
and interaction, in the consciousness that is distinctly Indian—but not limited to
being Indian. For life is a crucible, which relentlessly grinds us all gradually into
a more subtle awareness of ourselves, before our inevitable exit from this stage.
In the ancient and withered stacks of human history, one sees India’s indelible
imprint on countless civilisations as archaeological records throughout Eurasia,
Africa, the Americas demonstrate. These are a people whose massively ancient
ancestors devised and practised ways of being on and with the Earth; ways which
*
Interestingly, a recent archaeological discovery in what is now Pakistan found that skilled
dentistry was being practised over 9000 years ago in that area.

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are inherently harmonious with the rest of the Creation. Lacking harmony with
the natural Creation, the civilisation along with other beings in the Creation
would have died out, but as yet, they haven’t. However, the bomb-blast of
economic globalisation, intense pollution, and consumer-oriented media is upon
it now, successfully divorcing people from awakening to a moral dialogue with the
environment around them, snowing ethical ideals under a flurry of short-sighted
ones.
Wherever my family has gone in this holy land, we have met people, from
those forced to beg in order to live, to Chief Ministers, and the richest of the
rich, from all religious backgrounds, who could talk intelligently to us about the
highest principles of noble life and who seem to have an awareness of at least
some of them. Even in deep poverty, we have seen great human dignity here. We
have seen extremely poor children who happily gave away their last bangles to
a friend, the joy of their friend being of more value to those children than the
bangles. We have seen children, who having begged their food, shared it with
hungry puppies around them. There is a great patience here, a great acceptance
of being. Yet from the outside, it appears that apathetic and stifling poverty
reigns. I believe Gandhi saw the same thing when he said:

Yes, so long as you look on the surface. But the moment you talk
to them and they begin to speak, you will find that wisdom drops from
their lips. Behind the crude exterior, you will find a deep reservoir of
spirituality. I call this culture. You will not find such a thing in the West.
In the case of the Indian villager, an age-old culture is hidden under an
encrustment of crudeness. Take away the encrustation, remove his chronic
poverty and his illiteracy, and you have the finest specimen of what a
cultured, cultivated, free citizen should be.3

All countries have their archetypal ideals of noble human aspiration, by which
they are known. In this sense, India practises real democracy. The genuine
individual freedom to follow—at all cost—one’s internal Truth, even it means
giving up all physical comforts including your clothing, hearth and home, leaving
conventional life is acceptable, so long as you are not harming others. I know
that if Holy Mother Amma had been born and brought up in the USA, my
country of birth, she would have been locked up in a mental institution during
the years she gave an example of intense tapas and sadhana, exhibiting no care
or thought for her body, in her unswerving dedication to the ideal. My country,
espousing true democracy, would not have been able to absorb her actions in
a live and let live way of being. The evolutionary process of creating Saints
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and Mahatmas* is not part of the social experience in the USA Nor was it an
experience her family and village could understand for many years, yet, with the
inherent gifts of India—synthesis, acceptance and absorption, they allowed her
to be what she was and is. Even religious institutions in the West which admit
of the phenomenon of great beings, usually have immense distrust of them while
they are alive. The toleration and patience for genuine individuality has yet to
be developed. Tolerance and individuality are a lot deeper than hairstyles, sexual
preferences and outer garb—including skin.
In India, nearly every piece of cultural fabric that one can find, brings the
mind up, and up again to an awareness of a Supreme Being. In every aspect of
life, one can see and find this message steeped: “Remember, respect, and Love
thy Maker!” This lesson is imbibed through even seemingly minor aspects of life.
Dance is sacred dance, as well as being highly artistic and skilled. What to eat,
when and in which season, even while applying traditional make-up, where to take
one’s shoes off, how to treat one’s school books, teachers, pens, pencils, paper,
the various objects in a kitchen—the mind is drawn into continual remembrance
of a larger existence and intelligence of which we are all a part.
India has a great deal to offer in developing a clearer idea of how we, as
individuals, families and societies can begin to rethink ourselves and seek to live in
greater harmony with all that is here with us. Ethics are intrinsically interwoven
with the environment of India, and are deeply a part of her. Dr. Martin Luther
King, Jr. noted these qualities on his trip to India in 1959, and said:

Today, India is a tremendous force for peace and nonviolence at home

and abroad. It is a land where the idealist and the intellectual are yet
respected. We should want to help India preserve her soul and thus help
save our own.4

Both Gandhi and Amma are recognised as part of the universal spirit and
consciousness of India. Gandhi is called the “Father of the Nation.” Amma is
considered an “Incarnation of the Divine Mother.”† I have found that it is only
in India that such recognition of people on the basis of their spirituality takes
place. Outside of isolated pockets of communities dotting the planet, I have seen
no other place that exalts the metaphysical over the material and honours Love
*
From: Maha (great) + atma (Soul), meaning a personage of great spiritual realization,
whose life is solely for the benefit of others. A title also given to Gandhi by Rabindranath
Tagore, but customarily used as well to honour people who have distinguished themselves
through ethical and practical public service.
†
A public acknowledgement of her spiritual stature.

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above all, to the extent that is done in India. Nowhere else does one so feel the
acknowledgement of the deeper reality of the human being.
India is the land of dharma or duty, and is quick to love and adore those who
cling to the supreme human duty: to know and Love our Maker with all our
heart, mind and strength. Hence, Albanian born Catholic Mother Theresa, was
acknowledged, loved and cherished by the nation at large, a Love and respect that
transcended conceptual religious walls. Had her work been in another country, it
is unlikely the world would know of her as it does today.
At the same time, India is a vast and clashing mix of a zillion human tendencies
and traits facing the tremendous ecological and cultural challenges of industrial
globalisation. Despite her obvious failings, the great light of India illumines the
path of human dharma or righteousness for all peoples to walk. In my being is
an untold fathomless Love for what I call the Soul of India. I experience this
as Truth. I feel it in Nature and naturalness. Although at present there is a
widespread decline in the encouragement of ethical life, still behind and deeper
than this, is the Soul of India. I will forever be a student of this great land,
peoples and truths.

Duty of America
The United States of America has given the planet priceless and practical jewels of
ethical awareness and understanding that I see in no other country. My brother,
Jefferson Mohandas* and I grew up in a small rural community in northeastern
Connecticut. The archetypal ideals of America deposited at our feet ethics of
inestimable spiritual worth, which we unconsciously imbibed like the air around
us and they became part of our being. Ethics like: All people are inherently
equal…All people have the capacity to become more than what they presently
are…There is always hope for a better tomorrow…Self-reliance and independence
are virtues…If you can do it yourself, do it yourself…No work is higher or lower,
and everybody has to clean up…Hard work and sweat are nothing to be afraid
of…Girls and boys have equal rights to the same opportunities…Nothing is impos-
sible…Don’t treat anyone like your servant—even if they work as one…Try and
try again…Let’s work together and get the job done…It is our duty to help the
less fortunate…If someone needs a hand, give them one…What happened in the
past is over—carry on…What you make of yourself today is what counts…What
you dream, you can become…These are some of the great gifts that my country
*
My late father, Charles F. Willey was a great admirer of Gandhi and gave his son Gandhi’s
name — Mohandas.

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offers the world community.

A melting pot of peoples from all around the planet, America today is made up
of millions of genetic combinations of people, of which I am also one.* The noble
ethics of that land bind the people together and make them ‘American’. Yet while
growing up, I was aware that my country’s government was travelling, with more
and more momentum, down a road counter to these basic principles of human
brotherhood. A road that went counter to the ethics I felt were the essential
American fabric. A road the politics of some elections have shown as counter
to the will of the American people. It seemed as though another force—big
business, international resource-grabbing and hand-in-glove relationships to the
production of the implements of war—was taking over, and it didn’t care about
little people, or the Earth, or anyone save a very few. Back in the 1950’s, “A
military-industrial complex,” as President Eisenhower had warned, “employed
its considerable economic and political influence to encourage American military
involvements around the globe.”5 And the results are there for us to see, to live
with, to recover from, to help heal and overcome—now, for we cannot hurt others
without traumatising our own selves.
Public urban and suburban education in the late 60’s and 70’s began changing
from open environments, to schools built to withstand riots, with less recess
time, and more emphasis on following the letter and form than the spirit of
things. Fear of ‘safety’ has become such an issue that children can no longer
climb trees in peace—most have been conditioned out of the natural desire to do
so. The relations between big business and education thickened. The situation
has reached a point now that many high school graduates cannot calculate simple
multiplication and division problems. Many are graduating unable to read well or
locate their own position on a geographical map. Fear of horrific violence—shoot-
outs and bombs—and the use of drugs is a reality today in many schools across
the country.
Sexual openness has eroded the family structure and life, causing deep wounds
in the psyches of many people. The role of sexuality in our lives has become based
upon a media induced imbalance, rather than coming from a place of ethical
balance. Sex does have an ethical place in our life and human relations, one
which is lost to us at present. The means and methods used in the struggle for
gender equality have brought about mass confusion on what it means to be male
or female, without bringing gender respect.
As a young child, from what I could see and understand, everything Dr. Martin
*
My maternal grandparents were in the second shipment of indentured labourers from India
to Trinidad, West Indies, making roads and doing plantation work. My paternal grandparents
were from England and Canada.

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Luther King Jr. was doing made sense. Great commonsense. While he lived, there
was for me a feeling of joy and jubilation, that he was walking with us all, a true
son of America, a man of God. He called us to think things through, until they
rung clear. He said intelligent things, like: “Through our scientific genius, we
have made the world a neighbourhood: Now through our moral and spiritual
genius we must make it a brotherhood. We are all involved in the single process,
what affects one directly, affects all indirectly. We are all links in the great chain
of humanity.”6
I sometimes wonder: had King been born in India, would he have been hailed
as another ‘Vivekananda’ or an Avatar of Dharma, a Mahatma, or a Bodhisattva?
He certainly was, although unrecognised, for America. In his quest for civil rights,
Dr. King included all human rights. Back in the 1950’s, he could see that the
USA government was not representing the people when he said: “I knew I could
never again raise my voice against the violence of the oppressed in the ghettos
without having first spoken clearly to the greatest purveyor of violence in the
world today—my own government.”7
Children often intrepret events in ways unexpected. The deaths of J.F.
Kennedy, Dr. King and then Robert Kennedy, in quick succession in the 1960’s,
made me, as a child, feel that there was an inhuman ruthlessness at the core of
this turn down the dark road, that would choke and kill the spirit of what it
meant to be an American; kill those ethical ideals in order to dumb us down into
consenting consumers and guinea pigs. A force that really did not care about our
constitution, about democracy, about the American people or, for that matter,
about any people.
I believe King saw the results for the American people over 45 years ago
when he prophetically said, “A nation that continues year after year to spend
more money on military defence than on programs of social uplift is approaching
spiritual death.”8 And about the Soul of America: “It can never be saved so long
as it destroys the hopes of men the world over.”9 America does indeed have a
soul, it is a great soul, it can be found in the noblest aspirations and ideals of
her peoples. In the community of nations, my country has always represented
hope, justice, and a new opportunity, a new chance at life and freedom from
social patterns of human limitation. In 1958, there was an international demand
for world peace and disarmament. The world looked to America to lead the way,
being the wealthiest and most powerful militarily and economically. America
at that time, represented the hope and dream of a genuine world brotherhood
arising in the hearts of human beings. It was paradoxical, considering the issues
of civil rights in the USA then.
I grew up in revolutionary times, and when I look at American youth today, I
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see that same spirit—wiser and more informed in many ways than I was—but at
the same time suffering the damaging legacy of what has become a de-civilising
society with global influence. The desperation of youth in America is so intense,
I am confident that a massive, united and new dawn is fast approaching the
horizon, soon to rise. Dr. King said: “Our only hope today lies in our ability
to recapture the revolutionary spirit and go out into a sometimes hostile world
declaring eternal hostility to poverty, racism and militarism.”10 We can now add
to that list: eternal hostility to the rape and destruction of our Earth, sky and
waters, to the squanderous sucking up of resources that sustain life for the whole
of Creation; eternal hostility to greed. As Dr. King said: “The question is not
whether we will be extremist but what kind of extremist will we be.”11
America, like India, has the universal within her. It has been nurtured through
genuine tolerance and freedom from caste- and status-stuck eyes, by her mixed
population of peoples. It is there in the deep spirituality of those she has crush-
ingly oppressed within her. In 1954, Dr. King stated: “Discrimination is a hell-
hound that gnaws at Negroes in every waking moment of their lives to remind
them that the lie of their inferiority is accepted as truth in the society dominat-
ing them.”12 It is always those who have endured and still love that gain wisdom.
The United States of America will rise, with humility and grace to shine the
light of joyous human brotherhood upon this Earth. Earth ethics are part of her
awakening to her own self and her duty in the sphere of nations.
The misunderstood phrase from the USA’s Declaration of Independence, “Life,
liberty and the pursuit of happiness” has become a byword for uncaring, unre-
sponsive individualism, economics that are entirely immoral, selfish, destructive
and exploitative to human society and the Earth as a whole, to overall ethical
unaccountability. It was Abe Lincoln who saw that the greatness of the United
States lay not in the material pursuit of individual happiness, but in the people’s
participation in a working democracy, as they pursued knowledge of Truth, their
ethical instincts, the only real happiness possible. The trend of the last 100-odd
years is a departure from the spirit of those ideals first put forth by our founding
fathers.
Despite obvious failings, American optimism, enthusiasm and willingness to
change is still strong. I am proud of the ethics that can be found in America,
her generous, caring and open-hearted people. I am intensely grateful for being
born in her atmosphere, for having the opportunity to imbibe the great spiritual
qualities that she offers as freely as the air. I know that my country, the United
States of America, contains a message of Love, energy and hope for this Earth.
The terrible and tragic mismanagement of almost seven decades; the rise of the
brutal military and industrial complex, the materialism, racism, and global self-
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ishness of individuals and companies receiving legal sanction there—none of these

will be able to crush the spirit of her people, despite education that has dumbed
them down, despite media indoctrination that teaches them not to think. As
they awaken and rise to their own heart’s way, to the inherent ideals of America,
the great people of the United States will assist in the ushering of a new dawn
for mankind. I have the faith that this is a Truth. It is for sure, a duty.
The election of the 44th USA President, Barak Obama, has brought tremen-
dous hope to billions of people on the planet. Words like duty and social respon-
sibility have come out of the dusty closet. It is for us, the people, to lead our
leaders and make good the promises of our age, otherwise as Dr. King said: “We
will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions
of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people.”13

About this Book

This book has developed out of my research on M.K. Gandhi’s ecological ethics,
which in 1997 Holy Mother Amma advised me to make into a book. Since then,
the book has grown to include understandings gleaned from satsangs, and her
teachings from publicly available books and documents. The experience of meet-
ing Amma has been one of the most profound in my life. I am very thankful for
her guiding light in our lives. In 1999, our small family of three moved from the
USA to Amritapuri, Kerala, India to be closer to her. My two children were 10
and 12 years old then. We are among the thousands living in her main ashram.
By grace, each person, among the many, feels her special and personal Love and
caring. The experience of ashram life has demonstrated to me that these Earth
ethical principles are not only universal, but the most important factors in our
lives.
Following Gandhi’s death, Indian scholars did an astounding amount of work
to gather every piece of writing, every scrap of paper that Gandhi had ever
produced, culminating in the voluminous Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi
(CWMG). These have comprised the base ground for the gleaning of Gandhi’s
ethics. This exhaustive work has left the literary world much richer, and well
deserves our gratitude. Without the aid of computers, telephones and other forms
of multi-media and often without typewriters, Gandhi kept up a daunting load of
domestic and international correspondence. He was a prolific writer, establishing
newspapers, penning articles, pamphlets and books. Many of the days when he
was in jail, he would handwrite over 80 letters to people. He trained himself to
use both hands, and would write with his right hand until it was exhausted, then
shift to his left, and keep going. He used his body to serve the interests of his
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soul.
His legal training as a lawyer is reflected in the tenor of his writings. As a
lawyer, he never sought to hide the fault of his client, but encouraged them to be
completely truthful with him, and responsibly bear the penalty of their actions
if they had done wrong. He gathered a reputation as an honest lawyer. As a
Sadhak, a spiritual aspirant, he takes the side of his soul, the side of conscience
felt in his heart, eloquently stating the case to his own mind and to the hearts
and minds around him.
He kept his personal liberty sharp-edged, for its best purpose—his search for
Truth. At age 75 he stated: “Man moves either forward or backwards. He never
stands still. Such being the universal law, I need scarcely say that I am not today
where I was yesterday or where I shall be tomorrow.”14
Of his written works, Gandhi said:

I would like to say to the diligent reader of my writings and to others

who are interested in them that I am not at all concerned with appearing
to be consistent. In my search after Truth I have discarded many ideas and
learnt many new things. Old as I am in age, I have no feeling that I have
ceased to grow inwardly or that my growth will stop at the dissolution of
the flesh. What I am concerned with is my readiness to obey the call of
Truth, my God, from moment to moment, and therefore, when anybody
finds any inconsistency between any two writings of mine, if he has still
faith in my sanity, he would do well to choose the latter of the two on the
same subject.15

To facilitate his request, for those who are interested, I have put an endnote
for each quotation with the date, his age and occasion as available. However, it
must be noted that in 1939 Gandhi was asked to revise Hind Swaraj, a pamphlet
he wrote in 1908 with his ideas for an independent India. He commented: “The
reader may know that I could not revise a single idea.”16 The ideals that gripped
his vision in 1908 were unchanged 30 years later. While there may have been
shades of a deepened understanding and exposition, particularly noticeable in
the ideal of varna ashrama (India’s ancient social and economic order which is
no longer practised today) Gandhi’s ideals and his expressions of them remained
clear and consistent throughout his life. As far as possible, I rely upon Gandhi’s
own words to aid in the description and demonstration of his Earth ethics. His
words will do the job better than any interpretation could.
Ethics are intrinsically tied to education and community development.
Gandhi’s community work in South Africa receives its first examination in this
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INTRODUCTION

regard here. It was in South Africa that Gandhi passed the meridian of his life,
returning to India at age 45. In South Africa, Gandhi found space and willing co-
workers to assist him as he began honing his ethical awarenesses into ideals, then
forging them into practical means for social upliftment. The importance of the
communities he forged—Phoenix and Tolstoy Farm—cannot be underestimated
in these ethics. The strong moral stamp of Gandhi’s ethics in action have histor-
ically impacted the way that South Africa has risen and broken the choke-chain
of apartheid there. It is the inherent humility and greatness of the native South
African that saw the wisdom and long-term gains in utilising Gandhi’s ideas for
political and social emancipation for over 40 years in that struggle.
Amma’s community work has developed organically, from right where she was
born. While Gandhi’s communities arose out of his effort to create an organ for
rural community development in India, Amma’s community or ashram arose in
response to the deluging oceanic Love within her, the response to that Love by
those who met her. Her ashram exists for the service of the world. As such, from
its inception her community work is different from Gandhi’s. Using the estab-
lishment of schools to assist in influencing pre-existent community life, over 50
English Medium schools and higher institutions of education have been founded in
Amma’s name throughout India. Almost half have attached ‘Brahmasthanams’
or small temples dedicated to the Principle of Oneness in diversity. These places
have become ‘branch ashrams’ — hubs for social upliftment and inspiration in the
areas they are located, with a skeletal staff of either monks or nuns, but they are
not communities as such. In the future, they most probably will become so. The
M.A. Math has also established centres on every continent, innumerable satsang *
groups, all of which have a serviceful approach to their local communities.
Amma’s teachings on each and every aspect mentioned herein are far more
profound than I have been able to express. Her work and life are still unfolding
before us. We conducted research and interviews into Amma’s life and history,
and found a wealth of information about Amma yet to come to light. We encour-
age people to make their own discoveries while the invaluable sources, the people
who lived and worked with Amma from her childhood are still alive. Through
books available Amma’s constant message to us—that we are pure consciousness,
we are the Love and the Truth that we seek—comes through. I have found the
experience of delving into them for clarifying her Earth ethics similar to that
of the study of the Upanishads† in its soul-stretching upliftment. Amma speaks
from a profound and subtle understanding of the self and the universe. She some-

*
Satsang—gathering of Truth seekers.
†
The Hindu scriptures that comprise what is called Vedanta.

