Unconditional Equality examines Mahatma Gandhi’s critique of liberal ideas of freedom and equality and his own practice of a freedom and equality organized around religion. It reconceives satyagraha (passive resistance) as a politics that strives for the absolute equality of all beings. Liberal traditions usually affirm an abstract equality centered on some form of autonomy, the Kantian term for the everyday sovereignty that rational beings exercise by granting themselves universal law. But for Gandhi, such equality is an “equality of sword”—profoundly violent not only because it excludes those presumed to lack reason (such as animals or the colonized) but also because those included lose the power to love (which requires the surrender of autonomy or, more broadly, sovereignty). Gandhi professes instead a politics organized around dharma, or religion. For him, there can be “no politics without religion.” This religion involves self-surrender, a freely offered surrender of autonomy and everyday sovereignty. For Gandhi, the “religion that stays in all religions” is satyagraha—the agraha (insistence) on or of satya (being or truth). Ajay Skaria argues that, conceptually, satyagraha insists on equality without exception of all humans, animals, and things. This cannot be understood in terms of sovereignty: it must be an equality of the minor.

This is the first systematic study of Mohandas Gandhi's conception of religion and of his personal religious practices to be based on the ninety volumes of his Collected Works. With a constant awareness of chronology, it focuses on Gandhi's own statements, revealing the considerable development of his ideas within a lasting and consistent ideological and moral framework. This biography of Gandhi as a Hindu discloses how he was influenced by, and reacted to, Hindu traditions, and why the Hindu establishment rejected him.

This eleventh edition was developed during the encyclopaedia's transition from a British to an American publication. Some of its articles were written by the best-known scholars of the time and it is considered to be a landmark encyclopaedia for scholarship and literary style.

Millions around the world revere Mahatma Gandhi, yet only a few know the man Mohandas Gandhi and the internal journey of his soul. This pioneering book fills the spiritual void in Gandhian literature by focusing on the soul and the substance of the man. Uma Majmudar shows that, contrary to popular belief, Gandhi's rise to greatness was not meteoric; it was, rather, a continuous process of faith development, punctuated by conflicts, crises, and turning points. Using James W. Fowler's theory of "Stages of Faith" as a guide, Majmudar undertakes the first developmental study to analyze the fundamental role of faith in transforming Gandhi's life. She proposes that the power that nourished Gandhi's soul was his ever-growing faith in the ultimate triumph of Truth and in the innate Godliness of the human soul. Along with making an invaluable contribution to numerous cross-cultural disciplines, the book also offers something special to those wishing to embark on their own faith developmental journey, guided by Gandhi's example. "Majmudar wants us to touch and feel Gandhi. He is not on a pedestal, he is not made of granite or bronze, he is warm and vulnerable." — from the Foreword by Rajmohan Gandhi

Short, easy-to-read essays revealing Gandhi’s most important teachings on love, meditation, service, and prayer—with profound wisdom and inspiration for readers of every faith. Mahatma Gandhi became famous as the leader of the Indian independence movement, but he called himself “a man of God disguised as a politician.” The Way to God demonstrates his enduring significance as a spiritual leader whose ideas offer insight and solace to seekers of every practice and persuasion. Collecting many of his most significant writings, the book explores the deep religious roots of Gandhi’s worldly accomplishments and reveals—in his own words—his intellectual, moral, and spiritual approaches to the divine. First published in India in 1971, the book is based on Gandhi’s lifetime experiments with truth and reveals the heart of his teachings. Gandhi’s aphoristic power, his ability to sum up complex ideas in a few authoritative strokes, shines through these pages. Individual chapters cover such topics as moral discipline, spiritual practice, spiritual experience, and much more. Gandhi’s guiding principles of selflessness, humility, service, active yet nonviolent resistance, and vegetarianism make his writings as timely today as when these writings first appeared. A foreword by Gandhi’s grandson Arun and an introduction by Michael Nagler add useful context.

The book explores the evolution of Gandhi's ideas, his attitudes toward religion, the racial problem, the caste system, his conflict with the British, his approach to Muslim separatism and the division of India, his attitude toward social and economic change, his doctrine of nonviolence, and other key issues.

Mahatma Gandhi, one of the greatest influencers in the world, was himself influenced by trailblazing thinkers and writers like Tolstoy, Ruskin, Thoreau, and others—each one contributing significantly to his moral and spiritual development. Yet only a few people know the most consequential person to have played a pivotal role in the making of the Mahatma: Shrimad Rajchandra. About the unparalleled influence of this person, Gandhi himself wrote: “I have met many a religious leader or teacher… and I must say that no one else ever made on me the impression that Raychandbhai did.” Uma Majmudar, digging deep into the original Gujarati writings of both Gandhi and Rajchandra, explores this important relationship and unfolds the unique impact of Rajchandra’s teachings and contributions upon Gandhi. The volume examines the contents and significance of their intimate spiritual discussions, letters, questions and answers. In this book, Dr. Majmudar brings to the forefront the scarcely known but critically important facts of how Rajchandra “molded Gandhi’s inner self, his character, his life, thoughts and actions.” This Jain zaveri (jeweller)-cum-spiritual seeker became Gandhi’s most trusted friend, as well as an exemplary mentor and “refuge in spiritual crisis.”

DIV In his Autobiography, Gandhi wrote, “What I want to achieve—what I have been striving and pining to achieve these thirty years—is self-realization, to see God face to face. . . . All that I do by way of speaking and writing, and all my ventures in the political field, are directed to this same end.” While hundreds of biographies and histories have been written about Gandhi (1869–1948), nearly all of them have focused on the political, social, or familial dimensions of his life. Very few, in recounting how Gandhi led his country to political freedom, have viewed his struggle primarily as a search for spiritual liberation. Shifting the focus to the understudied subject of Gandhi’s spiritual life, Arvind Sharma retells the story of Gandhi’s life through this lens. Illuminating unsuspected dimensions of Gandhi’s inner world and uncovering their surprising connections with his outward actions, Sharma explores the eclectic religious atmosphere in which Gandhi was raised, his belief in reincarnation, his conviction that morality and religion are synonymous, his attitudes toward tyranny and freedom, and, perhaps most important, the mysterious source of his power to establish new norms of human conduct. This book enlarges our understanding of one of history’s most profoundly influential figures, a man whose trust in the power of the soul helped liberate millions. /div