Gandhi taught us not only with his words but also with his own life. The ‘non-violence’ was his maxim, but not only the only one. We discover 3 lessons that we should never forget.
There is little to say about Mahatma Gandhi. Known worldwide as the “Man with the perpetual smile”, this writer, politician, thinker and philosopher of Indian origin was characterized above all by defending a world without violence. He firmly believed in the goodness of the human being. Hence, he led a process of independence against the United Kingdom without shedding a drop of blood in a fratricidal war between both parties.
Unfortunately, Gandhi was assassinated in 1948, just after achieving sovereignty for his compatriots. And even though he left in a rather cruel way, his legacy and ideology are still very much alive. For this reason, we have decided to pay tribute to him by relating some of his most illustrious teachings that we can apply in our daily lives.
Always try to have solid arguments
His idea of always maintaining a peaceful and conciliatory attitude towards life did not just happen. Gandhi spent more than two decades learning about civil rights at the University of London. After this, he spent long periods traveling with the aim of knowing firsthand all the needs of the Indian people.
Gandhi was a curious being. He was always in dire need of obtaining every possible opinion and perspective before a pointless warfare broke out against the UK. He managed to have a much more accurate and objective view of reality.
And what reading can we get from this? Well, on many occasions out of mere pride, vanity or ego, we always tend to be above others. Even in the most banal aspects of our life. However, sometimes we do not realize that fleeing the conflict and putting ourselves a little in the place of the other can be the solution to the problem.
Empathy must be present in all people
Gandhi was a strong advocate of the idea that practically everyone can always agree and row in the same direction. This can only be achieved through empathy, a social skill that consists of putting yourself in the place of the other to understand their feelings and emotions. In this way, it will be possible to help you and therefore make you feel better in the short term.
What’s more, this Indian thinker instilled this idea in all corners of India. In his speeches, he made others see the importance of always putting oneself in the place of others since sooner or later we can see ourselves in the same situation. Thanks to this thought, Gandhi got other Indian thinkers of that time to “join” his dogma, something that made it much easier for him to carry out the entire independence process.
As a curious anecdote, Gandhi was able to empathize with politicians of the time who were in the “antipodes” of his pacifist and kind ideology. What’s more, Mahatma sent a letter to Adolf Hitler himself, always treating him in a very correct way, always calling him “- Dear Friend …” With these letters he did not seek anything other than to stop World War II, the greatest conflict in the entire history of humanity that unfortunately skewed the lives of more than 40 million people.
You have to have physical and mental strength
With more than 70 years just turned, one of the characteristics that most defined Gandhi was undoubtedly his physical strength. He was able to take long walks through all the cities of India. Stand for lengths in front of people so that your thinking and philosophy reach the maximum number of people. Despite his advanced age, he was even able to balance between two wooden logs that floated on the waters of the Ganges River.
To achieve all this, he always had a healthy and balanced diet in all kinds of nutrients. He never abused modern drugs or drugs. He thought his body was strong enough as his faith in man. And that therefore could heal and recover from any adversity.
These were some of the -so many- beliefs that Gandhi had during his long and intense life. Thanks to them, he managed to bring together millions of people from all over the world. These made his legacy endure to this day. Therefore, it does not hurt that we all try to apply them in our day to day. They will surely help us make everything go much better.