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FORMAT OF THIS BOOK

times refers to herself as ‘Mother’ or ‘Amma’ when speaking. It is as though she

is a witness to That which is in her. Her invaluable expansive insights and in-
structions clear the path for sincere sadhaks.* I have only been able to include a
peripheral explication of Amma’s teachings to Gandhiji’s Earth ethics, but it will,
I hope, suffice to encourage the discussion further. Gandhi and Amma are not
at odds. From all sides that we can see, they appear to have the same reference
point.

Format of this Book

Earth ethics work internally and externally. The discussion in this book seeks to
demonstrate this. The subject matter has been divided into three parts, which
are subdivided into chapters.
Part One, the Ethical Mandala of India begins the discussion of Earth ethics,
defining terms, and probing aspects and relevant views of Gandhi’s and Amma’s
lives and Indian philosophy and culture. This is first carried out through present-
ing views of Gandhi and Amma from writings, as well as other’s perceptions of
them. It provides an overall framework of Hinduism and Hindu literature with
Amma’s insights and places Gandhi within that cultural and philosophical en-
vironment through his own words. This discussion includes the ideal concepts
of ashrama (or life stages), with the corresponding ethical components of each
stage of life and varna ashrama (the ancient ideal for social order) both of which
are naturally and universally pertinent to the ordering of human society. These
are concepts that Gandhi sought to live his life by, and from which many of his
observances came forth. This provides views of some of the practical social sup-
ports for living ethical life. The present day caste system or Indian apartheid is
also discussed in light of varna. This section further examines the role of vege-
tarianism on Gandhi’s Earth ethics and how, through it, he arrived at Ahimsa or
Love and Truth as a way of being. The discussion on Truth includes Holy Mother
Amma’s description of one angle to its perception, as well as an example of her
response of Ahimsa to a natural disaster—the Tsunami of 2005.
Part Two, Awarenesses, Practices and Observances elucidates the ‘nuts and
bolts’ of Earth Ethics, that Gandhi personally observed. Enhancements of these
principles with Amma’s teachings make the explications comprehensive to our
present times and situation as well as provides depth to understanding them. It
also discusses his concepts of refined democracy, or swaraj, the moral relations
between capital and labour and the use of the strike and picketing. It exam-
*
Sadhak—spiritual aspirant.

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INTRODUCTION

ines Gandhi’s perceptions of the political, economic and community systems he

wanted to see established in India through the Earth ethical vows of Trusteeship,
Bread labour and Swadeshi* It defines and explains the comprehensive role of
brahmacharya to Earth ethics, for it was out of his need to respond totally to
the needs and issues of the hour that he undertook the vow of brahmacharya,
beginning with the practice of Control of the Palate and celibacy, both of which
he never stopped working on.
Satyagraha and the use of the Fast as a means and weapon for transformation
in Earth ethics grew out of Gandhi’s ahimsa and perception of Truth. Gandhi
had a clear conception as to how these powerful weapons can be used. His use of
the fast, was always a last resort, done in response to “lethargic Love.” By these
discussions the foundation and elemental basis of the ideals of Earth ethics are
given.
Part three, Education and Community, examines the practical ways that
Gandhi applied his ethics through the creation of community, village uplift and
national educational reform. It was in South Africa that he first began politi-
cal reform in through ethics. He later sought to create communities—Phoenix
and Tolstoy Farm that could influence as well as respond ethically to the envi-
ronment there. A brief history of South Africa and Gandhi’s involvement with
it is included. Gandhi’s experiments in South Africa included ethical education
for adults as well as youth. He gained insight into new definitions for the role
of women. He began to find joy in self-reliance through community industry,
with a new focus on Earth-wise economics. These were successful forerunners to
his later national and community work in India, including his two decades long
Quit-School movement. Village industries became heralds of the urgent moral
and economic pertinence of his vows of trusteeship, Swadeshi and Bread labour
to the global community.
An overview of Amma’s own community development concludes the discussion
on ethical education and community. Amma has likewise begun national and
international work through her humanitarian and charitable institutions. As the
constructive and charitable works of both Gandhi and Amma are too broad for
this student to examine in their entirety, the examination has been limited to
focusing on community development through education. It’s an ongoing work.
The last chapter discusses the expanding directions for Earth ethics now.
A chronological table for Gandhi has been included that not only contains
references to the dates and events mentioned in the text, but also his major
Satyagraha campaigns and Fasts. Holy Mother Amma’s chronological table in-
*
Swadeshi—economic and ethical self-reliance.

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AMENDS

cludes the facts herein, as well as some aspects of institutional growth. It is not
possible to give the entire picture of her mushrooming social, political, educa-
tional and humanitarian work without exhaustive research, which is not germane
to this discussion. Also included is an extensive glossary of terms that are not ex-
plained or are less defined in the text, a biographical glossary, containing snippets
of personages mentioned, appendices as indicated and index.
For the ease of visual reference, we have put a small lotus sketched by Anni
near every block quote from Holy Mother Amma, and a charkha wheel near those
from Gandhi, drawn by Sukanya R. of Amritapuri ashram.

Amends
Any presentation of history is always questionable in its distortions. It is said that
just to master the ocean of Hindu literature would take 70 lifetimes; clearly I can
give only the briefest framework of it here. Even to truly understand one living
human being may take more than one full life time. One often hears, ‘I never
knew he had it in him’—what to say of one who has passed beyond the mortal
coil such as Gandhi? To truly understand Holy Mother Amma requires that we
understand deeply our own self, to know our conscious and eternal existence, as
she does. It is a knowledge that we know and have, but don’t know that we
know and have. I know that my glaring ignorance in many areas will irritate or
dismay those who know more or see things differently. For this, I seek your kind
understanding in advance.
In this book I assume a philosophically ethnographic stance—which is to say
that I do not seek to prove or disprove the ‘rightness’ or ‘wrongness’ of Gandhi and
Holy Mother Amma’s perceptions of Truth and Love. Paramahansa Yogananda
(1893–1952) once said, “Ideas are universally, not individually rooted.” We all
have a stake in the oneness that carries us each as a part of it. This book seeks to
inspire practical means to apply ethics in our daily lives. It will therefore resonate
with the ideas and works of all people making a similar effort. This work is also
an introduction to each ideal mentioned. We hope that sincere aspirants and
scholars of Earth ethical life will deepen our collective human awareness by their
own subjective indepth inquiry into each ideal.
Gandhi took liberties with the English language and created many of his own
words to convey a meaning: ‘unfructuous’ and ‘equiminded’ being some that my
computer dictionary refuses to recognise. I believe this is an appropriate use
of language, and have done the same in certain circumstances. I feel language
is meant to help us express ourselves to one another. On occasion, we may
need to alter the format of certain words to enable them to express other shades
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INTRODUCTION

of meaning. For example: ‘squanderous’. I reserve this artistic right of self

expression. Furthermore, he wrote in British English. To simplify things, I have
kept that style in the narrative text as well.
We are concerned with ethics and principles here. Gandhi, being the man
that he was—through his sincerity, honesty, effort, his Love and prolificness, has
given us means to arrive at a necessary view of the eternal Earth ethics that lit
his path. Amma’s contemporary spiritual authority assists in their meaningful
explication to our own efforts. Through Gandhi’s life and Amma’s pearls of
wisdom, behind the glamour of personality, cultures and history, is a glimpse
of a sense of consciousness common to all. It is in seeking to know the Truth
within ourselves that we stand a chance of understanding one another. Both
speak through their actual experience—Gandhi of the ideal as it was becoming
real for him, Amma of the ideal that is the real for her.
The path of the sincere aspirant—the sadhak—is striving for oneness with
Love or Truth, seeking the full measure of being human sans all but that inner
guidance, that voice within. The path or way sounds itself in ethical and moral
discourse throughout every particle in the universe and each and every action
one makes, small or great. As a fellow aspirant, who has not yet achieved the
harmony and oneness my heart longs for, I am and will ever be in awe of Gandhi’s
honest effort and Amma’s certain authority. I am still a beginner; hence, this
can only be an introduction. An English woman, Ms. Maude Royden, the first
woman to be ordained an Anglican minister, who had never met Gandhi said of
him, “To read the words of Gandhi…is to be lifted above this senseless noise and
confusion into a purer and a cleaner air—clearer, for it enables us to see above the
dust of battle, and purer, because it is inspired by such utter fidelity to Truth.”17
I am grateful to have had the opportunity to study the principles of Earth
ethics; they have filled my mind with fragrant buds of being that I pray one day
will blossom within me. The path of one employing Earth ethics echoes across
all faiths, efforts, struggles, and time. The eternal striving of the soul towards
the One Beloved unleashes intensities of strength, passion and sudden uprisings
of joy unknowable in mundane life.
It is in a spirit of service, as well as part of my own personal sadhana* that
these words are offered. My small family suffered a devastating loss with the
passing of my beautiful 19 year old daughter, Anni, in June 2007 to an undiag-
nosable disease that appeared to doctors in the USA as cancer. As my son and
I struggle to go on with our lives on this Earth, the principles discussed here
have been invaluable. Particularly useful to us has been the discussion of yajna
*
Means employed to grow towards Love and Truth.

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AMENDS

or sacrifice. In keeping my mind on these higher principles—as part of myself

and environment, as being the subtle moral fibre of what I perceive to be life, I
have gained much solace in dark hours. Holy Mother Amma has often used the
example of a glass of salt water. If we keep on adding sweet water to it, it will
eventually become sweet. It is to make my own mind and heart sweet, so that
nothing but pure Truth and Love will be the constant companion of my inner
skies, and so that I may eventually be of better service to humanity that I have
studied in these directions. I leave it to the reader to take what is useful and
applicable to her or him in their own lives and efforts.
We will all have our last day here. It has been said that a life not contem-
plated, is perhaps not worth living. Earth ethics are a quintessential part of that
contemplation and essential to making a life worth living, they touch Love and
Truth itself, within and without us. To all of you who have the interest in India’s
contribution to Earth ethics through Gandhi and Amma, Pranaam.*

With Love from India,

P. Kamala Willey, Ph. D. Amritapuri, 2009

*
I bow to the Truth in You.

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Part I

The Mandala of India’s

Earth Ethics

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Chapter 13
Ahimsa is Love is Truth
I decided early to give my life to something eternal and absolute. Not
to these little gods that are here today and gone tomorrow, but to
God who is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Thus step by step we learn how to make friends with all the world; we
realize the greatness of God—of Truth. Our peace of mind increases
in spite of suffering; we become braver and more enterprising; we
understand more clearly the difference between what is everlasting
and what is not; we learn how to distinguish between what is our
duty and what is not. Our pride melts away, and we become humble.
Our worldly attachments diminish and the evil within us diminishes
from day to day.
Gandhi

Children, Ahimsa should become the vow of our lives. Ahimsa is

refraining from causing pain to anyone through thought, word or deed.
Amma

Ahimsa is a state of total connectedness with Truth, with our consciousness,

a state of perfect harmony. It has no opposite nor metaphor, but perhaps in
order to clarify its perception to our minds which as yet cannot comprehend
such a state, the ancient sages clothed the experience of Ahimsa with the word.
From the Sanskrit himsa meaning ‘harm’ ‘violence,’ Ahimsa is harmlessness, that
which is ‘not harming,’ ‘not violence.’ Gandhi found that: “In its essence, Ahimsa
is a powerful emotion of the heart which finds expression in numerous forms of
service.”1 He saw that: “Love, otherwise Ahimsa, sustains this planet of ours.
This much must be admitted. The precious grace of life has to be strenuously
cultivated, naturally so because it is uplifting. Descent is easy, not so ascent.”2
Gandhi viewed Ahimsa as the precious crowning diadem that India has to
offer to Earth ethics on the world platform. He said: “Ahimsa which to me is the
chief glory of Hinduism has been sought to be explained away by our people as
being meant for sannyasis only. I do not share that view. I have held that it is
the way of life and India has to show it to the world.”3
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13 AHIMSA IS LOVE IS TRUTH

Ahimsa can be seen in the practice of the teachings of the Sermon on the
Mount by Jesus Christ; it is what is called the Great Compassion in Buddhism;
it is Amma’s Universal Motherhood. Ahimsa is Love. Ahimsa is compassion in
action.
Gandhi defined Ahimsa both as an inherent reality, the law of life, and as life’s
Principle. He gave this example of the relation between compassion and Ahimsa:

There is as much difference between Ahimsa and compassion as there

is between gold and the shape given to it, between a shoot and the tree
which sprouts from it. Where there is no compassion, there is no Ahimsa.
The concrete form of Ahimsa is compassion…True endeavour consists in
seeing that one’s daily conduct follows Ahimsa.4

13.1 Ideal of Ahimsa

Gandhi had expanded from the level of empathic food choice to the identification
of Ahimsa as the expression of Love itself. For Gandhi, the conscious blossoming
of Ahimsa within him became his natural goal. It is easy to love those who also
love us. But the principle of Love is never actually tested under these conditions.
Gandhi was to seek to test his own capacity to love, again and again, in con-
fronting those who disagreed or even violently opposed his actions in light of his
view of Truth. As such, Gandhi found that: “Ahimsa is the highest ideal, it is
meant for the brave—never for the cowardly.”5
Gandhi gained his understanding of Ahimsa primarily through the spirit and
ore of the Indian psyche and his studies of Jain works. He felt particularly close
to Chand Kavi, a Jain philosopher and poet, whom he loved so dearly that he
felt his living presence despite his deceased state:

By birth I am a Vaishnavite and was taught Ahimsa in my childhood.

I have derived much religious benefit from Jain religious works, as I have
from scriptures of the other great faiths of the world. I owe much to the
living company of the deceased philosopher Raja Chand Kavi who was
a Jain by birth. Thus though my views on Ahimsa are a result of my
study of most of the faiths of the world, they are now no longer dependent
upon the authority of these works. They are a part of my life and if I
suddenly discovered that the religious books read by me bore a different
interpretation from the one I had learnt to give them, I should still hold
to the view of Ahimsa [that I have gained].6
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IDEAL OF AHIMSA 13.1

Gandhi found the awakening of Ahimsa—really the awakening of the heart—to

be a natural and spontaneous happening, and said “…[it] is not a mechanical mat-
ter, it is personal to everyone.”7 He saw that Ahimsa is known through the heart
alone.

Real Ahimsa or Love originates in one’s heart and is known by one’s

conduct even as gold is known by its qualities. A man who is full of Love
never forgets that the world is full of life like his and takes great care that
he does not harm any living thing. He sees his Love reflected in the eyes of
those whom he meets. He is the friend of all…These are but the outward
signs of the inner abiding Love…8

Ahimsa came to be known in the West by the less sublime translation of ‘non-
violence.’ Gandhi was to struggle against the limitations of this terminology to
hold the sacred understanding of Ahimsa up before the masses: “Ahimsa is not
the crude thing it has been made to appear. Not to hurt any living thing is no
doubt a part of Ahimsa. But it is its least expression. The principle of Ahimsa
is hurt by every evil thought, by undue haste, by lying, by hatred, by wishing ill
to anybody. It is also violated by our holding on to what the world needs.”9
The ideal of Ahimsa sees the sacredness of all life. The exercise of Ahimsa is
the ideal relationship to the Earth or entire Creation, based upon ethics. It bears
the attitude of ‘live and let live’ with active support as well. Gandhi said:

Non-Violence is a perfect state. It is a goal towards which all mankind

moves naturally though unconsciously. Man does not become divine [un-
til] he personifies innocence in himself. Only then does he become truly
man…We pretend to believe that retaliation is the law of our being, whereas
in every scripture we find that retaliation is nowhere obligatory but only
permissible. It is restraint that is obligatory. Retaliation is indulgence re-
quiring elaborate regulating. Restraint is the law of our being. For highest
perfection is unattainable without highest restraint. Suffering is thus the
badge of the human tribe.10

Out of seeing the sacredness of all life, simultaneously and automatically come
deep reverence and compassion for all. As Gandhi pondered on the ideal of
Ahimsa he noted:

It seems to me to be atheistical to think that God has created some

life only to be destroyed by man, either for his pleasure or for sustaining a
body, which he knows, is after all doomed to death any moment. We do not
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13 AHIMSA IS LOVE IS TRUTH

know what part the many so-called noxious creatures play in the economy
of Nature. We shall never know the laws of Nature by destruction.11

With his legally trained mind, Gandhi gave valuable developmental analysis
of Ahimsa, as he gazed resolutely at the ideal. He found that Ahimsa can be seen
as having ‘positive’ and ‘negative’ expressions:

In its negative form, it means not injuring any living being, whether by
body or mind. I may not therefore hurt the person of any wrong doer, or
bear any ill-will to him and so cause him mental suffering. This statement
does not cover suffering caused to the wrong-doer by natural acts of mine
which do not proceed from ill-will. It, therefore, does not prevent me from
withdrawing from his presence a child who he, we shall imagine, is about
to strike. Indeed the proper practice of Ahimsa requires me to withdraw
the intended victim from the wrong-doer, if I am in any way whatsoever
the guardian of the child…
In its positive form, Ahimsa means the largest Love, the greatest char-
ity. If I am a follower of Ahimsa, I must love my enemy. I must apply
the same rule to the wrong-doer who is my enemy or a stranger to me, as
I would to my wrong-doing father or son. This active Ahimsa necessarily
includes Truth and fearlessness. A man cannot deceive the loved ones; he
does not fear or frighten him or her. The gift of life is the greatest of all
gifts. A man who gives it in reality disarms all hostility. He has paved the
way for an honourable understanding. And none who is himself subject to
fear can bestow that gift…The practice of Ahimsa calls forth the greatest
courage. It is the most soldierly of a soldier’s virtues.12

In Holy Mother Amma, the ideal of Ahimsa stands as living principle. Amma
teaches that Ahimsa , compassion, is an attribute of our consciousness. It becomes
manifested in ways that we can see and understand when the connection with
consciousness is complete, when there is perfect ethical harmony within us with
the moral fibres of the universe:

Compassion is Pure Consciousness expressed through your words and

actions. Compassion is the art of Ahimsa, non-hurting, for compassion
cannot hurt. Compassion cannot hurt anyone because compassion is the
manifestation of consciousness and consciousness cannot hurt anyone. Just
as open space of the infinite sky cannot hurt anyone, compassion, the man-
ifestation of consciousness cannot hurt anyone. One who has compassion
can only be compassionate.
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IDEAL OF AHIMSA 13.2

…Compassion does not see the faults of others. It does not see the
weaknesses of people. It makes no distinction between good and bad peo-
ple. Compassion cannot draw a line between two countries, two faiths or
two religions. Compassion has no ego thus there is no fear, lust or passion.
Compassion simply forgives and forgets. Compassion is like a passage. Ev-
erything moves through it. Nothing can stop there. Compassion is Love
expressed in all its fullness.13
The practice of the ideal of Ahimsa is only possible for one in whom the Great
Compassion or principle of Universal Motherhood is present. Amma tells us how
this state of being feels and is:
As long as there is the feeling of ‘I’ there is also the feeling of ‘you’.
This love always has a personal touch. It occurs between two people. In
order to love there must be two. Love becomes impersonal only when the
two disappear. In that state of Oneness there is a constant flow of Love.
From then on, Love starts flowing from its very source. As it flows, it does
not think of the other end. The flow of Love is unobstructed, just like the
flow of the river…Likewise, the sun just shines. It does not think about
touching the Earth with its rays, the contact just happens.14
The experience that Holy Mother describes of herself above, a state of awak-
ened Divine or Unconditional Love, is that wherein one gains the capability and
capacity to take actual responsibility for all. In such cases, the power of Love
through compassion is so strong that the environment is automatically altered
towards harmony and peacefulness. The experience of Ahimsa is beyond our log-
ical intellectual understanding. It seems to be like a burst dam—all the barriers
we have placed in our heart—hatred, shame, grief, fear, condemnation, pride of
pedigree, concepts of social respectability and racial prejudice* are thrown asun-
der. We become what we really are designed to be—an ever-present flow of Love
for all. Amma gives this insight:
When two lovers meet and fall in love, they don’t talk about terms or
conditions before they begin to love each other. If any such exchange were
to take place, love couldn’t happen. When the lovers see each other their
hearts spontaneously overflow; they are irresistibly drawn to each other.
There is no force or effort involved; no words or conditions. Love happens
when you don’t force anything, when you are fully present without any
sense of ‘I and mine’ blocking the flow. The slightest use of force will
destroy the beauty of Love, so that Love cannot happen.15
*
As suggested by Sri Yukteswar in The Holy Science: 50.

