Jules: Any great wisdom to share?
Mr OWO: Sure. Here is some great wisdom from a great soul, Mahatma Gandhi. The word “Mahatma” comes from two root words, namely “Maha” (which means great) and “Atma” (which means soul).
Jules: All I remember was that he was a freedom fighter.
Mr OWO: Actually, your description of him as a ‘fighter” can be a bit misleading. Yes, he fought for the freedom of India but in a non-violent way. The fact that he succeeded goes to prove that there is great power in non-violence.
Jules: So what kind of wisdom did Gandhi share besides non-violence?
Mr OWO: Religious conflicts are the most common cause of violence in the world. We say that we are all children of (one) God but why are we fighting and killing each other in His name and with so many innocent lives lost? Gandhi provided a profound response to a militant Hindu who admitted to killing a Muslim child in revenge for the murder of his own son by militant Muslims. The militant Hindu was now prepared to lay down his weapon and did not want to carry the sin of his deed on his own death. Gandhi said to him when he came to Gandhi for advise was “You go back, find a Muslim child whose parents were killed by Hindus and bring him up strictly as a Muslim not a Hindu”
Jules: But wasn’t Gandhi a Hindu?
Mr OWO: Although Gandhi was a devout Hindu he also had great respect for all other religions. When asked whether he was a Hindu, he replied, “Yes, I am a Hindu but I am also a Muslim, Christian and a Jew.
Gandhi believed in the universality of God. He said that “….our inner most prayer should be for a Hindu to be a better Hindu, a Muslim a better Muslim, a Christian a better Christian.”
Jules: That is what I will be telling my children on their choice of a religion. That they can be anything they want but to be a better one.
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posted by the editor, May 15th, 2011 at 12:49 pm.