| Awaken Bharata |
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| Books By David Frawley |
| THE IMPORTANCE OF KSHATRIYA DHARMA | |
| Yet
even if one accepts Gandhi's teachings as a necessary modern
reformation of an older more militant tradition, one cannot dismiss
alternative points of view within the fabric of the rich Hindu
tradition that is never defined by the teachings of any one person,
however great. Nor can one deny the spiritual greatness of yogis
like Aurobindo who did not embrace Gandhian non-violence.
It could be argued that Gandhi did not entirely understand the yogic principle of non- violence, a point that Aurobindo has made. Gandhi's non-violent resistance is not the same as the non-violence outlined in traditional texts like the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, which is not a form of resistance employed on a social level but a spiritual principle applied in individual sadhana. Gandhi put people, including himself, in situations where they would draw the violence of others upon themselves. This was done in order to make others feel guilty about the violence they were forced to perpetrate upon passive victims, so that their bad conscience would force them to change their ways. Such passive resistance is a political weapon - and can be a very useful one-as many groups throughout the world have learned since Gandhi. It was Gandhi's genius that he developed and learned how to effectively use non-violence in the political sphere. |
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