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13.2 Nuts and Bolts of the

Practice of Ahimsa
To exercise and practise Ahimsa, the qualities of forbearance and fearlessness are
essential. Empathy is the beginning key to Ahimsa. Trying to know another’s
perspective—their pains, joys and sorrows, to walk a mile and more in their shoes,
through sympathetic understanding in the heart, brings instant self-forgetfulness
and the dawning of compassion within us. It is universally do-able by all. Gandhi
saw that the cultivation of Ahimsa was true human duty: “Violence is never an
independent dharma. There is only one such dharma and that is non-violence.
Violence is a measure of the degradation of man; non-violence is his highest
achievement.”16
The first requisite for Ahimsa is to grow beyond the sense of ‘I’ and ‘mine’.
Amma gives us a simple and profound example:

There is love and Love. You love your family, but you do not love
your neighbour. You love your son or daughter but you do not love all
children. You love your father and mother, but you do not love everyone
the way you love your father and mother. You love your religion, but you
do not love all religions. Likewise, you have love for your country, but you
do not love all countries. Hence, this is not true Love, it is only limited
love. The transformation of the limited love into Divine Love is the goal of
spirituality. In the fullness of Love blossoms the beautiful fragrant flower
of compassion.17

In the natural Creation, the human being is unique. We see that all nature
is at the mercy of instinctual life. In urban areas in India, one sees half-starved
dogs, cats and cattle forced into the cycle of reproduction again and again through
obedience to bodily instincts. Only the human being is gifted with the capacity to
transcend instinctual reaction on the physical sensory plane through discrimina-
tive use of the intellect and the heart, through listening to conscience, awakening
to ethical instincts. Gandhi found examination of his motivation and intention
to be the deciding judge of whether an action was based upon Ahimsa or not.
Referring to his perception of the ideal of Ahimsa to guide his actions, he said:

To kill any living being or thing save for his or its own interest is himsa
however noble the motive may otherwise be…A reference to both intent
and deed is thus necessary in order finally to decide whether a particular
act of abstention can be classed as Ahimsa…Intent has to be inferred from
a bunch of correlated acts.18
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NUTS AND BOLTS OF THE PRACTICE OF AHIMSA 13.2

Amma teaches that we first need to develop inner skills in guiding ourselves
to respond rather than react to the situations that our daily life presents us with.
These skills are natural, we already have them, we only have to exercise them:
Response is possible if one tries. It is a positive mental attitude you
develop towards others, whether friend or enemy.
Response is to stand aside and be untouched, unaffected and detached.
But usually, if you get into a disagreement or quarrel with someone, or
when you try to discipline someone, you react because you are involved
and identified with it. When you get angry, you become identified with
your anger and cannot be detached. You cannot see the anger rising in
you. Instead, you become the anger…
Reactions occur because people are attached to their actions. Attach-
ment to the work and its fruit creates ego, which will destroy the ability to
respond. Detachment from the work and its fruit destroys the ego, which
will help one to respond. Attachment fills the mind with more thoughts
and desires, which will only cause reactions. Detachment empties the mind
of all thoughts and desires, which allows response to take place.19
Learning to respond gives us the inner space to become a more silent witness
to our own minds. As we learn to withdraw our minds from the reactive pool
of our quick fire emotions, our incorrect perceptions based upon false impres-
sions, conditioning, attractions, aversions and knee-jerk reactions, we increase
our awareness and self-identification with our consciousness, rather than our in-
dividualistic self. Thus Amma says: “Children, try to perform your work with
detachment. In this way, you will learn to respond. You can scold someone and
still be detached. You can discipline someone and yet remain detached…response
is a mental attitude, that is purely subjective.”20
Through the beginning keys of empathy and response, we grow into greater
tolerance and patience. Response leads to personal expansion. Amma tells us:
“A genuine response takes place only when you become completely free from the
grip of the ego, when you become nothing or nobody.* Until then, the ego is
hidden behind all your actions, reactions, and seeming responses.”21 What blocks
our awareness of our ability to start the outer exercise of Ahimsa, is our level of
inner greed and our fear on some level. Amma addresses this:
Son, now we live with the attitude of ‘I’ and ‘mine’. As long as this
attitude persists, we will not be able to find the power within us. When
*
The actualisation of deep humility before Truth, emphasised by Christian, Sufi, Hindu and
other mystics.

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13 AHIMSA IS LOVE IS TRUTH

there is a curtain across the window, we cannot see the sky. Pull the
curtain aside and the sky will be visible. By the same token, if we remove
the sense of ‘I’ from our minds, we will be able to see the light within us.
That sense cannot be removed without humility and dedication.22

Amma teaches that only through understanding and respect for where each
person stands in relation to their own consciousness, can we learn to respond:

Likewise, each person has his own nature. Through your anger you
cannot change the nature of other people. Only Love can change them.
Understand this, and try to feel Love and sympathy for all. Be com-
passionate, even toward those who bother you. Pray for them. Such
an attitude will also help your mind remain calm and peaceful. This is
genuine response.23

Gandhi’s struggling, evolving and candid observations as he thoughtfully pur-

sued the Truth of his ideal made him keenly observe his reactions. As with duty,
he saw that the response of Ahimsa must be tailored to each and every ever-
changing circumstance. With his keenly inquiring mind, Gandhi tells us:“It is
himsa to kill the germs and the insects, but even as we commit himsa by taking
vegetable food (for vegetables have life) but regard it as inevitable, so must we
treat the germ life.” 24 He gave this elaboration for assistance in defining limits
of Ahimsa:

You will recognise that the doctrine of necessity can be stretched so

as to justify even man-eating. A man who believes in Ahimsa carefully
refrains from every act that leads to injury. [The] argument only applies
to those who believe in Ahimsa. The necessity that I have in mind is a
universal necessity, hence it is not permissible to take Ahimsa beyond a
limit. That is why the Shastras of custom only permit himsa in certain
cases. It is not only lawful but obligatory upon everyone to make the least
use possible of the permission and relaxation.25

Gandhi appealed to the Indian consciousness to apply the principle of Ahimsa

in dealings with their foreign rulers. In an environment of reverence, there is no
fear. It has been said that ‘perfect Love casteth out all fear’. To truly meet all
around us, holding each one in our hearts with Love, makes us a friend of all and
genuine communication and communion can take place. He saw that this would
be the beginning of greater and better understanding, leading to cooperation and
ultimately, swaraj or self-rule:
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Consider what our relations would be with our rulers if we gave abso-
lute security of life to them. If they could feel that, no matter what we
might feel about their acts, we would hold their bodies as sacred as our
own, there would immediately spring up an atmosphere of mutual trust,
and there would be such frankness on either side as to pave the way for
an honourable and just solution of many problems that worry us today.26
Gandhi experimented with the cultivation of Ahimsa all his life. He found
that it is the moment to moment application of Ahimsa that is its reality in one’s
life. The individual is responsible for carrying out their own capacity to express
their awareness of the ideal. As purest Love, it is transcendent. It is part of the
great education received through adherence to Truth within. He was to state:
For me if Ahimsa is not applicable to all walks of life, it is no use. My
experiment therefore must have that end in view. I may correct myself
a thousand times but I am not likely to give up an experiment in which
visible results have been attained. This earthly life is a blend of the soul
and the body, spirit and matter. We know the soul only through the body
and so shall we know true Ahimsa through its action in the daily life.27

13.3 Examples of Ahimsa

from Gandhi and Holy Mother Amma
Through his newspapers Gandhi brought the Earth ethic of Ahimsa into the
public mind. In this way the definition and detailing of Ahimsa was revealed
for all to reflect on for personal as well as national and international ethical
consideration and awareness. In the following examples of how Gandhi saw and
tried to practise Ahimsa, along with experiences of Amma, the aspect of the inner
perception of Ahimsa and its practice are evident.
In 1926, a mill owner in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, ordered the destruction of
rabid dogs that were hanging around his factory premises. Gandhi agreed with
his decision, and consequently for nearly 2 months, intense social controversy
raged about the issue. He defended his support of the decision: “Imperfect,
erring mortals as we are, there is no course open to us but the destruction of
rabid dogs. At times we may be faced with the unavoidable duty of killing a
man who is found in the act of killing people.”28 The principle of Ahimsa, “…is
the expression of a perfection, and as imperfect beings like us cannot practise
perfection, we devise at every moment limits of its compromise in practice.”29
This brings to mind a legendary and true story in the Amritapuri ashram
about Ahimsa working in Amma. Once, a dog who had befriended her in her
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days of exemplifying intense sadhana, became afflicted with rabies. As it neared

its last stages, foaming and convulsing, it came into the ashram. Being in a
remote, rural area, for centuries far from medical care, the simple villagers lived
in fear of rabid dogs. People ran in panic. Someone told Amma it was there.
Immediately, Amma went near the dog, called to it. It came to her. She lovingly
stroked it, fed it by hand, then instructed some brahmacharis to tie the dog to a
tree so that the terrified human beings could relax. In a few moments, the dog
convulsed, and died. Ahimsa is part and parcel of Amma’s being; in true Ahimsa,
there is no sense of separation between oneself and others.
For Gandhi, the ideal of Ahimsa that he held gave him a framework within
which to operate, under the guidance of its light. At another point Gandhi urged
the destruction of some monkeys who were becoming a nuisance and danger to
people in the environment they shared.
People get weary of the trouble caused to them by monkeys. In their
hearts they wish them dead. They are inwardly pleased if anyone kills
them. At the same time they will oppose their slaughter…monkeys ruin
the crops, they even kidnap children, carry away articles, and eat up fruit,
etc. Their number is daily increasing. I am asked as to what non-violence
dictates in the matter.
My Ahimsa is my own. I am not able to accept in its entirety the
doctrine of non-killing of animals. I have no feeling in me to save the lives
of animals which devour or cause hurt to man. I consider it wrong to help
in the increase of their progeny. Therefore, I will not feed ants, monkeys
or dogs. I will never sacrifice a man’s life in order to save theirs.
Thinking along these lines I have come to the conclusion that to do
away with monkeys where they have become a menace to the well-being
of man is pardonable. Such killing becomes a duty…man has been given
the faculty of reason.30
This brings to mind an anecdote about Amma regarding the ways in which a
person in whom Ahimsa is awake and flowing has total harmony with Creation
and is able to communicate with the non-human world. Once on a North Indian
tour with her, in 2001, the 5 ashram buses stopped in a forest in north Kerala
for lunch.
Monkeys were abounding. Many devotees felt a certain amount of fear about
monkeys due to previous personal experiences, their loud ‘chee-chee-ing’ caused
a tremor of trepidation in the assembled picnic. Amma said they were hungry.
She called to them,“Come, come!” and said they should be given some plates of
food.
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The monkeys very calmly came out of their arbour passageways, and de-
scended to quietly eat their idlis (a steamed rice cake) and rice and sambar (a
watery spicy sauce with some vegetables), near the picnicking group of humans
as though such repasts were their natural diet, out in those jungles.
When they were done, they again made loud noises. Amma said, “OK? You
can go.” And they left.*
Had Gandhi been able to perfect that level of Ahimsa in himself, as Amma
demonstrated, he would have been able to tell the monkeys where to go. Nonethe-
less, it is very clear that Ahimsa was dawning within him, and he recognised that
true Ahimsa, developed fully in an individual would have such expressions as
found in Holy Mother Amma, St. Francis, Jesus, Yogananda, Buddha, Mahavira
and others. Gandhi took the concepts held out by the great teachers and strove
ceaselessly to actualise them in his life, where most people would say that such
effort was beyond them. His example shows us that we can too. Through our
own inner reflections we can arrive at a picture of the ideal of Ahimsa, and from
the light of that ideal begin to fashion our lives and actions accordingly.
In yet another situation, in 1928, Gandhi gave permission for an ashram calf
who was ailing to be killed. These incidences raised a furor in the Hindu public
mind, which held the cow to be sacred (but did not recognise that the cow, as
a symbol, also referred to the entire Creation as well). This time he received
a flurry of emotional correspondence. He opened the discussion to the public
through his newspaper, thus also bringing a greater awareness of Ahimsa back
into Indian consciousness:

They would if they could prolong the calf controversy indefinitely.

Some of them kindly suggest that my intellect has suffered decay with
the attainment of sixtieth year. Some others have expressed the regret
that the doctors did not diagnose my case as hopeless when I was sent to
the Sassoon Hospital [for an operation for appendicitis] and cut short my
sinful career by giving me a poison injection in which case the poor calf
in the ashram might have been spared the poison injection and the race
of monkeys saved from the menace of destruction. These are only a few
characteristic samples from a sheaf-fulls of ‘love-letters’ that I am receiv-
ing daily. The more I receive these letters the more confirmed I feel in the
correctness of my decision to ventilate this thorny question in the columns
of Navajivan. It never seems to have struck these good people that by
this unseemly exhibition of spleen they merely prove their unfitness to be
votaries or exponents of Ahimsa and strike it at the very root.31
*
This was witnessed by the author’s own eyes and ears.

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The issue was dealt with in several more articles through which Gandhi further
elucidated the applications of Ahimsa. In the raging controversy, the opposite of
Ahimsa—himsa, became clearer. “…it is difficult to decide what is Ahimsa. Even
the use of disinfectants is himsa. Still we have to live a life of Ahimsa in the midst
of a world full of himsa, and we can do so only if we cling to Truth. That is why
I can derive Ahimsa from Truth. Out of Truth emerge Love and tenderness.”32
In a letter to a relative who also questioned his actions with the ashram calf
he replied in such a way that shows how he understood Ahimsa, having not yet
had the full experience of it within. Through this discussion he also elucidates his
understanding of the relationship of Ahimsa to duty, to the right understanding
of the role of death, to vigilance over the mind and introspection:
Perfect Ahimsa is possible only in the atman in its disembodied state.
But when the atman takes on a body, Ahimsa manifests itself in one as
the feeling of compassion…my mercy-killing of the calf was an expression
of the purest Ahimsa.
To endure suffering in one’s own person is the very nature of the atman,
but it is contrary to its nature to let others suffer. If the mercy-killing of
the calf had been prompted by a desire to relieve my own pain [at the
cost of the calf’s suffering], the act was not Ahimsa, but to end the calf’s
pain was Ahimsa. Indeed, Ahimsa implies the inability to endure other
creatures suffering pain. From such inability arise compassion, heroism
and all other virtues associated with Ahimsa…
When killing the calf, it was not necessary for me to know all the
possible consequences of my action. If it was certain that the calf would
never die in any other manner, I should of course have paused before
killing it. In other words, if it were the case that nobody but I could
have ended the calf’s life, it would have been necessary for me to think
of all the possible consequences of my action. But the fact is that all
creatures, calves as much as we, live with the possibility of death always
hanging over us. Therefore, the utmost that could have happened was
that the calf would have lived for a few days or months or a year more…We
may, therefore, say that even if there was any error in my reasoning, no
harmful consequence to the calf followed which would never have followed
but for my action. Ask me again and again till you have understood the
point. The subject is an important one and the explanation deserves to
be carefully grasped. It is easy to grasp, and once it is grasped you will
be able to deduce many other consequences from it.33
…I see dharma in applying to human beings, in similar circumstances,
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the rule which I apply to other creatures. There are fewer occasions of
acting in that way towards human beings because we have more means of
helping them and more knowledge for doing so. But history tells of occa-
sions, and we can imagine others in which there might be non-violence in
killing a person, in the same way that there is non-violence in an operation
performed by a surgeon.
It is necessary to bear three points in mind in order to understand the
non-violence of the act in question. (1) It is ignorance to believe that every
act of killing is violence. (2) As there is violence in killing, so also there
is violence in inflicting what we regard as lesser suffering. (3) Violence
and non-violence are mental attitudes. They concern the feelings in our
heart. A slap given through anger is pure violence, whereas a slap given
to a person bitten by a snake to keep him awake is pure non-violence.34
Indeed life is made of such compromises. Ahimsa, simply because it
is purest, unselfish Love, often demands such compromises. The condi-
tions are imperative. There should be no self in one’s action, no fear, no
untruth…The compromise must be natural to oneself, not imposed from
without.35

Later in life Gandhi was to come to feel that if faced with a dangerous animal,
he would personally rather be killed by it than kill it.

But that is a personal position, not to be put forward for adoption

by others. If I had the fearless power to tame these dangerous creatures
by the force of my Love and my will, and could show others how to do
likewise, then I should have the right to advise other people to follow my
example…But I have not that power. I must, therefore, advise others to
kill all creatures, dangerous to human life, such as tigers, bears, snakes,
scorpions, etc. and also vermin such as fleas, flies and mosquitoes as well
as rats and other crop-destroying vermin.36

Eye-witness accounts have told another beautiful story of Amma who embod-
ies such fearlessness and Love: One night, sand-seva (service) in Amritapuri was
going on. Residents were moving an extensive pile of rubble from one end of
the ashram to the other. As ever, the area around Amma’s person was densely
crowded with people. Amma was seated on a small chak (empty cement sack)
amidst the crowd. While she was sitting there, a huge rodent, the kind that
infest public kitchens—special to the subcontinent—suddenly appeared out of
somewhere. In that crowd of people clustered almost in a knot, the rat began
running around Amma. It circled her three times, then ran up one side of her
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body, over her head, and down the other, before high-tailing itself away into the
night. Amma giggled, like a personal intimate friend of the rat, enjoying a good
joke.
In one in whom the precious wine of Ahimsa flows, all understanding, all ways
of communication, all knowingness is there. The stories of Amma with animals
and nature are innumerable. In all of them, one sees the principle of pure Ahimsa
as Universal Motherhood and utmost compassion, in action.

