International Events.qxd

BIOGRAPHY
physical, intellectual and spiritual might.
As a Japanese citizen who experienced the atomic
bomb holocaust during the Second World War in 1945, I
have been endeavoring to establish an eternally peaceful
world free from nuclear bombs or any other weapons of
mass destruction. Furthermore as a global citizen who
wishes to promote ideal human life in complete harmony
with great nature, I have been working with many international
voluntary organizations and like-minded individuals
for more than the last three decades. With this background
I now wish to narrate briefly what I have learnt from
Gandhiji and in what way his life experiment is relevant to
my present life.
I never came across Gandhiji or got an opportunity to
see him during his lifetime. For, in 1958 when I first landed
on Indian soil, Gandhiji was no more in this world as
he had fallen to the bullets of a young assassin in 1948. So
if anything I have learnt from Gandhiji, it is through my
indirect experience either by reading his autobiography, or
through books written on him by some other authors, or
by hearing stories from those who really met or worked
with him.
Among the many virtues Gandhiji possessed, what
attracted me most were his honesty, sincerity, simplicity and
compassion. His noble and charming character must be
partly inherited from his parents and ancestors, but I do
believe that they were further developed and intensified by
his own constant efforts. He was greatly influenced and
benefited from his most favorite book, the Bhagavad Gita,
besides many other spiritual books. While constantly reading
this divine book, Gandhiji must have applied his reasoning
faculty to understand the real meaning of the dialogue
between Lord Krishna and Arjuna. Then in his actual
life Gandhiji must have practiced all of Krishna’s
instructions that he appreciated and thoroughly believed in.
Lord Krishna, the Supreme Being, told Arjuna, the representative
human being, to practice the following, if he
really wanted to achieve complete liberation and enjoy
eternal happiness:
(1) To detach his mind from sensual objects and to
renounce his sense of possession.
(2) To do everything in the spirit of service, without
expecting any gain in return.
(3) To regard and treat everybody or everything as equal
without prejudice or discrimination.
(4) To recognize Atman, Supreme Soul or Eternal
"I will give you a talisman. Whenever you are in
doubt, or when the self becomes too much with you,
apply the following test.
Recall the face of the poorest and the weakest
man [woman] whom you may have seen, and ask
yourself, if the step you contemplate is going to be of
any use to him. Will he [she] gain anything by it? Will
22 | YATRA | JANUARY - FEBRUARY 2011
GANDHIJI’S TALISMAN
Nipponjan Myohoji Temple of Japan celebrates Gandhi’s
birth anniversary every year
Absolute Being, in everybody and everything.
(5) To have firm faith in and submit oneself completely
to the Supreme Being.
You can judge by yourself whether Gandhiji really
practiced all these instructions in his actual life? For that
purpose you may be advised to remember (a) how rigorously
he observed celibacy or ascetic life; (b) how often he
refused to accept any honor, award or money or position
for his contribution to the national independence or
socio-economic development; (c) how warmly he treated
everyone who came in contact with him with the same
respect and affection regardless of his/her caste, age, gender,
position, faith, nationality etc; (d) how bravely he used
to act without fear because of his belief in the imperishability
of his Atman, Soul and (e) how keenly he desired to
submit himself to and be united with God under the slogan
‘Satyagraha’.
By the way, regarding this slogan he is believed to
have said once that every human being should work for
realizing the Almighty God, but later modified this statement
by replacing ‘Almighty God’ by ‘Truth’. The reason
of this change was probably due to his sympathetic consideration
for atheists or such religious followers who
might be indifferent to the existence of ‘Almighty God’.
He must have thought that ‘Satya or Truth’ instead of
‘God’ is more acceptable to everyone because of its universal
connotation. ❖
—Courtesy: India Perspectives
it restore him to a control over his own life and destiny?
In other words, will it lead to Swaraj for the hungry
and spiritually starving millions?
Then you will find your doubts and your self
melt away."
The High Commission of India in Trinidad and Tobago, Port of Spain