13.4 Fruits of Ahimsa

As the aforementioned stories about Amma have indicated, in one whom pure
Ahimsa has bloomed, there is an environmental effect. Gandhi was painfully
aware that he had not achieved the breadth of Ahimsa that his inner lights
showed to be the reality of his ideal:

Our Shastras seem to teach that a man who really practices Ahimsa
in its fullness has the world at his feet, he so affects his surroundings that
even the snakes and other venomous reptiles do him no harm. This is said
to have been the experience of St. Francis of Assisi.37

He recognised that fear still blocked full moral dialogue with his own heart.
“My intellect rebels against the destruction of any life in any shape whatsoever.
But my heart is not strong enough to befriend those creatures which experience
has shown are destructive.”38
It is the beauty of the effort that one makes, striving to manifest and perfect
our own Earth ethics, that perhaps draws a mysterious Grace to unfold itself
within us. Even if the total effect of full-bloomed Ahimsa has not been attained,
there is still a bountiful yield of positive fruit in the awakening and developmental
harmonising of the individual. Gandhi found that just starting to make efforts
opened awareness to ethical instincts within:

…actuated by the ideal of non-violence, we would grow more compas-

sionate. In assuring, as it were, every animal or living thing that it need
have no fear on our account, we entertain compassion—Love—for it. A
man who entertains such Love will not find any living being inimical to
him, not even in thought.39

Gandhi’s heart burned for the intolerable conditions of the poor, brought
about at that time by the blind greed of Britain and the Indian apartheid. The
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crimes against humanity in India even at that time were monstrous. In his po-
litical work, Gandhi tried to sensitively read the signs of the public mind seen
through actions—cooperation, peacefulness, self-restraint or violence, etc. as be-
ing indicators and symbolic of his own inner Ahimsa. For he knew that to be
Ahimsa, to become Love, is to have direct effect on the environment. He queried
himself and his associates: “Do I represent this Ahimsa in my person? If I do,
then deceit and hatred that poison the atmosphere should dissolve.”40 To inmates
in his communities he stated: “If I have true Ahimsa in me, it will shine out in
any one of you at the right moment. But if I don’t have it, how will it show itself
in you all?”41
Ahimsa is civilising. The effort to practice Ahimsa brought about an attitude
of increasingly equal vision in Gandhi, to be able to see the humanity—the equal
spark of Truth or God, in those who opposed and oppressed him. It made him
ceaselessly and lovingly strive to the utmost to relate to that humanity within his
opponents from a footing of equality and respect. By doing so, he transcended
the fears in other’s minds as well. These efforts enabled all the players involved
in the scene to sit down at the table together, so to speak, and talk it out rather
than resort to yelling, hitting and war.
Ahimsa helps the oppressor or opposition recognise that they are denying true
human relationship based upon the Truth of our shared oneness and equality.
It is the power of this underlying feeling that was able to create dialogue in
seemingly untenable circumstances. Edward Thompson, a professor at Oxford
University and contemporary of Gandhi reflected this understanding, saying: “He
has kept the quarrel between England and India what it is in essentials, a quarrel
inside a family. Families often behave very badly, but their quarrels are rarely
implacable.”42
It was through the self-suffering nature of Ahimsa only, that the British could
come to slowly recognise the equal humanity of those they oppressed. Prior to
India’s independence, a judge in England (V. Samuel) was to state:

The British are a self-respecting people. For that very reason we re-
spect self-respect in others. I do not hesitate to say that—in spite of the
controversy and all the conflict of recent years—there is more true esteem
among the British people for the Indian people to-day than at any previous
time in all the centuries of their contact.43

The exercise of Ahimsa ultimately establishes a relationship of Love and self-

less service to one another. The British were to recognise their own very brutal
and embarrassing role in India, and would eventually want to get out of the
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situation as urgently as those who wanted them out. Becoming able to see
the humanity in those they had ignorantly oppressed, they began to touch it
within themselves. Gandhi noted: “…in practising Ahimsa, there need not be
any reciprocation, though, as a matter of fact in its final stages, it commands
reciprocation.”44
Ahimsa is the way of Universal Motherhood, of the wise, responsible, deeply
caring Mother who suffers our ignorance and tantrums until, tired of the mess and
noise we have made for ourselves, we turn and see what She has been bearing
in our unconscious self-indulgence and how we could have been instead. Self-
suffering is at the transformative core of one striving to open the heart into pure
Ahimsa.

13.5 Sakshi Bhava:

the Witness State of Truth
The spiritual teachings of India hold that Truth and Love are the core of our
being. Besides experiencing and manifesting Ahimsa through non-violence and
Universal Motherhood, Holy Mother Amma offers another view of touching the
eternal within us, through utter attention to the present moment with a sense
of detachment. Sakshi bhava, literally ‘attitude of witness,’ is the establishment
of a person in the law of Truth within themselves. One process of arriving at
Sakshi bhava is known as Jnana yoga—contemplation of Truth through the door
of wisdom. Sakshi bhava can be understood as the state of Truth, whereas
Ahimsa corresponds to the state of Love. Just as Ahimsa is both a practice
as well as an ideal condition, Sakshi bhava has this quality also. Both Sakshi
bhava and Ahimsa are states of being that are knowable within our normative
abilities. Amma teaches us that in fact, Sakshi bhava is another part of our inner
dimensions, perhaps unknown, yet completely natural to us. She tells us:

The experience of witnessing actually does occur in our day-to-day

lives. It is just a question of being aware of it. And once that awareness
comes, when you taste its flavour, its joy and bliss, you are on the right
track.45
Sakshi bhava can be both a practice and a permanent state. When you
are permanently established in that state, then it will become spontaneous
and completely natural to you. Witnessing will not happen unless you are
ever wakeful. The dream world created by the past has no place in that
state. The past must die. The mind has to dissolve, so that sakshi bhava
can take place.46
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SAKSHI BHAVA: THE WITNESS STATE OF TRUTH 13.5

As with many other aspects in the rich pantheon of Hindu metaphysics, Sakshi
bhava is an end unto itself. Amma tells us:

Children, getting established in Sakshi bhava is the real purpose of life.

That supreme state of witnessing is the pivot around which all of life and
the whole universe revolves. Once you are established in Sakshi bhava, in
the real Centre, you can do anything without moving even an inch out of
that Centre.47

Amma gives this analogy:

While enacting the role of a villain in a movie, the actor may be seen
to be shooting his enemy, getting angry, being cruel and treacherous. But
within himself, does the actor really become angry or cruel? Is he re-
ally committing these acts? No, he is not. He is just a witness to all
that he does. He stands aside and watches without becoming involved or
touched by it. He is not identified with the external expressions of his
body. Likewise [is] one in Sakshi bhava…there will be a natural charisma
about them.48

As with the ideal of grihasta ashrama, Sakshi bhava gives one the quintessence
of dispassion amidst intense activity. Amma tells us:

Being in the state of Sakshi bhava does not mean that you will remain
idle without taking care of your duties. You may be concerned about your
children’s studies, the health of your parents and your wife and so on, yet
in the midst of all these external problems you remain a Sakshi, a witness,
to all that happens, to all that you do. Within, you are perfectly still and
undisturbed.49

Why do we not yet have this awareness? Amma reasons: “The unintelligent
attachment, the feeling of ‘I’ and ‘mine,’ is the problem. Once you learn the art
of withdrawing your attachment and being a witness, then something changes in
the way you see everything.”50 Amma gives these insights as to how to become
mindful of this state of awareness:

Can you see a thought rising in our mind? Can you see how the thought
works and how it dies? Once you are able to see a thought clearly, that
very thought becomes impotent. Identification with a thought gives it
power and the thought will then culminate into action. When you are
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not identified with a thought, it has no power. It becomes weak and

inactive. When you see a thought and you are not identified with it,
you are witnessing it. When you witness, you are fully conscious. In
witnessing there is no thinking, which means that you do not identify
with any thoughts. In witnessing there is only consciousness.51

Amma discusses a major flaw in the mental health field:

There are psychotherapists, counsellors and healers all over the world,
who try to cure people’s mental and physical problems. They may be
experts in their fields, but they are professionals who are doing a job,
and they are attached to it and to many other things. Witnessing cannot
happen when you are attached. A person with many attachments cannot
really help others. Only a person who knows the art of witnessing, who is
established in the Self, in the real Centre, can truly help others.52

Gandhi accepted and sought to surmount the supreme challenge that true
human duty demanded of him. He saw that duty as being to know and Love our
Maker with all our heart, mind and strength, to Love our neighbour as our Self.
In doing so, life unfolded as a fantastic adventure for him. It was on a trip to
Rajkot once, in the 1930’s that he commented to a friend in public, that he had
witnessed himself announcing that he would go to Rajkot, and was continuing to
witness himself in the act of going. His tenor was one of delight and amazement.
As news of this travelled in the press, the great south Indian Saint, Ramana
Maharshi noted that Gandhi had achieved communion with his own Self, the
Sakshi within.
Amma has often said that knowing the Self is pure gold, but manifesting that
Love to all, is like giving gold an exquisite fragrance which makes it ever so much
more valuable. The aching needs of our Earth and times need the response of
Love from our hearts, more than anything else. Both Truth and Love are part
and parcel of awakening ethical instincts. In giving that Love, we ourselves will
gradually become more and more aware of that still centre within, known in
Sakshi bhava.

13.6 Amma’s Response to the Tsunami:

the Sakshi’s Ahimsa
Gandhi repeatedly stated that in one whom Ahimsa was manifested, its positive
effect on the environment would be seen. From the light shed by his ideal of
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Ahimsa alone, he gained certainty in his understanding of it. In a very practical

way, Holy Mother Amma illustrated how a person with full Ahimsa in him, and
one who is established in Sakshi bhava, would respond to a calamity.
On December 26, 2004, there was a huge Tsunami that struck the southern
areas of India on the east and western shores. It resulted in the deaths of over
250,000 people in Asia and Indonesia. The southern coasts of India, both east
and west (including the island that Amma’s ashram is on) were badly hit. Prior
to this event, Amma, who had for a few years stopped holding Devi Bhava in
Kerala, curiously enough announced the evening before, that she would hold it
the following night at the ashram. As the decision had been made late, a notice
was only put on the gate; still the news spread like wildfire among the local
villagers. As a result of Amma’s announcement to hold Devi Bhava on the 26th ,
fifteen to twenty thousand local villagers thronged the ashram, for the joyous
activities of the day.
When the Tsunami struck, houses were knocked down, people washed away,
death and massive destruction reigned right outside the walls of the ashram.
Inside the ashram, the water was chest height, rushing to the backwaters on the
other side of the island. All the ashram works on the ground level—tailoring,
the press, soap manufacture, incense, books, the kalari, the residents’ shop, the
kitchens and the charitable hospital, computer room, etc., were flooded with filthy
water which carried a smelly oily slime with it. But, the twenty thousand people
inside the ashram were physically unscathed. There was not even a single serious
injury. Amma herself then proceeded to oversee the evacuation of thousands
people from the island, turning the ashram’s unfinished university buildings on the
mainland into emergency shelters. Even the way in which she had the evacuation
done, having everyone hold onto a long rope line to get through the waist deep
waters, making those who had missing relatives wait near her until the family
member appeared and all went together…in every small detail, Amma displayed
a Great Mind, Heart and Observant Intelligence at work. She was not at all
panicked.
The follow up that Holy Mother Amma created for the burials, adoptions,
cremations, rehabilitation, housing, education, including new job skills training
and then jobs for people who had lost their livelihoods and breadwinners, for those
who had become orphans, is truly astounding. For the first few months, Amma,
through the ashram inmates and scores of devotee volunteers provided everything:
food, clothes, shelter and psychological support for the Tsunami victims.
The first emergency shelter was a very large hall, with cloth dividers. Soon,
in the ashram satsangs, Amma’s voice was heard, expressing the worried prayers
of the suffering tsunami survivors in the shelter. She said the mothers couldn’t
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13 AHIMSA IS LOVE IS TRUTH

sleep at night; the daughters have no place to change. There are boys of their
own age in the same room. Some women were pregnant, others had just given
birth…in a thousand, thousand, thousand ways, her complete identification with
the consciousness of the deeply traumatised and grieving villagers was manifested.
Once the shelter dividers were constructed, each family had a room with a
place for a kitchen fire on the verandah area. This was a unique touch among the
relief efforts of numerous organisations. By restoring the ‘kitchen fire’, Amma
made each room an independent nest, for each family, a place of familiarity and
natural, mutual activity. The ‘hearth’ is essential to the ‘home’. At the outset,
Amma gave 1000 rupees to each household to buy necessary utensils. This was
the beginning of a long term financial commitment and projects to enable the
people to establish independence again. Free medical care and three wholesome
and savoury meals a day (along with tea) were provided at numerous specific
sites throughout the island for over a year.
Getting the minds and hearts to move from their frozen places of fear and
intense grief into the world of opportunity that Amma was trying to provide the
poor villagers with was challenging. The children were brought to the ashram for
several day’s ‘camp time’ during which they learned songs, dances, (aspects of
their rich cultural heritage which poverty had almost closed off from them) and
the all-important swimming skills. Each camp ended in a gala public performance
of music and dance. Numerous classes and meetings were held in the ashram,
whose doors for help and assistance were opened 24x7. In all these ways, the
people, shocked and grieving to the core, were lovingly assisted to pull themselves
and their lives back together again.
Without assistance and outside agency or even initial government support,
Amma’s efforts were often faced with ridiculous obstructions and delays from
government agencies that were supposed to serve the public. In addition, disaster
victims carrying chips on their shoulders, used the occasion to create havoc. Many
people were plainly deranged from shock and grief. Others tried to exploit the
situation of the devastated—looting, stealing, and trying to convert the poor to
another religion.
Even as the ashram inmates began construction for the free and beautiful
homes for the homeless, they sometimes faced ridicule and non-cooperation from
the recipients themselves. Supplies the monastics painstakingly hauled would
often be stolen. Counselling her brahmacharinis and brahmacharis not to expect
or seek gratitude, under Amma’s guidance, the ashram persisted in walking an
ethical path for the rehabilitation of the people.
In the neighbouring state, Tamil Nadu, also badly afflicted by the tsunami,
Amma went directly to the terror-filled poor again. The confidence that the
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people had in Amma, that she would do what no other agency or government
official would do for them, was moving to behold. It was very apparent that they
wanted only Amma’s assistance. They had faith that Amma would come through
for them because they felt her Love.
Now, new homes, fishing boats, education, skills and other ways of generating
income have been provided to all tsunami victims that Amma pledged to sup-
port, in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Sri Lanka. Throughout what was a very difficult
first 18 months, Amma gave a tremendous example to the world of selflessness,
intelligent and meaningful service, and compassion in action. From Amma’s com-
prehensive effort to restore, resettle and rehabilitate, international governments,
relief agencies and other non-governmental organisations can learn much about
meaningful follow-through in relief efforts.
Amma’s response to the tsunami of Dec. 26, 2004 was and continues to be the
response of pure compassion. It has entailed Love in every action. To this day the
successful and comprehensive rehabilitation continues through higher educational
opportunities, job-training, micro-loans establishing independent home industry
and employment opportunities in the ashram’s huge umbrella of institutions.
The state, national as well as international governments took notice of the
comprehensive recovery and rehabilitation work being done by the ashram and
in 2005 the United Nations gave Mata Amritanandamayi Math* (the name of
the Amma’s ashram) consultative status to the UN Economic and Social Affairs
Commission.
Wherever we are, no matter what our limitations may seem to be, we can
change our attitudes. In a voice that echos like that of an earlier King, Amma
tells us:

Children, we should make sure that each of our actions is of help to

others and will enhance their happiness. If that isn’t possible, we should
at least make sure that our actions never cause others any grief or incon-
venience. Praying to God that none of our thoughts, words, or deeds will
ever harm anyone, but that they will always benefit others—that is real
prayer. We should be willing to pray for the upliftment of others, rather
than for our own progress. My children, to develop such selfless Love is
the greatest progress we can make. True worship is seeing the suffering
of others as our own sufferings and their happiness as our own happiness.
True devotees see themselves in others. Theirs is a world of peace and
contentment.53
*
Math—pronounced ‘mutth’, meaning monastery, now used to denote ‘ashram’ as well.

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Amma wants us to conduct our lives to please Truth, found through our
conscience:

We should serve others without any expectations whatsoever.

When others throw thorns at us, we should be able to throw flowers back
at them. When they give us poison, we should give them payasam [sweet
pudding]. This is the kind of mind we should have. The purpose of serving
the world is to develop that sort of mind. When we serve others we should
look upon them as God. Every one of our actions should be a way of
worshipping God. Each action will then turn into a divine mantra [name
of God].54

What will we be like if we can carry out these teachings? Amma draws us
this picture:

Think of how much you care about yourself. You want to eat good
food, live in a wonderful home, sleep in a comfortable bed, travel in a
beautiful car, and you don’t want anyone to hurt or insult you in any way.
You always want to be happy. This is because you Love and care about
yourself more than anything. Now imagine what will happen when you
become one with everything and everyone. You will Love, honour and care
about everyone and everything equally, but with infinitely greater depth
and power than you have ever loved yourself.55

When we achieve the oneness found in the ideals of Ahimsa and Truth, Amma
tells us that all of our actions will be carried out from the point of our highest
ideal: “This is the highest state one can attain. There is no point beyond that.
This state is the ‘pointless point.’ To attain this state, one must do intense
spiritual practices.”56 Having not had the experience yet, we can at least still
illumine our own paths by the light of the ideal.

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Part II

Awareness, Practices, and

Observances in Earth Ethics

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Chapter 27
The Vows of Trusteeship and Bread
labour
Today the enemies that are attacking us from both within and without
cannot be dealt with just by increasing the power of our weapons.
We can no longer afford to delay the rediscovery and strengthening
of our most powerful weapon, spirituality, which is inherent in us all.
There are over a billion people in this world suffering from poverty
and starvation. Poverty, in Truth, is our greatest enemy. It is one
of the basic reasons why people commit theft and murder, and why
people become terrorists. It is also the reason why people turn to
prostitution. Poverty not only affects the body, but also weakens
the mind…Amma feels that 80% of the problems in society would be
resolved if we were to eradicate poverty…
Holy Mother Amma1

I am sure our minds would be better if we laboured with our hands

for eight hours. We would not have a single idle thought, and I may
tell you that my mind is not entirely free from idle thoughts. Even
now I am what I am because I realized the value of physical labour
at a very early stage of my life.
Gandhi2

Trusteeship, Bread labour and Swadeshi are three observances that Gandhi
held which effectively and practically manifested his views on politics, economics
and community into everyday life. In these observances, we find both the means
and the ends to create a new human society, based upon Ahimsa through Uni-
versal Motherhood, and upon Swaraj through moral economics.

27.1 Trusteeship
Trusteeship is a crown jewel in Earth ethical observances. It is inherent in
the maha-vratas of Asteya and Apariagraha (non-stealing and non-possession).
Gandhi saw it as a fundamental law of Nature and ardently hoped it would re-
ceive wide acceptance in India. He wanted Trusteeship to become a gift from
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India to the world. He said, “My theory of Trusteeship is no make-shift, certainly

no camouflage. I am confident that it will survive all other theories. It has the
sanction of philosophy and religion behind it.”3
The basis of the practice of Trusteeship came about through Gandhi’s own
blossoming of Ahimsa. Gandhi’s perception of Truth within himself gave rise to
perceiving the same Truth within everything and everyone around him. He was
arriving at the state of equal vision, samabhava, extolled in Hindu metaphysics
which one sees so beautifully demonstrated by Amma during her gracious dar-
shans. Equal vision is the hallmark of one gazing steadfastly at Truth. Gandhi
was moved with compassion for the intense physical suffering and desperate need
he saw around him, which today has only increased in ten-fold miseries. “I am
witness, eye-witness, of millions of human beings who have not even so much as
a piece of cloth.”4 As such, he saw that to have excess private possessions when
others were in such dire need of them was a denial of the basic unity that we all
share.
The doctrine of Trusteeship is part of non-violence, and part of the sacrifice
that Ahimsa ultimately demands of the individual. Gandhi found that by con-
sciously embracing the ideal of Apariagraha—non possession, Trusteeship was
its outer result. He saw that through its observance a transformative energy
would be unleashed in the human psyche that would have a tremendously pos-
itive effect upon nature and human life. This power comes from the touch of
Apariagraha upon the human heart and its subsequent spontaneous swell into
Trusteeship. Gandhi noted that: “Jesus, Mohammed, Buddha, Nanak, Kabir,
Chaitanya, Shankara, Dayananda, Ramakrishna were men who exercised an im-
mense influence over, and moulded the character of, thousands of men. The
world is richer for their having lived in it. And they were all men who deliber-
ately embraced poverty as their lot.”5 Gandhi saw the evolution of his thinking
on Trusteeship through the influence of democracy, along with the philosophical
works of Mill, Marx, Ruskin and Jesus Christ.* From India’s philosophical riches,
Gandhi found actual corroboration for Trusteeship in the Bhagavad Gita:

The Trusteeship theory is not unilateral, and does not in the least imply
superiority of the trustee. It is, as I have shown, a perfectly mutual affair,
and each believes that his own interest is best safeguarded by safeguarding
the interest of the other. ‘May you propitiate the gods and may the
gods propitiate you, and may you reach the highest good by this mutual
*
Gandhi was so impressed with Ruskin’s ideas in Unto this Last that he published his own
Gujarati translation called Sarvodaya (For the Welfare of All) to bring these ideas into Indian
awareness.

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TRUSTEESHIP 27.1

propitiation,’ says the Bhagavad Gita. There is no separate species called

gods in the universe, but all, who have the power of production and will
work for the community using that power, are gods—labourers no less
than the capitalists.6
The basic problems that human beings face on the planet: food, clothing,
shelter; arise out of the glaring inequity between the rich and the poor. ‘Economic
progress’ as it is being held out to humanity actively undermines practical human
progress through Earth ethics. Gandhi saw that economic progress needed careful
social regulation if all people were to be included:
Hence the ancient ideal has been the limitation of activities promoting
wealth. This does not put an end to all material ambition. We should still
have, as we have always had, in our midst people who make the pursuit
of wealth their aim in life. But we have always recognised that it is a fall
from the ideal…That you cannot serve God and Mammon is an economic
truth of the highest value. We have to make our choice.7
Western nations are to-day groaning under the heel of the Monster God
of Materialism. Their moral growth has become stunted. They measure
their progress in £, sh., $. American wealth has become the standard. She
is the envy of the other nations. I have heard many of our countrymen say
that we shall gain American wealth but avoid its methods. I venture to
suggest that such an attempt, if it were made, is fore-doomed to failure.
We cannot be ‘wise, temperate and furious’ in a moment. I would have
our leaders teach us to be morally supreme in the world.8
In India today, the rising capitalist middle class has become another formid-
able force that preys upon over 70% of Indians kept in virtual economic slavery.
Gandhi saw that government would not and could not claim to represent nor
serve the needs of citizens unless these basic issues were overcome:
The poor villagers are exploited by the foreign government and also
by their own countrymen—the city dwellers. They produce the food and
go hungry. They produce milk and their children have to go without it.
It is disgraceful. Everyone must have a balanced diet, a decent house to
live in, facilities for the education of one’s children and adequate medical
relief.9
Gandhi saw in the practice of Trusteeship a means to conform in harmony to
the ideal and perfectly economical laws of nature. Gandhi gave this discussion of
the intrinsic law of Nature in regard to Trusteeship:
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27 THE VOWS OF TRUSTEESHIP AND BREAD LABOUR

I suggest that we are thieves in a way. If I take anything that I do not

need for my own immediate use, and keep it, I thieve it from somebody
else. I venture to suggest that it is the fundamental law of Nature, without
exception, that Nature produces enough for our wants from day-to-day,
and if only everybody took enough for himself and nothing more, there
would be no pauperism in this world, there would be no man dying of
starvation in this world. But so long as we have got this inequality, so
long we are thieving. I am no Socialist and I do not want to dispossess
those who have got possessions; but I do say that, personally, those of us
who want to see light out of darkness have to follow this rule.10
We may utilise the gifts of nature just as we choose, but in her books
the debits are always equal to the credits. There is no balance in either
column. This law is not invalidated by the fact that men raise bigger crops
by mechanising agriculture and using artificial fertilisers, and similarly in-
crease the industrial output. This only means a transformation of natural
energy. Try as we might, the balance is always nil.11

Increasingly, those that have and can feel their shared humanity with others,
are recognising their embarrassing and actually outrageous position in the face
of grave human inequity and suffering on a global level. Many are seeking to put
their wealth into service for the poor and suffering. For Gandhi, to do so was
only common sense, he saw but one human family:

As soon as a man looks upon himself as a servant of society, earns for

its sake, spends for its benefit, then purity enters into his earnings and
there is Ahimsa in his venture. Moreover, if men’s minds turn towards
this way of life, there will come about a peaceful revolution in society, and
that without any bitterness.12

Trusteeship is not philanthropy. A philanthropist gives, as he wishes, to the

causes he deems most needful, out of his excesses. Trusteeship entails a different
understanding. As wealth is created and gained by the cooperation of other
members of society, Trusteeship takes into account every hand that has gone into
the production of that wealth, including that of the ‘dumb’ creation and then sees
that no one has a moral right to use the wealth generated for their own personal
advantage. His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama gave this recollection showing the
vast interdependence that naturally demands an attitude of Trusteeship, to which
we can also add the contributions of soil, water, sun, air, etc:

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TRUSTEESHIP 27.1

I began to think about how many people were involved in the making
of my shirt. I started by imagining the farmer who grew the cotton. Next,
the hundreds or even thousands of people involved in the manufacturing
of the tractor. And all the designers of the tractor. Then of course the
people who processed the cotton, the people who wove the cloth, and the
people who cut, dyed and sewed that cloth. The cargo workers, and the
truck drivers who delivered the shirt to the store and the sales person who
sold the shirt to me. It occurred to me that virtually every aspect of my
life came about as the result of other’s efforts.13

Gandhi’s ultimate goal was the creation of a nation state built upon the edifice
of Trusteeship, from the village level on up. It would be a new pattern of Swaraj
or democracy that the whole world could then fearlessly emulate. Gandhi saw
in Trusteeship the capacity to create a new social order based upon our mutual
service to one another, as well as to the whole of the ‘mute’ creation. Through
Trusteeship is a way to assist in the reformation of the ideal of varna ashrama
and village and community life. With Trusteeship, he saw a way to open the door
to harmony within the individual; he saw a way for those who, consciously and
unconsciously, had a hand in the creation of great poverty and human suffering
through exploitation to reform themselves. He noted the plain facts: “The well-
to-do live on the poor. There is no other way. What is then their duty?”14
“Immediately we realize that we have nothing of our own, that all we have is held
in trust for those in greater need, we have to spend it like misers.”15
Gandhi often publicly praised individual efforts to develop an attitude of
Trusteeship, and lauded them as social models. Gandhi wanted this sense of
Trusteeship to awaken in the rich and those who have, not by force, but by
dawning Love and caring. Many wealthy people of his time were thus inspired to
seek to follow this ideal and became trustees of their own properties, recognising
that the origin of their riches lay in the generational and cumulative injustice to
the poor, whose labours had, in fact, made the riches.
It is the orgy of amassing that has fashioned our economic systems on the
law of the jungle, on primitive instincts, rather than a purposeful and deliberate
order arising from intelligent, thinking human minds cultivating ethical instincts.
Gandhi saw that: “The art of amassing riches becomes a degrading and despicable
art, if it is not accompanied by the nobler art of how to spend wealth usefully…Let
not possession of wealth be synonymous with degradation, vice and profligacy.”16
Without education on the ethical use of wealth, the rich live lives of selfishness,
not culture. At present, the result of the incorrect use of wealth is the cause of
massive and growing discontent among both the rich and the poor. Neither know
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what contentment is. Gandhi saw the duty for rectification of this situation as
belonging to the wealthy:
As it is, the rich are discontented no less than the poor. The poor man
would fain become a millionaire, and the millionaire a multi-millionaire.
The poor are often not satisfied when they get just enough to fill their
stomach; but they are clearly entitled to it, and society should make it
a point to see that they get it. The rich should take the initiative in
dispossessing with a view to universal diffusion of the spirit of contentment.
If only they keep their own property within moderate limits, the poor will
be easily fed, and will learn the lesson of contentment along with the rich.17
Gandhi saw that the increasing disparity between the rich and the poor could
end in social conflict. Trusteeship and its twin counterpart, equal distribution,
afford a solution:
As for the present owners of wealth, they would have to make their
choice between class war and voluntarily converting themselves into
trustees of their wealth. They would be allowed to retain the steward-
ship of their possessions and to use their talent to increase the wealth, not
for their own sakes, but for the sake of the nation, and, therefore, with-
out exploitation. The State would regulate the rate of commission which
they would get commensurate with the service rendered and its value to
society. Their children would inherit the stewardship only if they proved
their fitness for it.18
Amma has worked arduously in her own life to inculcate this sense of respon-
sibility in those that have to those who have not, saying that it is the duty of the
rich to provide for the poor. Amma tells us: “In fact, God created the rich to
help the poor, the healthy to assist the unhealthy, and normal human beings to
help and serve the mentally retarded and physically deformed.”19 Amma stresses
the development of compassion for others: feeling others as part of ourselves, we
may begin to behave like the brothers and sisters that we actually are.
Even if we cannot render help to others, we should at least not cause
them any harm. That in itself is a great service. However, it is not enough.
Try to engage in work that will benefit others. Limit everything to what
is really needed, and do not undertake anything that is inessential. Food,
thoughts, sleep and talk, all should be limited to what is essential. If we
live with that discipline, there will be only good thoughts in our minds.
Those who live in this way do not pollute the atmosphere. They sanctify
it instead. We should consider such people as our role models.20
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TRUSTEESHIP 27.1

27.1.1 The Ideal of Trusteeship

The ideal of Trusteeship lies in the basic understanding that permeated Gandhi’s
awareness and being: “Everything belongs to God and is from God. Therefore it
is for his people as a whole, not for a particular individual. When an individual
has more than his proportionate portion he becomes a trustee of that portion for
God’s people.”* We are also Trustees for our own talents and gifts. Gandhi noted:
“Talents of all kinds are a trust and must be utilised for the benefit of society.
The individual has no right to live unto himself. Indeed it is impossible to live
unto oneself. We fully live unto ourselves when we live unto society.”21
The ideal of Trusteeship therefore includes our talents, our intelligence—all
our capacities for positive input to the global community. These are not ours,
they belong to the betterment of the larger community, for they are a gift from
the Creation, for itself. It is a humbling thought. It is the fact behind varna.
Gandhi was queried with numerous hypothetical questions, coming from the fear
of being without more:

Apariagraha is an ideal condition. It can be said that an ideal is

never realized perfectly. But we should not lower our ideal on this ac-
count…Keeping this in mind we should sincerely try to realize the ideal of
Apariagraha as best we can. Let us now examine the instances which you
have imagined. The world will lose nothing if the rich give up their wealth
voluntarily; on the contrary, it will benefit by their action, because a new
and powerful force is generated as a result of a sincere act of Apariagraha.
No one can act in such matters mechanically. He alone who feels a spon-
taneous urge in his heart will act, and will deserve credit for his actions.
There is no danger or possibility of the entire world acting upon the ideal
of Apariagraha. But assuming that it does, I have no doubt that it will
find no difficulty in maintaining itself. There are people in this world who
do not stock anything to meet their needs even for one day. You need not
believe that such persons would starve if there were not in the world other
people who stored things.22

Gandhi gave this understanding of the ideal of the doctrine of equal distribu-
tion:

It does not mean that everyone will literally have the same amount. It
simply means that everybody will have enough for his or her needs…the
*
Changed to present tense by the author. From Harijan: February 23, 1947. Age 77.

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elephant needs a thousand times more food than the ant, but that is not
an indication of inequality. So the real meaning of economic equality was:
‘To each according to his need.’ That was the definition of Marx. If a
single man demanded as much as a man with wife and four children that
would be a violation of economic equality.23

There are several aspects to consider in the ideal of Trusteeship. Making one’s
livelihood by means which do not exploit others and ravage the creation—right
livelihood—is part of it.* For the individual, the ideal is to not desire wealth.
Gandhi had given up his own wealth for the larger community, and said to those
who would follow him: “Those of us, however, who consider it a duty to adopt
poverty and believe in and desire economic equality may not be jealous of the
rich but should exhibit real happiness in our poverty which others may emulate.
The sad fact is that those who are thus happy are few and far between.”24
For those who had personal wealth, or could not get over the desire for it,
Gandhi gave this ideal:

It is my conviction that it is possible to acquire riches without con-

sciously doing wrong. For example I may light on a gold mine in my one
acre of land. But I accept the proposition that it is better not to desire
wealth than to acquire it, and become its trustee. I gave up my own long
ago, which should be proof enough of what I would like others to do. But
what am I to advise those who are already wealthy or who would not
shed the desire for wealth? I can only say to them that they should use
their wealth for service. It is true that generally the rich spend more on
themselves than they need. But this can be avoided.25

Gandhi did not feel that ownership by the State was the way to arrive at
Trusteeship on the societal level. He saw that violence would be the result if peo-
ple were commanded to become trustees of their own wealth. Through Ahimsa
he hoped that people would, in and of themselves, see the reality of their neces-
sary ethical relations as trustees for one another. Recognising that some would,
however, willingly and selfishly squander what is needed by others, he saw that
at times, state intervention would be necessary:

I would be very happy indeed if the people concerned behaved as

trustees; but if they fail, I believe we shall have to deprive them of their
possessions through the State with the minimum exercise of violence…every
*
As was demonstrated in Vedic India through Kautilya’s Artha Shastra.

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vested interest must be subjected to scrutiny and confiscation ordered

where necessary—with or without compensation as the case demanded.
What I would personally prefer would be not a centralisation of power
in the hands of the State but an extension of the sense of Trusteeship,
as, in my opinion, the violence of private ownership is less injurious than
the violence of the state. However, if it is unavoidable, I would support a
minimum of state ownership.26
Gandhi had a vision of the ideal of Trusteeship in practice in human society,
which he gave as this dream for society:
If only the rich people, whether titled or not, will act as trustees,
they should soon be perfectly happy. The dream I want to realize is not
spoliation of the property of private owners, but to restrict its enjoyment
so as to avoid all pauperism, consequent discontent and the hideously ugly
contrast that exists to-day between the lives and surroundings of the rich
and the poor.27
Gandhi saw tha,t conditioned as we are, we have difficulty even in conceiving
the ideal of Trusteeship. It has not yet touched our hearts; we really don’t have a
clue about how to practise it. For this condition, he recommended prayer—prayer
to develop mental openness to empathic feeling for the conditions of others; prayer
as a way to gain a small understanding of the ideal:
We should aim at getting only what the rest of the world gets. Thus,
if the whole world gets milk, we may also have it. We may pray to God
and say: “O God, if you wish me to have milk, give it first to the rest of
the world.” But who can pray thus? Only he who has so much sympathy
for others and who labours for their good. Even if we cannot practice
this principle, we must at least understand and appreciate it. For the
present, our only prayer to God should be that since we are fallen so low,
He may accept whatever little we do, and that even if we do not progress
in this direction, He should give us strength to lessen our possessions. If
we repent of our sins, they will not increase further. We should not keep
anything with us thinking it as our own, but should strive to give up as
much of our possessions as we can.28

27.1.2 The Observance of Trusteeship

As a sadhak, Gandhi sought to observe Trusteeship in every way possible through-
out his life. As he gained fame, his work attracted donations. He had numerous
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27 THE VOWS OF TRUSTEESHIP AND BREAD LABOUR

moneyed friends, who gave him access to their deep pockets. All this he set into
public Trusts for different social uplift works that helped to spread personal re-
form through social reform. Having nothing himself he used the resources that
came to him like a miser, saving for the national reform charities of his Construc-
tive Programme.
Trusteeship is not only about money, personal resources and our individual
talents, ideas and thoughts. The attitude of Trusteeship is seen in our ways of
personal conduct towards the Earth. The following anecdote which took place
during a period of his imprisonment in India shows Gandhi’s intimate under-
standing of his role as trustee of the gifts of nature. It is the consciousness of
‘waste not, want not’:

One day, in the Yeravda Jail, Gandhi noticed that one of his associates
from the ashram, Kaka Kalekar was in the habit of breaking off whole
little branches of the neem tree even if he needed only four or five leaves.
Gandhi said to him: “This is himsa [violence]. Others might not be able
to understand, but you can. Even these four leaves should be plucked by
us humbly, with due apologies to the tree. You break off whole twigs or
branches.”
“…And then,” recalls Kaka Kalekar, “we stopped getting datuns (pieces
of fresh neem or babul twigs used as tooth brushes) from outside. I said,
“Bapu-ji,* this place abounds in neem trees. I will make a nice fresh datun
for you every morning.” Bapu agreed. The next day I brought a datun,
pounded one end of it into a soft brush and gave it to Bapu. After using
it, he said, “Now cut off the used bit of the datun and pound the end into
a brush again.” I was surprised. I asked, “But why? We can get a fresh
one every day.” “I know we can,” said Bapu, “But that does not mean we
should. We do not have the right. We must not fling away a datun until
it becomes too dry to be used.”29

In the ways in which we treat each other, the attitude of Trusteeship will effect
the choices that we make in innumerable ways. A friend, who was also a wealthy
woman, had bought Gandhi several choice personal gifts. Gandhi gave a gentle
rebuke which demonstrates not only the role of truthfulness in personal relations,
but also the personal effort and understanding he wanted to see in those who
would follow the ideal of Trusteeship:
*
Bapu or ‘Father’ was a name Gandhi was called by many. ‘Ji’ is a respectful and reverential
suffix.

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You were extravagant in buying the thermos, the magnificent apples.

But you would not be a Rajkumari* if you were not extravagant. You are
none the less so because you spend on others. If you counted yourself a
trustee, as you should, of all you possess including your body, you will be
balanced in using them even for your trust. You may not philosophically
smile this simple truth away. Remember the value of a rupee in terms of
the poor. It means 64 solid meals which millions do not have. Many in
Segaon live on one rupee per month, i.e., only two meals a day costing one
pice each. But millions do not get this much. How can you and I knowing
this as well as that I am writing this, mis-spend a pice? Will you be wise
for a while? If you will become that, or a woman of my imagination, you
will have to develop all your faculties not excluding accounts keeping.30

Gandhi saw leadership as having a moral responsibility to demonstrate

Trusteeship. In India, during Gandhi’s lifetime, the Kings, Queens and zamindars
(the landlords) held much of the wealth, and in fact lived on the toilings of the
poor. Gandhi often spoke of the duty of Trusteeship to the royal families, who
were the last block to give way in the effort to unify India into a single nation.
He might have been an awkward guest, when to the Maharani (Queen) of Nabha
he pointed out, “The state Treasury does not belong to you. It belongs to the
people. You have been appointed by them a trustee. I wish you would keep an
account of every pie† as a trustee does of the public trust. Keep your personal
needs within bounds.”31
This queen, by rite of her public example, was also in a sense a trustee of
the ideal of a high society woman, for those who had means looked upon her as
an example to follow. This touches upon another point, for we are all trustees
of the model of adulthood and the ideals that we believe in, and present to
others, particularly children. Seeing this, Gandhi pointed out another avenue of
duty for her: “You will render a great service to middle class women and make an
impression on the State if, like other women you manage your household yourself,
and do all the domestic chores of the palace.”32 Gandhi noted how due to a false
sense of shame about the dignity of labour, many middle class women, looking up
the social scale instead of to Reality, considered domestic labour beneath them,
and added to class and caste awareness, rather than decreased it. Very little has
*
Her name was Rajkumari Amrit Kaur. Rajkumari means royal princess, she was in fact
a princess from a small princely state in India. She became part of India’s first independent
government, as Minister of Health.
†
Singular of ‘paise’, 100 of which now make one rupee. The rupee has been devalued greatly
since Gandhi’s time.

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27 THE VOWS OF TRUSTEESHIP AND BREAD LABOUR

changed.*
In the development of social governance through Trusteeship, Gandhi saw
that for those in communities, the attitude of Trusteeship would make a smooth
transition to an equitable and sustainable human society:

When the people understand the implications of Trusteeship and the

atmosphere is ripe for it, the people themselves, beginning with the Gram
Panchayats,† will begin to introduce such states. Such a thing coming
from below is easy to swallow. Coming from above it is liable to prove a
dead weight.”33
I hold that it is better for [man] to live by the exercise of his will
[rather than the imposed will of the state]. I also believe that men are
capable of developing their will to an extent that will reduce exploitation
to a minimum. I look upon an increase of the power of the State with
the greatest fear, because although while apparently doing good by min-
imising exploitation, it does the greatest harm to mankind by destroying
individuality, which lies at the root of all progress. We know of so many
cases where men have adopted Trusteeship, but none where the State has
really lived for the poor.34

Gandhi deeply respected each person’s individual liberty. Through Trustee-

ship he was striving for equitable distribution of resources through a change in
the hearts and minds of people. When social change comes through the people, it
works. When it is imposed upon the people, or legislated without their support
and consenting awareness of a given implication, it is ineffectual.
Through equal distribution, Gandhi wanted to develop community life and
social patterns that would minimise gross inequalities, and ensure that each was
receiving what they needed in order to live with human dignity. Equal distribu-
tion was also a way for people to arrive back at the ideal of varna ashrama. In
practice, Gandhi saw equal distribution as being relative to need: “If one man
has a weak digestion and requires only a quarter of a pound of flour for his Bread
and another needs a pound, both should be in a position to satisfy their wants.”35
In the ideal picture of the new society that Gandhi was communicating to the
world, equal distribution along with all aspects of the new social and economic
order, would be brought about by a new human understanding:
*
In contrast, Gandhi was very impressed with the simplicity of the royal family of Travancore
(now Kerala).
†
The village level of self-government.

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TRUSTEESHIP 27.1

Now let us consider how equal distribution can be brought about

through non-violence. The first step towards it is for him who has made
this ideal part of this being to bring about the necessary changes in his
personal life. He would reduce his wants to a minimum; bearing in mind
the poverty…His earning would be free of dishonesty. The desire for spec-
ulation would be renounced. His habitation would be in keeping with the
new mode of life. There would be self-restraint exercised in every sphere of
life. When he has done all that is possible in his own life, then only will he
be in a position to preach this ideal among his associates and neighbours.36

Yet Gandhi knew that the rich would not willingly give up their comforts and
self-indulgence and he respected that liberty. He wanted to see persuasion rather
than force used to bring about societal change from justified selfishness to ethical
thinking.

At the root of the doctrine of equal distribution must lie that of

the Trusteeship of the wealthy for the superfluous wealth possessed by
them…How is this to be brought about?…Violent action cannot benefit so-
ciety. [In the society to be rebuilt through Trusteeship] the rich man will
be left in possession of his wealth, of which he will use what he reasonably
requires for his personal needs and will act as a trustee for the remainder
to be used for society. In this argument honesty on the part of the trustee
is assumed.37

In the ideal of trusteeship, individuals would voluntarily relinquish their excess

to the common good of all. Gandhi saw that the role of the individual Trustee
may need the guidance and support of the State to implement Trusteeship on a
societal level. He envisioned a system of checks upon the State and the Trustee,
whereby the individual Trustee in choosing his successor would have the right
to make his own choice, but that the State would finalise it. He felt that State
ownership of wealth over individual ownership, was better, for it would have the
effect of minimising social conflict and violence. Yet, he recognised that control
by the state was walking a razor’s edge, unless the consciousness of the people
was at par with Trusteeship. Gandhi said:

It [state ownership] is better than private ownership. But that, too, is

objectionable on the ground of violence. It is my firm conviction that if
the State suppressed capitalism by violence, it will be caught in the evils
of violence itself and fail to develop non-violence at any time. The State
represents violence in a concentrated and organised form. The individual
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has a soul, but as the State is a soul-less machine, it can never be weaned
from violence to which it owes its very existence. Hence I prefer the
doctrine of Trusteeship.38

As Gandhi presented this ideal in practice to the nation, and the world at
large, he was inundated with questions. His answers showed how Trusteeship
becomes a comprehensive means to help the individual, the community and the
Earth as a whole. Gandhi received numerous questions on ‘how-to-do’ Trusteeship
and what a society based upon Trusteeship would look like. Through interviews
and questionings, Gandhi gave clear insights into understanding his definition of
Trusteeship. At one time he said: “I would certainly welcome a person becoming
a trustee of his own property. He then ceases to be the owner of his property.
He must then live within the commission which as a trustee he gets from the
property. This is the meaning of trust.”39
For a wealthy person who asked how he could become a Trustee, Gandhi gave
this advice:

You will accept nothing for yourself personally. That is to say, you
will not accept a cheque to go to Switzerland for a change but you will
accept a lakh* of rupees for wells for Harijans or for schools and hospitals
for them. All self has got to be eliminated and the problem is simplified.”
“…But what about my personal expenses?”
You have to act on the principle that a labourer is worthy of his hire.
You must not hesitate to accept your minimum wage. Everyone of us† is
doing the same thing. Bhansali’s wage is just wheat flour and neem leaves.
We cannot all be Bhansalis, but we can try to approximate to that life.
Thus I will be satisfied with having my livelihood, but I must not ask a
rich man to accommodate my son. My only concern is to keep my body
and soul together so long as I serve the community.40

Once in an interview, Pierre Ceresole‡ asked Gandhi:

“Could one lay down a rule of life for the wealthy? That is to say,
could one define how much belongs to the rich and how much does not
belong to them?”
*
One lakh = 100,000, in India noted as 1,00,000.
†
Gandhi was speaking of the people in his ashram. Bhansali was an inmate in the ashram.
‡
Pierre Ceresole—founder president of the International Voluntary Service, during his visit
to India in 1935, discussed capitalism and non-violence with Gandhi.

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“Yes,” said Gandhiji, smiling, “Let the rich man take 5 percent or 10
percent, or 15 percent.”
“But not 85 percent?”
“Ah, I was thinking of going up to 25 percent! But not even an exploiter
must think of taking 85 percent!”
“But there are wealthy and wealthy. There are some who may have
made their pile from alcoholic traffic.”
“Yes, you will certainly draw a line. But whilst you will not accept
money from a brewer, I do not know what will happen if you have made
an appeal for funds. Will you tell the people that only those who have
justly earned their money will pay? I would rather withdraw the appeal
than expect any money on those terms. Who is to decide whether one is
just or otherwise? And justice too is a relative term. If we will but ask
ourselves, we will find that we have not been just all our lives. The Gita
says in effect that every one is tarred with the same brush; so rather than
judge others, live in the world untouched or unaffected by it. Elimination
of self is the secret.”41
When asked how long the exploited and depressed should wait for the rich to
wake up to their duty as Trustees, Gandhi replied:
That is where I disagree with the Communist. With me, the ultimate
test is non-violence. We have always to remember that even we were
one day in the same position as the wealthy man. It has not been an
easy process with us, and as we bore with ourselves, even so should we
bear with others. Besides, I have no right to assume that I am right and
he is wrong. I have to wait until I convert him to my point of view. In
the meanwhile if he says, “I am prepared to keep for myself 25 percent
and to give 75 percent to charities,” I close with the offer. For I know
that 75 percent voluntarily given is better than 100 percent surrendered
at the point of bayonet, and by thus being satisfied within 75 percent, I
render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s. Non-violence must be
the common factor between us.42
Incarcerated in jail with Gandhi in Poona, 1942, Pyarelal (one of his secre-
taries), made use of the opportunity to question Gandhi more on Trusteeship.
Asked how it could be realized in contemporary society, Gandhi said, “The only
democratic way of achieving it today is by cultivating opinion in its favour.”43
“Surely you do not mean that the change would depend upon the sufferance
of the owning class and we shall have to wait till their conversion is complete?”
[here Pyarelal gave examples of the Russian revolution and Gandhi replied]:
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Ours will be an even bigger revolution. We must not underrate

the business talent and know-how which the owning class have acquired
through generations of experience and specialisation. Free use of it would
accrue to the people under my plan. So long as we have no power, con-
version is our weapon by necessity, but after we get power, conversion will
be our weapon of choice. Conversion must precede legislation. Legislation
in the absence of conversion remains a dead letter. As an illustration, we
have today the power to enforce rules of sanitation but we can do nothing
with it because the public is not ready.44

Pyarelal felt that waiting for successful conversion would take too long.
Gandhi replied: “You see, if the owning class does not accept the Trusteeship
basis voluntarily, its conversion must come under the pressure of public opinion.
For that public opinion is not yet sufficiently organised.”45 He saw that through
voting power, the state would be forced to accede to the will of the majority. But
that this power would not be parliamentary alone. “My reliance ultimately is on
the power of non-violent non-co-operation.”46

[Pyarelal asked]: “Does not the very concept of the State imply the
use of power?”
Gandhiji: “Yes, but the use of power need not necessarily be violent.
A father wields power over his children, he may even punish but not by
inflicting violence. The most effective exercise of power is that which irks
least. Power rightly exercised must sit light as a flower, no one should feel
the weight of it…a non-violent state was possible in theory. But it called
for a terrible self-discipline, self-denial and penance.
In the eleventh chapter of the Bhagavad Gita there is the description
of a non-violent law giver or head of State. He is a person who has severed
all domestic ties, he is unaffected by fear or favour, anger or attachment,
he is the personification of humility and self-effacement. Through constant
discipline he has inured his body to all conceivable rigours of the weather,
fatigue and want…if anyone is frightened by such a description let him
look at the Russians fighting in temperatures below 40 degrees frost. Why
should we expect a softer solution under non-violence? Rather we should
be prepared for more hardships.”
[Pyarelal’s sister interjected]: “That would mean, that only a Jesus, a
Mohammed or a Buddha can be the head of a non-violent state.”
Gandhiji: “That is not correct, prophets and supermen are born only
one in an age, but if even a single individual realizes the ideal of Ahimsa
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in its fullness, he covers and redeems the whole society. Once Jesus had
blazed the trail, his twelve disciples could carry on his mission without his
presence. It needed the perseverance and genius of so many generations
of scientists to discover the laws of electricity but today everybody, even
children, use electric power in their daily life. Similarly, it will not always
need a perfect being to administer an ideal state once it has come into
being. What is needed is a thorough social awakening to begin with. The
rest will follow. To take an instance nearer home, I have presented to the
working class the truth that true capital is not silver or gold but the labour
of their hands and feet and their intelligence. Once labour develops that
awareness, it would not need my presence to enable it to make use of the
power that it will release…If only we could make people conscious of their
power—the power of non-violent non-co-operation—the realization of the
ideal of Trusteeship would follow as surely as morning follows night.”47
If, however, in spite of the utmost effort, the rich do not become
guardians of the poor in the true sense of the term, and the latter are
more and more crushed and die of hunger, what is to be done? In trying
to find the solution to this riddle, I have lighted on non-violent non-co-
operation and civil disobedience as the right and infallible means. The
rich cannot accumulate wealth without the co-operation of the poor in
society.48
By 1943, at age 73, Gandhi had faith that the newly born and independent
India would choose to follow at least some of these ideals, in the light of genuine
democracy. The up and coming leadership had worked and walked with him. The
masses felt the new leaders shared Gandhi’s deep concern for the untold human
suffering brought about by gross economic inequity. The new leaders were to
be Indians for all Indians. He had placed all his observations and suggestions
before the nation at large, had given the example of his own life for over 30 years.
When asked how land would be distributed in independent India, he gave this
ideal picture based on his faith in the people who were positioning themselves
to be the new leaders: “The land will belong to the State. I take it for granted
that the Government will be in the hands of people who believe in this idea. I
believe most of the landlords will give up their rights of their own accord. Those
who refuse to do so will have to give them up under the pressure of new laws.”49
Unless the glaring disparity between those that have and those that have not is
addressed, Gandhi saw that:
A violent and bloody revolution is a certainty one day, unless there is a
voluntary abdication of riches and the power that riches give and sharing
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them for the common good. I adhere to my doctrine of Trusteeship in

spite of the ridicule that has been poured upon it. It is true that it is
difficult to reach. So is non-violence difficult to attain. But we made up
our minds in 1920 to negotiate that steep ascent. We have found it worth
the effort.50

27.1.3 Amma and Trusteeship

Holy Mother Amma is the Trustee of vast resources. Like Gandhi, she has come
to be recognised throughout the planet as one whose loving interest to help others
is wise, selfless, genuine, and prompted by her adherence to the highest ideals and
purest ethics known to humankind. In Gandhi’s lifetime, husbands feared to let
their wives attend his meetings lest they should give away the family jewels that
they wore—which they often did when he appealed for funds to help the poor.
While Amma herself never asks for money, her example has prompted thousands
throughout India and abroad to seek to serve her goals for others. Many, touched
by her Love have become Trustees of their own wealth, seeking to use it in her
service, which is really the service of others.
To the wealthy, Amma emphasises the opportunity that Trusteeship can
bring—the chance to become a great and humane human being:
Do not give up your wealth. Do not give up your expectations in life.
Have them, but try to be a real human being. Try to feel the sufferings of
others. You are not a machine or an animal or a demon. You are a human
being. You represent the human race. Therefore, try to be loving and
compassionate, because those are the signs of an evolved life. Remember,
only a human being can develop compassion and only a human being can
empathise with others…No other species receives this precious gift from
God—the ability to understand and be compassionate. Utilise it. Don’t
misuse it.51
World wide, governments now recognise that money given to Amma goes
to the relief of the suffering, unlike governmental institutions, which have what
Amma once described as the ‘oily cup’ syndrome: a cup of oil given to most
institutions for human benefit, is poured from one level to the next, trickling
down until there is hardly any oil left for the intended beneficiary.
Amma is a wonderful example of the ideal of Trusteeship in her personal life.
Speaking of herself, Amma has said:
Amma grew up knowing hardship. She knows the value of each paisa.
She has had to struggle just to get enough firewood to make tea. Because
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She knows the hardships of poverty, She doesn’t let even a speck go to
waste. When She sees a piece of wood She thinks about its value and
how it can be used. But if you children saw it lying in your path, you’d
just kick it away. Or if you saw it lying in the rain, you’d never think of
picking it up, drying it and saving it. Children, would we throw away a
five paisa coin? No, because it’s five paisas. Without dry firewood, how
can we cook anything? Even if we hold hundreds of rupees in our hands,
we still need firewood to light a fire, don’t we? We should be aware of the
value and possible use of everything. Then we won’t allow ourselves to
waste anything.52

Like Gandhi, she is very particular that we do not waste the resources Nature
has given. She has often emphasised not wasting water. Once, someone observed:
“Even when a water tap was available, Mother washed Her hands and face with
water from a container. She said that when we open a faucet, we tend to use
more water than we need.”53
Amma’s teachings show how, if we have the attitude of Trusteeship, even
without having physical ownership, we can overcome many of our likes and dislikes
in our environment. At present we have Trusteeship over our own attitudes. Once
someone said to her:
“Mother you should tell the neighbours not to soak coconut in the back water
surrounding the ashram, it smells terrible.” Amma replied:

Son, there is no bad smell when there is an attitude that it is ‘mine’.

Nobody cares about the putrid smell of one’s own wound. With how much
affection do we remove the excreta of our own child. Sometimes we might
even vomit on our own body. Are we not accepting all those without
complaint? Once the attitude of ‘mine’ comes, then none of these are a
problem at all. Think of the coconut family as ‘ours’ (Mother laughs) then
there will not be any smell.
When we are working in someone’s factory, we will always try to skip
work. We will have little enthusiasm and feel tired quickly. But if it is our
own factory, the attitude changes. Then even if we can’t eat or sleep, we
will be enthusiastic. There will be no fatigue because it is our own. If you
develop that attitude of ‘mine’ towards everything, then all problems will
disappear.54

Amma teaches that the relationship between man and nature is one of Trustee-
ship. In another incident while reprimanding a brahmacharini, Amma gave these
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teachings which demonstrate the close links between the awarenesses, the maha
vratas, and Trusteeship:

Whatever is wasted due to our lack of care and attention is a sin.

Everything has been created for a purpose. Everything has a use. Without
inter-dependence of things, the world couldn’t exist. Plants and trees
cannot exist without this Earth. Animals depend on plants and other
animals for food. Human beings depend on animals and plants. Thus the
existence of the entire world is nothing but a story of inter-dependence.
…suppose two potatoes are sufficient to cook a dish. If you then take
three instead of two, you are acting indiscriminately. You are committing
an adharmic act.
Wastefulness is a form of stealing. Since you are not really using the
third potato, you are carelessly wasting it. You could give it to someone
else, perhaps to a neighbour who does not have enough to eat. Thus by
taking that extra potato, you are denying him food. You are stealing his
food and are committing an unrighteous act.55

Amma speaks to our present time and the aching needs of our ignored en-
vironment. The responsibility of capital management is not only for labour but
the Earth as well. This is especially critical, as industry and factories move out
of countries where increasingly environmentally concerned citizenry oppose the
ecological destruction they cause. Many transnational companies now seek to
plunk their ‘dirty business’ in nations whose governments are less concerned with
the state of the Earth, toxic pollution and the conditions of life for their poor.
Many towns and areas in India are cesspools of chemical poisoning, from the
underground water tables, up to the skies; where factories are causing massive
ecological destruction and sickening the entire environment as well as the hapless
workers in them.* Amma asks:

How much pollution has been caused by the smoke from factories?
Mother is not suggesting that we close the factories; She is only saying
that part of the profits should be used for devising methods to reduce
pollution and to revive and protect the environment.
In olden days, rain and sunshine came at the right time and supported
the cycle of growth and harvest. There was no need for irrigation because
*
The 2003 documentary movie Poison for Cotton by Altemeir and Hornung Filmproduktion,
details from start to finish issues in clothing production from cotton in India today, exemplifying
this point.

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everything was taken care of by Nature. Nowadays, we have strayed from

the path of dharma. We are not at all concerned about Nature, and
therefore, Nature is reacting. The same cool breeze which once caressed
mankind has now turned into a tornado.56

Amma stresses the necessity of our growth in understanding our total reliance
and dependence upon Nature, the natural systems of the Earth and Nature’s need
for our intelligent and caring Love to protect these systems in the maintenance
of the creation:

The Earth, trees, plants and animals are all manifestations of God. We
should love them as we love our own Self. Actually, we should love them
even more than ourselves, because only with Nature’s support can human
beings exist. It is said that we should plant two trees for every one we
cut down. However, when a large tree is replaced by two small seedlings,
the balance of Nature is not maintained…Animals, plants, and trees all
contribute to the harmony of Nature. It is man’s duty to protect and
preserve them, for they are helpless to defend themselves. If we continue
to destroy them, it will do the world great harm.57

Rural society in India, has total reliance and dependence upon the breast of
Mother Nature. Cow dung has long been used in innumerable ways: to make dry
chips with which to cook food, to provide a sealant for mud floors and walls, to
offer in rituals, and also as a plaster on wounds. Now the efficacy of cow dung
has disappeared. Amma discusses this:

Mother remembers that in her childhood cow dung would be placed

directly upon the site of a vaccination in order to prevent infection. But
today, cow dung will make a wound septic. Due to the toxins with which
man has polluted the environment, our immune systems have become
weakened, and the cow dung has also become harmful…Untreatable dis-
eases have become prevalent due to man’s transgression of the laws of
Nature.58

Living in Amma’s ashram community, one daily confronts the awareness of

Trusteeship and its wide parameters in our lives. We are the trustees of our
thoughts, actions, attitudes and choices. How much food we take, how much
we waste, our use of lights, water, fans. These are part of many Earth ethical
decisions—what soap, what kind of food, how much and what kind of clothing,
transportation choices and greater and greater measures in recycling are all part
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27 THE VOWS OF TRUSTEESHIP AND BREAD LABOUR

of the Trusteeship picture. Increasingly, residents are composting, making mats,

handbags, and other useful items out of plastic waste and seeking to sell more and
more of the ‘garbage’ to recycling centres. Amma’s example shows the necessity
for all of us to assert our sense of Trusteeship, now.
In a voice that sounds very much like Amma’s today, Gandhi demonstrated
to the inmates in his ashram the relationship between ashram life and perfecting
one’s understanding of the doctrine of Trusteeship, when he said:

We shall not often get opportunities like the unique one we have got
just now for self-examination and study. All of us, therefore, should realize
that we should so act and spend our time that we would be able to give a
good account of every moment. Even a drop of water should not be wasted.
We should regard everything in the country, no matter in whose possession
it is, as belonging to us and take care of it and use it accordingly.59

Amma gives constant support and encouragement for internal effort and
change. We need to convince ourselves that we can change, that we have the
power and capacity to do so:

We may doubt whether we have the power to restore the lost balance
in nature. We may ask, “Are we human beings not too limited?” No, we
are not! We have infinite power within us, but we are fast asleep and
unaware of our strength. This power rises up when we awaken within.
Religion is life’s greatest secret which enables us to awaken this unlimited,
but dormant inner power.60

It is possible; we can do it, if we try. We can make the changes needed to give
everyone a life free from hand-to-mouth existence. We can change the perceptions
we have of the goals for human society and social behaviour. We can create a
new ideal picture for ourselves as a human race, and begin to follow its light in
our lives. Gandhi gives this encouragement for the exercise of Trusteeship in the
face of seeming indifference from those who mistakenly feel they actually profit
from the present form of immoral economics:

That possessors of wealth have not acted up to the theory does not
prove its falsity; it proves the weakness of the wealthy. No other theory
is compatible with non-violence. In the non-violent method the wrong-
doer compasses his own end, if he does not undo the wrong. For, either
through non-violent non-co-operation he is made to see the error, or he
finds himself completely isolated.61
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27.2 Bread labour

Gandhi saw Bread labour as Yajna (sacrifice) necessary for ethical development.
He attributed his arriving at Bread labour as a vow through the influence of
Count Tolstoy, Bonderef,* and to Ruskin. “I believe that I discovered some of my
deepest convictions reflected in this great book of Ruskin, and that is why it so
captured me and made me transform my life. A poet is one who can call forth
the good latent in the human breast.”62 The teachings that Gandhi understood
from Ruskin, the equality of all labour, he summarised as follows:

That the good of the individual is contained in the good of all.

That a lawyer’s work has the same value as the barber’s, inasmuch as
all have the same right of earning their livelihood from their work.
That a life of labour, i.e., the life of the tiller of the soil and the
handicraftsman is the life worth living.
The first of these I know. The second I had dimly realized. The third
had never occurred to me. Unto This Last made it as clear as daylight for
me that the second and the third were contained in the first. I arose with
the dawn, ready to reduce these principles to practice.63

Gandhi also found corroboration for Bread labour in the Bhagavad Gita, the
giver of deep archetypes in the Indian psyche:

When the Gita says that ‘rain comes from sacrifice’64 I think it in-
dicated the necessity of bodily labour. The ‘residue of sacrifice’65 is the
Bread that we have won in the sweat of our brow. Labouring enough for
one’s food has been classed in the Gita as a Yajna.66
In my view, the same principle has been set forth in Chapter III of
the Gita where we are told that he who eats without offering sacrifice eats
stolen food. Sacrifice here can only mean Bread labour. Be that as it may,
that verse is the origin of our observance.67

Through Bread labour, Gandhi saw that a new society could arise: “Obedience
to the law of Bread labour will bring about a silent revolution in the structure of
society. Man’s triumph will consist in substituting the struggle for existence by
the struggle for mutual service. The law of the brute will be replaced by the law
of man.”68
*
Bonderef was a Russian writer whose works on human development of mind, body and
spirit through meaningful physical labour also influenced Gandhi.

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27 THE VOWS OF TRUSTEESHIP AND BREAD LABOUR

Gandhi found in the ideal of Bread-labour a pure practice of varna ashrama.

Gandhi saw that the varna system had two basic principles supportive of Bread-
labour: “[There are] two fundamental principles, namely that there are no high
and low and every one is entitled to a living wage, the living wage being the same
for all. In so far as these principles win acceptance they will render a positive
service to society.”69
Taking cash and status value out of education would certainly produce more
people pursing their chosen occupations in the interest of rendering meaningful
service to humanity. At present, this Earth is waiting for the human intelligence
that She has so carefully nurtured and created throughout the eons to fall back
upon Her, like a cooling and refreshing monsoon rain.* A corrected, reformed and
updated understanding of the varna and ashrama systems applied on a world wide
level would certainly give Her that.
Additionally, the relationship between mental health and physical labour is
one that ‘modern’ mental health care systems are increasingly ignoring. Yet,
anyone who has spent the day wrapped up in classrooms with dry books, then
goes home and gardens, even if only for 30 minutes, his head beneath the altar
of the sky or clouds, his hands and feet engaged with the Earth, can attest to
the effect of strengthening integration that such activity produces upon one. The
necessity of our interaction with the five elements that make up the Earth and
our bodies does not end with childhood, although the method of interaction, from
play to gardening, can and does. There is something stultifying and death-dealing
with our present day global modern education patterns, that teach a divorce from,
instead of a marriage to—the Earth.
Gandhi saw that intellectual talent and contribution has its place in social
development, but that it is not an end unto itself, as is presently accepted: “In-
tellectual work is important and has an undoubted place in the scheme of life.
But what I insist on is the necessity of physical labour. No man, I claim, ought
to be free from that obligation. It will serve to improve even the quality of his
intellectual output.”70 True use of intelligence then, would seek to serve human-
ity and to take responsibility for the physical maintenance of the environment
around us. Gandhi saw that:

The idea is that every healthy individual must labour enough for his
food, and his intellectual faculties must be exercised not in order to obtain
a living or amass a fortune but only in the service of mankind. If this
principle is observed everywhere, all men would be equal, none would
starve and the world would be saved from many a sin.71
*
This metaphor is from Rabindranath Tagore’s poetry.

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Looking at the educated elite in India then, he commented: “How useful it

would be if the engineers in India were to apply their ability to the perfecting of
village tools and machines. This must not be beneath their dignity.”72
Gandhi found that the unnatural separation between the educated and the
manually labouring, had come to mean that those who laboured lived with
poverty and its crushing suffering, a life which the intellectual had no feeling
for. He saw that Creation itself had its own needs and uses for our intellects,
that we should seek to find them out accordingly:

Nature has intended man to earn his Bread by manual labour…and in-
tended him to dedicate his intellect not towards multiplying his material
wants and surrounding himself with enervating and soul destroying luxu-
ries, but towards uplifting his moral being—towards knowing the will of
the creator—towards serving humanity and thus truly serving himself.73

Amma also speaks about the necessity of physical labour for mental health.
Once, to inspire an ashram resident, she spoke thus:

Son, do not sit idle like this, God will get angry and bad thoughts will
arise in you. It is much better if you dig ditches and fill them again rather
than sit idle. How much work is there to do if you really look. You should
spend your time doing some physical work if you do not have the mind
to do meditation and japa. Sitting idle means letting the mind brood on
unwanted things.74

27.2.1 The Ideal of Bread labour

The ideal observance of Bread-labour speaks to the awareness of Yajna, or sacri-
fice. As Yajna must be an action done for the benefit or welfare of others, Bread
labour or bodily labour done in the act of service to any aspect of the manifested
world the Creation—becomes Yajna. Gandhi saw it this way: “This body, there-
fore has been given to us, only in order that we may serve all Creation with it.
And therefore…he who eats without offering Yajna eats stolen food. Every single
act of one who would lead a life of purity should be in the nature of Yajna.”75 In
Bread-labour Gandhi found Trusteeship, touchability or equality, and dharma,
duty.

Reason too, leads us to an identical conclusion. How can a man who

does not do body labour have the right to eat? “In the sweat of thy brow
shalt thou eat thy Bread.” says the Bible…There is a world-wide conflict
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27 THE VOWS OF TRUSTEESHIP AND BREAD LABOUR

between capital and labour, and the poor envy the rich. If all worked for
their Bread, distinctions of rank would be obliterated; the rich would still
be there, but they would deem themselves only trustees of their property
and would use it mainly in the public interest. Bread-labour is a veritable
blessing to one who would observe non-violence, worship Truth and make
the observance of brahmacharya a natural act. This labour can truly be
related to agriculture alone. But at present at any rate everybody is not
in a position to take to it. A person can, therefore, spin or weave, or
take up carpentry or smithery, instead of tilling the soil, always regarding
agriculture, however, to be the ideal. Everyone must be his own scavenger.
Evacuation is as necessary as eating, and the best thing would be for
everyone to dispose of his own waste.76

In the ideal of a Bread labourer, Gandhi saw:

One who would serve will not waste a thought upon his own comforts,
which he leaves to be attended to or neglected by his Master on High.
He will not, therefore, encumber himself with everything that comes his
way; he will take only what he strictly needs and leave the rest. He will
be calm, free from anger and unruffled in mind, even if he finds himself
inconvenienced. His service, like virtue, is its own reward and he will rest
content with it.77

Bread-labour is an ideal in ashram life. To inmates, Gandhi said: “Everything

including sanitary service must be done intelligently, enthusiastically and for the
Love of God. Everyone in the ashram is a labourer; none is a wage-slave.”78

27.2.2 The Observance of Bread labour

Bread labour became a means whereby Gandhi could further spread his umbrella
of empathic identification with the masses on the Earth who, without labouring
with their bodies, are not able to eat. He said, “Tolstoy made a deep impression
on my mind, and even in South Africa I began to observe the rule to the best
of my ability. And ever since the ashram was founded, Bread labour has been
perhaps its most characteristic feature.”79
As with Trusteeship, Gandhi saw that the observance of Bread labour could
not be enforced through the State or by statutes. The liberty of the individual is
of paramount importance for the observance of Bread labour. Gandhi hoped that
through reasoning with the power of Ahimsa people would willingly recognise the
necessity for participation in Bread labour: “Compulsory obedience to the law
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BREAD LABOUR 27.2

of Bread labour breeds poverty, disease, and discontent. It is a state of slavery.

Willing obedience to it must bring contentment and health. And it is health
which is real wealth, not pieces of silver and gold.”80
Furthermore, he saw that the right attitude with which to conduct Bread
labour is one of gratitude and joy. “All labour when done intelligently and to
some high purpose becomes at once re-creation and recreation.”81
Gandhi saw that the awareness of the necessity of Bread labour had to be
inculcated. He was adamantly against the free giving of food to those who could
work for it. “My Ahimsa would not tolerate the idea of giving a free meal to a
healthy person who has not worked for it in some honest way.”82
When beggars came to his door; “I will not send away a beggar without
offering him work and food. If he will not work, I should let him go without food.
Those who are physically disabled like the halt and the maimed have got to be
supported by the state.”83
Through Bread labour Gandhi found a way to open the minds and hearts
of the educated into compassion for those who did not have the benefits of an
education. “The idea is that every healthy individual must labour enough for
his food and his intellectual faculties must be exercised not in order to obtain a
living or amass a fortune but only in the service of mankind.”84
Gandhi found that Bread labour was a way to arrive at the awareness of
selfless service: “If we cultivate the habit of doing this service deliberately, our
desire for service will steadily grow stronger and will make not only for our own
happiness, but that of the world at large.”85 He saw that its observance brought
the meaningful and essential into life: “A life of sacrifice is the pinnacle of art,
and it is full of true joy. Yajna is not Yajna, if one feels it to be burdensome
or annoying…Joy has no independent existence. Joy, therefore, is a matter of
individual and national education.”86

27.2.3 Bread labour and Earth Ethical Economics

Gandhi saw that Bread labour can be conducted in several forms. He sought to
find a means and method to labour that would economically reform and uplift
the life of the very poor. India was not producing enough to feed, clothe and
house her people and Gandhi took up spinning and making cotton cloth (khadi)
with a life-long zeal, as his form of daily Bread labour.

For me at the present moment spinning is the only body labour I give.
It is a mere symbol. I do not give enough body labour. That is also
one of the reasons why I consider myself as living upon charity. But I
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27 THE VOWS OF TRUSTEESHIP AND BREAD LABOUR

also believe that such men will have to be found in every nation who will
give themselves body, soul and mind to it and for their sustenance throw
themselves on the mercy of their fellow-man, that is, on God.87

Gandhi saw that in the production of hand-spun cloth lay India’s political
emancipation and economic uplift, as well as personal reform. Spinning was to
him the key to Swaraj. As Bread labour, khadi spinning was to become part of
Gandhi’s national Basic Education system. The emphasis that Gandhi placed on
the charkha made it a symbol of the Indian National Congress, which adopted
Gandhi’s Programme as its own political platform. The first Indian Flag raised
by the INC had a charkha against the colours of white, saffron and green.
Through spinning as Bread labour Gandhi demonstrated a practical means
of being able to occupy and employ many millions of hands, in an intelligent
operation which would also put a few more pennies into their pockets and mouths.
Words can only attest to the agony he must have felt seeing the plight of the poor
in India, denuded of dignity and means of livelihood by blind ‘development’ and
industrialisation:

The more I penetrate the villages, the greater is the shock delivered
as I perceive the blank stare in the eyes of the villagers I meet. Having
nothing else to do but to work as labourers side by side with their bullocks,
they have become almost like them. It is a tragedy of the first magnitude
that millions have ceased to use their hands and feet. Nature is revenging
herself upon us with terrible effect for this criminal waste of the gift she
has bestowed upon us human beings. We refuse to make full use of the
gift. And it is the exquisite mechanism of the hands that among a few
other things separates us from the beast. Millions of us use them merely
as feet. The result is that she starves both the body and the mind…The
spinning wheel alone can stop this reckless waste. A semi-starved nation
can have neither religion, nor art, nor organisation.88

Bread labour naturally entails the means by which articles and results were
produced or performed. Being vegetarian, Gandhi had, early on, become aware
of the relationship between the means of producing food and its consumption.
Later this expanded into awareness that the methods by which a product was
produced are part of the intrinsic value of the end result. By campaigning for the
development of a national market for Khadi for example, he was able to bring to
the public mind the ecological education of means and ends—British mill cloth or
money for the Indian farmers, unemployed carders, spinners, and weavers. Owing
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to his initial efforts, there is now an internationally growing market for Khadi,
although farmers in India are still exploited all the way from sod and seed to sale.
Gandhi was a ruralist, and believed in the rejuvenation and regeneration of
India’s rural economy and villages, based upon individual participation through
Bread labour. Amma likewise, seeks to nourish village development, encouraging
the use and expansion of useful, practical modern amenities while keeping the
skills and indigenous genius of India’s culture and civilisation alive.

27.2.4 Machinery and Bread labour

Many people, unfamiliar with Gandhi’s views have portrayed him as being anti-
machinery and anti-industrialisation. The machines in England had left the
masses of India unemployed, and the resources of the country stripped. It was
against this state of things that he protested. In the early stages of the initial
nation-wide satyagraha campaign, which boycotted goods produced by England,
Gandhi was popularly billed as being anti-modern in outlook. Yet, Gandhi did
not see the industrial age as wholly unnatural. “Industrialisation is like a force of
Nature, but it is given to man to control Nature and to conquer her forces…What
is industrialism but a control of the majority by a small minority?”89 In an inter-
view with Charlie Chaplin, the famous English actor of the silent films, Gandhi
clarified his position for the public understanding:

Charlie Chaplin: I am somewhat confused by your abhorrence of ma-

chinery.
Gandhi: I understand. But before India can achieve those aims, she
must first rid herself of English rule. Machinery in the past has made
us dependent on England and the only way we can rid ourselves of the
dependence is to boycott all goods made by machinery. That is why we
have made it the patriotic duty of every Indian to spin his own cotton and
weave his own cloth. This is our form of attacking a very powerful nation
like England—and, of course, there are other reasons. India has a different
climate from England; and her habits and wants are different. In England
the cold weather necessitates arduous industry and an involved economy.
You need the industry of eating utensils; we use our fingers. And so it
translates into manifold differences.90

Many have misunderstood Gandhi’s reasons for the insistence on Bread

labour, seeing instead a warped view that he wanted to end all use of machinery.
He was to attempt to clarify this mis-perception again and again. “I am against
machines because big industries like steel and coal dehumanise men. Rather than
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destroy big and small industries we must establish a balance between them and
give first place to village industries.”91 By encouraging Bread labour, particularly
through hand industries, many felt he wanted India to go back to the dark ages.
He said:

I have no partiality for return to the primitive method of grinding and

husking for the sake of them. I suggest the return, because there is no
other way of giving employment to the millions of villagers who are living
in idleness…A starving man or woman, who has time on his or her hand,
will surely be glad to earn an honest anna* during that time, he or she
will resent being advised to save his or her labour, when either can turn
it into a few pice to alleviate starvation.92

The role of labour to Earth ethics in society he explained thus:

Labour in the real sense of the term is that which produces useful
articles. Useful articles are those which support human life. Supporting
human life means provision of food, clothing, etc. so as to enable men
to live a moral life and to do good while they live. For this purpose,
large-scale industrial undertakings would appear to be useless.93

Holy Mother Amma does not speak of ‘Bread labour’ per se, although it is
a natural part of ashram life that everyone gives some effort for the good of the
whole community each day. She uses the world seva—selfless service. Her com-
munity has its own industries and productions, as well as a physical environment
that needs care and maintenance. She stresses the inclusion of an attitude of
Love in all that we do as being the singular quality that culminates in the mean-
ing and beauty of any given action. Her outreach programmes seek to develop
handcraft skills in rural villages that will enable people to gain economically. She
has encouraged women to develop their own local industries through micro-loans
from the bank with ashram support. These industries include small business or
trade, manufacturing and small scale food production. She greatly appreciates
and values all hand-made articles, frequently holding them up in ashram satsangs
or community gatherings for all to see and admire. In all ways, Amma is carrying
on the spirit and principles that Gandhi saw as existent in the moral fibre of the
universe, deepening its understanding with the conscious exercise of Love:

Children, it is necessary to work as we live. Life is precious, therefore,

do not waste it by doing things mechanically without Love. We should try
*
In the old rupee system, one rupee contained 8 annas.

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to put Love into everything we do. Machines can do many of the things we
do, sometimes even better and more efficiently, but nobody is inspired by
a machine. Even though machines produce greater quantities of work than
humans, the quality of Love is absent in machine made products. When
Love is absent in any action, the action becomes mechanical. People who
work mechanically without love become machines within; they become
less human. Humans can love; they can express love and they can live in
love—they can even become Love.94

The observance of Bread labour with the fragrance of Love becomes both
Yajna and selfless service. Gandhi saw it as our human duty, not only to our
bodies, but to the whole creation. It sharpens our intellects. Enacted through
our hands and feet it enables us to open our hearts and minds in sympathy and
self-identification with the billions of people upon the Earth who are at present
bound by immoral economics to a life of drudging toil. We thereby become more
humble and expansive in our awareness. Through the physical act of conscious
Bread labour, the ideal receives a ‘rounding out’ in our hearts, the atmosphere
of our environment becomes imbued with our own positive intentions upon it.

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Part III

Earth Ethics in Communities

and Education

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Addenda

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Appendix A
Gandhi’s Chronology
In this Chronology, some of the dates of events before and in Gandhi’s life, through-
out history, which are connected with this discussion on Earth Ethics are given.

Background
700 BC circa Appearance of the work of Panini, the great Sanskrit Grammarian.
620 to 540 BC circa The lifetime of social and religious reformer Gautama Bud-
dha. Based on his teachings, followers formed the Buddhist faith. Many sacred
Buddhist texts are translations of ancient Hindu texts.
510 to 467 BC circa The life of Mahavira, the 24th spiritual guide and social re-
former of what became known as the Jain faith. Jainism brought the jewels of
Ahimsa, vegetarianism, cow protection, and environmental trusteeship to pre-
dominant positions in the philosophical thought of Sanathana Dharma.
500 BC circa Rise of the great teacher, Maharishi Patanjali, author of the Shad
Darshana Yoga school of thought in Indian scriptures. This science of Yoga
offers a profound psychological understanding and guidelines for the development
of ethical life. It includes yogic discipline for a healthy heart, mind, and physical
body.
350 BC The life of Chanakya, friend and advisor to King Chandragupta Maurya, and
the author of the Artha Shastra.
300 BC Emperor Ashok reigns in India, proponent of Buddhism and animal rights,
care and protection. Parts of Kerala and Tamil Nadu are outside of his Kingdom.
200 BC Roman records of government proceedings attest to India’s economic hold on
international markets.
130 BC The life of Thiruvalluvar, author of the Kural—a collection of aphorisms for
living life ethically.
500 AD Adi Shankaracharya, the philosophical teacher of Absolute Monism, and
widely regarded as a Hindu Reformer.
650 to 710 Arab conquest spreads from Baluchistan, reaching Sindh in 710 AD.
713 Rabi’a, a female Sufi saint, is born in Basra, Iraq.
1000’s Arab raids in North India. Chola empire grows in South India, expanding
across Sri Lanka, Bengal, Burma.
1016 Advent of Ramanuja, and his philosophy of Qualified Monism.
1192 Muslim rule begins in India.
1199 Advent of Madhava, and his philosophy of Dualism.
1400’s British enter India as merchants. Set up trade and local offices.
1497 Vasco de Gama sails around South Africa, and lands in Kozhikode, Kerala, India.
1556 Mogul King Akbar’s reign begins.
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Appendix B
Holy Mother Amma’s Chronology
Holy Mother Amma is still with us today. Her works continue to grow. This
chronology includes events which are relevant to the discussion in this book. It should
be born in mind that these activities have taken place amidst a weekly schedule of four
public all-day and often late-night to early morning programs, satsangs, interviews,
etc. Not to mention a touring schedule that includes every continent and keeps Amma
going around the Earth to attend to her innumerable children throughout the year.
Presently, Holy Mother Amma gets very little sleep, if at all.

Holy Mother Amma’s Family

1924 Amma’s father, Sugunanandan is born.
1930 January 26 Indians nationwide take a pledge of independence.
1931 or 1932 Sugunandan (age 7 or 8) first learns about Gandhi.
1932 May Individual civil disobedience starts.
1936 November 12 In Travancore (now southern part of Kerala state) the Maharaja
(King) declares all Hindu temples open to all Hindus, regardless of caste.
1938 Sugunanandan starts learning Kathakali, a traditional art form of telling stories
through intricate acting, music, and dance.
1939 September 1 The official start of World War II.
1939 or 1940 Sugunanandan remembers Indian National Congress slogans from this
time.
1942 August 8 The “Quit India” movement is passed by the INC.
1944 circa Sugunanandan marries Amma’s mother, Damayanti.
1945 August 10 The end of World War Two.
1947 August 15 India gains Independence.
1948 January 30 Gandhi is assassinated.

Holy Mother Amma’s Lifetime

1953 September 27 Holy Mother Amma’s officially celebrated birthday.
1961 Amma (age 9) counsels various people on their problems.
1968 Amma begins expressing divine attitudes in “Bhavas” (age 16 or 17).
1969 Word of Amma spreads; her public work begins.
1970 By this time, hundreds of people are coming to see Amma.
Kerala experiences an economic boom, as daily wage labourers shift to oil-rich
countries and send money back home.
1975 The crowds around Amma swell to thousands.
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Glossary
Agraha ‘Holding force’ or ‘Persistence for’.
Alvar (Tamil) ‘The one who controls God through his love.’ The Alvar saints be-
came predominant in south Indian history during the 7th –9th centuries. Through
transparent and overwhelming Love of the ideal, the Alvars helped to inspire and
transform the lives of millions of people.
Abala Without strength, weak, weakness.
Abha Name of Gandhi’s female relative in close attendance the day he was killed.
Abhyasa 1. Steady and constant effort. 2. Practical practice, practising, as music
abhyasa, sadhana abhyasa, etc.
Achara(s) or Acharam Protocols and practices worthy of emulation. Self-disciplines
for gaining mindfulness of Truth.
Acharya 1. Teacher or Master of a given subject. 2. One who has studied and practices
the precepts contained in the scriptures.
Aden A city in Yemen, where many Indians were going to seek their material fortunes
in Gandhi’s time.
Adharma, Adharmic 1. That which is against, negates, or is not Dharma; unrigh-
teousness. 2. Sin. 3. Crime, an adharmic act.
Adi Lakshmi Seen as the primordial aspect of the feminine principle inherent in all
life and manifested in the home through the wife. The ideal of Adi Lakshmi
has eight attributes: prosperity, agricultural yield, wealth or influence, progeny,
moral courage, victory or success, knowledge of arts and sciences, and food to
eat.
Adi Shakti The Primal or Primordial Energy, inherent in all life, present in human
beings also as the sexual force.
Adivasi Aboriginal inhabitants of India, also known as Tribals in the Indian govern-
ment’s classification system.
Adrishta The unseen principle, beyond our intuition, mind, intellect. (Adrishta-
phala) the karmic fruit experienced from unseen influences of our past actions.
Advaita Non-Duality; One-ness; Monism, Vedanta. This school of thought was pro-
moted by Adi Shankaracharya.
Aham-Brahm-Asmi A maha vakya, meaning “I am Brahman.” (The implication
being that Truth is in Me, or My true nature is Truth).
Ahimsa Unconditional and eternal love and supreme compassion, shown by Gandhi
through Nonviolence, and by Holy Mother Amma through Universal Mother-
hood.
Ahmedabad A city in Gujarat, where Gandhi had his first Indian ashram.
Akash 1. Sky. 2. Vast open space. 3. Vast, like the sky.
Akhanda Brahmacharya A state of unbroken brahmacharya, wherein, for males,
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Biographical Glossary
Adi Shankaracharya (circa 500 AD) Lit. “The First Shankaracharya.” Adi Shan-
karacharya was a sage, originating from Kerala who travelled all over India ad-
vocating Advaita or monist philosophy. He ‘organised’ the existent practice of
Sanathana Dharma into monastic traditions. His institutions are found in the
four corners of India. His intellectual reasoning capacities revived the indigenous
intellectual fervour in Hindu culture which was under the sway of the school of
Buddhism at the time. Shankaracharya is credited with re-organising the Hindu
faith.
Andrews, Charles Freer (1871–1940) Andrews was a priest in the Church of Eng-
land, advocating radical discipleship among followers of Jesus Christ. A strong
voice for the downtrodden and for human justice, Andrews met Gandhi in South
Africa and assisted him in setting up Phoenix and Indian Opinion. Gandhi was
to call him “Christ’s Faithful Apostle” He later returned with Gandhi to In-
dia and was active in issues of indentured labour and untouchability. Later, he
accompanied Gandhi in the first Round Table talks, and returned to England,
on Gandhi’s advice, withdrawing from the Indian movement. A good friend of
Tagore as well, Andrews was dearly loved by Indians at large. He died in Kolkata.
Arnold, Edwin (1832–1904) Arnold worked for the British Government in India for 7
years as Principal of the Sanskrit College in Poona. During this time, he gathered
materials for his notable works, the Light of Asia a poetic rendition of the life of
the Buddha as well as The Song Celestial his poetic rendition of the Bhagavad
Gita. In his later life he co-founded the Mahabodhi Society of India.
Baba Amte (1914–2008). Lawyer, doctor, social reformer and dedicated follower of
Gandhi’s ideals, Baba Amte worked with marginalized sections of society, found-
ing an extensive community called Anandwan for leprosy patients, using Gandhi’s
self-help ideals. He was also active in eco-justice movement and received the Right
Livelihood Award with Medha Patkar of the Narmada Bachao Andolan.
Badarayana Credited with authorship of the Brahma Sutra, scholars are unsure of
his life time, suggesting dates anywhere between 200 BC and 200 AD, and his
person-hood, suggesting that he could have been a compiler (a Vyasa) from an
area called Badara. Adi Shankaracharya called him Bhagavan, meaning God, an
epithet also used for the Sat Guru.
Bahuguna, Sunderlal (1927– ) a follower of Gandhi’s principles, Bahuguna worked
in Tehri district the 1960’s against untouchability, for women’s uplift and edu-
cating people for prohibition of alcohol. He became an early environmentalist
in India, Bahuguna was one of the leaders in the CHIPKO movement in India’s
Himalayas from 1970. In 1980–2004 he began the Anti-Tehri Dam movement.
Using Satyagraha as an educational tool, he has employed the weapon of the Fast
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ENDNOTES

Endnotes 23 As suggested by: Gandhi in Anecdotes: 67–68

24 Mahatma Gandhi: Essays and Reflections: 45
25 Mahatma Gandhi: Essays and Reflections: 455
Introduction 26 Mahatma Gandhi: Essays and Reflections: NA
1 Awakening to Universal Motherhood: 29–31 27 Mahatma Gandhi: Essays and Reflections: 265
2 Matruvani. July, 2005. Vol. 16:11. pg 3–4. Amma’s 28
A World of Ideas: Public opinions from private citi-
Message. zens: 253
3 Harijan: January 28, 1939. Age 69. 29 Mahatma Gandhi: Essays and Reflections: 58
4 I have a dream: 48 30 Written by Herself: Women’s Memoirs from Britain,
5 I have a Dream: 135
Africa, Asian and the United States: 2:445–446 Vijaya
6 I have a Dream: 19
Lakshmi.
7 I have a Dream: 138–139 31 The Life of Mahatma Gandhi: 366–368
8 I have a Dream: 148
9 I have a Dream: 139 Chapter 2
10 I have a Dream: 150 1 Vice-Chancellor, Bangalore University (2005).
11 From Dr. King: “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” April 2 Ode to a Grecian Urn, 1819.
3 Interview, July 28, 2008.
16, 1963.
12 From Dr. King: Speech given to the Southern Chris- 4 Interview, Celine Teacher, July 28, 2008.
5 Amma:Healing the Heart of the World: 41
tian Leadership Conference, Aug. 16, 1967.
13 From Dr. King: “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” April 6 Matruvani. June 2005. Vol. 16:10. pg 4. Amma’s Mes-

16, 1963. sage.

14 Press Report. September 18, 1945. Age 75. 7 Amma:Healing the Heart of the World: 67
15 Harijan: April 29, 1933. Age 63. 8 Matruvani. April, 2004. Vol. 15:8. pg 15.
16 Harijan: October 14, 1939. Age 70. 9 AC 3:272.
17 Mahatma Gandhi, Essays and Reflections: 257 10 Interview. September 21, 2003. The Week.
11 Matruvani. June 2005. Vol. 16:10. pg 29.
Chapter 1 12 Matruvani. July 2004. Vol. 15:11. pg 8.
1 Matruvani. July, 2006. Vol. 17:11. pg 2. Amma’s Mes- 13
Matruvani. June 2007. Vol. 18:10. pg 17.
sage 14 AC 1:313-315.
2 CWMG 28: 142. 15 Amma:Healing the Heart of the World: 95
3 Ahimsa: Nonviolence, Vol. III No. 6. Nov–Dec, 16
Amma:Healing the Heart of the World: 103
2007:484 Gandhi’s Hind Swaraj: Its relevance for To- 17 Matruvani. January 2004. Vol. 15:5. pg 3.
day By G. Prasad. 18 Amma:Healing the Heart of the World: 95
4 CWMG 17: viii.
5 CWMG 22: 500. Chapter 3
6 CWMG 22: 104. 1 Small is Beautiful
7 Journey to Self-Realization: 250 2 Harijan: July 25,1946. Age 76.
8 Gandhi and his Ashrams: 112 3 Unity is Peace
9 Mahatma Gandhi’s last Imprisonment: The Inside 4 The Principle Upanishads: 53

Story: 31 November 24, 1942. Age 73. 5 Matruvani. November 2006. Vol. 18:3. pg 23. In Her
10 Mahatma Gandhi: Essays and Reflections: 255 Arms
11 Mahatma Gandhi: Essays and Reflections: 256-257 6 Matruvani. July 2007. Vol. 18:11. pg 2. Amma’s Mes-
12 CWMG 59: 75. September 24, 1934. Age 64. To Govin- sage
dbhai Patel. 7 AC 2:316-317.
13 CWMG 90: 34. November 15, 1947. Age 78. 8 Mahatma Gandhi’s Last Imprisonment: the Inside
14 CWMG Story: 262
15 CWMG 93: 119. December 2, 1929. Age 59. To Prab- 9 AC 3:270.

hudas Gandhi. 10 Young India, January 14, 1920. Age 50

16 CWMG 10. 1907. Age 38. 11 Matruvani. March 2006. Vol. 16:7. pg 2–3. Amma’s
17 Mahatma Gandhi: Essays and Reflections: 279, 284 Message.
18 Mahatma Gandhi: Essays and Reflections: 53 12 Harijan: August 25, 1940. Age 70
19 Mahatma Gandhi: Essays and Reflections: 466 Sybil 13 Matruvani. November, 2006. Vol. 18:3. pg 3. Amma’s

Thorndike Message.
20 Mahatma Gandhi: Essays and Reflections: 254–255 14 Matruvani. November,2006. Vol. 18:3. pg 4. Amma’s
21 Mahatma Gandhi: Essays and Reflections: 239 Message.
22 Mahatma Gandhi: Essays and Reflections: 46–47 15 AC 7:87.

CWMG = Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi. SWMG = Selected Works of Mahatma

Gandhi. AC = Awaken Children. EW = Eternal Wisdom.

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[1] Ahimsa Nonviolence (Bimonthly Newsletter). International Gandhian Institute for Nonviolence and
Peace. Kadavur, Madurai.
[2] Amrita Bazar Patrika (Periodical Magazine).
[3] Amritanandamayi, Mata (2002). Lead us to the Light. M.A. Center, San Ramon, California.
[4] Amritanandamayi, Mata (2004). May Peace and Happiness Prevail: Address at the Parliament of World
Religions, Barcelona. M.A. Mission Trust, Kollam, Kerala.
[5] Amritanandamayi, Mata (2000). Living in Harmony: An address given at the Millennium World Peace
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[6] Amritanandamayi, Mata (2003). Awakening to Universal Motherhood. M.A. Mission Trust, Kollam,
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Index
Angola, 749 Unkhonto we Sizwe, 775
Ahimsa, see himsa, see Satyagraha
Abdulla, Dada, 755 Amma
action as living principle, 290
Amma’s Teachings monkey picnic, 296
as purifiers, 395 rabid dog situation, 296
identification with, 317 the rat, 300
Love, 395 Universal Motherhood, 922
mind and goals, 398 Amma’s Teachings
necessity of Love, 401 as consciousness, 290
selfless, 396 as oneness, 291
turns into meditation, 399 defining, 287
Gandhi’s Teachings feels like, 291
criterion for selfless, 397 how to experience, 294
to make other’s happy, 307 life is Love, 201
activism like being in Love, 291
Captain Paul Watson, 933 limited and unlimited, 292
Ceasar Chavez, 647 responding, 293
Chico Mendez, 654 to change environment, 294
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., xxxv as innocence in humans, 438
Dr. Vandana Shiva, 928 Gandhi
Gandhi’s Teachings
dawning in, 273
moral duty, 224
experiment with, 295
John S. Mill, 529
monkey situation, 296
Medha Patkar, 936
on himself and Jainism, 288
necessity of dissent, 529
pain and logic, 276
Ralph Nader, 559
through Truth, 438
Adi Shakti, see women
twelve vows, 437
Adi Shankaracharya, 19
Gandhi’s Teachings
Absolute Monism: Advaita, 118
Brahma Sutra Bhashya, 118 and compassion, 288
mayavadi, 118 and himsa, 294
Advaita, 104, 118 and Nature, 290
Amma, 120 and non-violence, 299
Amma’s Teachings, 107, 168 and political trust, 295
Gandhi’s Teachings, 168 Apariagraha and Asteya, 438
affirmation as environmentally transformative, 301
Gandhi’s Teachings attribute of society, 942
for ethical life, 851 by nations, 534
Africa class conflicts, 562
African spirituality, 749 cleanliness, 886
Amatonga in South Africa, 751 commands reciprocation, 302
Xhosa spiritual leader Nxele, 749 defining, 289
African ‘Gold Coast’, 749 degrees of himsa, 298
African Americans diagram, 438
and Gandhi, 11, 659 effort, 287
Booker T. Washington, 764 ethical progress, 495
Child’s response to Gandhi, 13 gift to the world, 287
Gandhi’s Teachings guides Trusteeship, 593
Satyagraha use, 636 highest ideal, 288
African National Congress (A.N.C.), 773 ideal as societal guide, 532
Gandhi in economics, 558
in ashram in India, 826 in hands of women, 923
Nelson Mandela, 775 judging actions, 292

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