Central Principles of Gandhi
Dr.Michael Sonnleitner
Gandhi was very consistent from the time in South Africa to the 1920s when he wrote his Autobiography “The Story of my experiments with truth”. Throughout the rest of his life, if there was a central principle for Gandhi it would be truth or Gandhi would say many times that truth is God. God is truth. Effectively truth is the central principle for Gandhi. Seeking truth and that might deserve a few minutes here. But we can elaborate upon it when we discuss Gandhi's worldview at a later point. Let us look at this. God is truth. Truth is God. Interchangeable. First, when Gandhi says truth is God, he says in a scientific way. It's a religious statement. And when he says God is truth, it's also a scientific statement. To put it very simply, Gandhi would appeal with his central principle of truth to both people who believed in God and also people who did not believe in God but who believed in science. One of the persons that I interviewed in India was Gora. Gora was one of the 30 persons I met during my visit in 1971. And Gora was an atheist. I asked, "Well, Gora, how is it that you're a disciple of Gandhi?" And Gora said, "Well, I asked Gandhi if I could stay with him at his ashram." Gandhi asked me, Gora, do you believe that there is a truth beyond current understanding that may also be beyond the five senses that is immutable, unchanging, do you believe that they can be scientifically explored and understood? Gora said, "Yes.” Gandhi said, "Well, then please stay with me as long as you like. As far as I'm concerned, I don't care if you believe in God because you believe in truth and truth seeking. Thus, truth is the essential principle for Gandhi using Gandhi's own words.
Truth is complicated. Truth is both absolute and not absolute at the same time. What? I'm confused. I'm sorry. But if you're not used to thinking in non-binary, non-dualistic ways, this is a challenge. Gandhi would say there is an absolute truth and that absolute truth is God. It is the sum total of all of the physical moral laws of the universe. It is the foundation of all life. It is the atman. It is the supreme soul. It is the ocean that our little soul within each of us seeks to reunite with . Truth is absolute. And then Gandhi would throw this strange curveball to us and say but I cannot fully understand it. In this life, we are all limited by our country of origin, our religion, our gender, our sexual preference, the time frame that we live in. We are all limited. We are like blind people. So Gandhi might say using a Buddhist and Jain story that imagine five, it could be six, it could be seven, Imagine five blind men and an elephant. One blind man touches the ear of the elephant and says, "The elephant is like a big banana leaf." Another blind person touches the leg and says, "No, no, no. The elephant is like a big tree trunk. “Another blind man touches the body and says, "No, you're both wrong. The elephant is like a big water tank." Another one says, "What's wrong with you people? I say by touching the tail that the elephant is like a rope." And you can see it goes on and on, Right? The point of this story of the blind people and the elephant is that they are all both wrong and right at the same time. They universalize what they are touching, what their experience is and say that is the elephant. But the elephant is a tail, an ear, a leg, a trunk, a body, all of these things. Yes. Gandhi's view is that we must as blind human beings be blinded by our backgrounds and our experiences to communicate with each other. And if we can communicate with each other, we can learn from each other and we can together begin to see the whole nature of the elephant. But Gandhi would say we are all blinded.
Let us have humility that we are all blind. We are part of the truth and it is good and we must hold firm to that part of the truth as we see it. But if we must also learn from one another so that we can see the whole elephant, the whole truth more effectively. In fact, I would say that probably Gandhi's primary principle that we must believe that absolute truth exists but have the humility to admit that our own truth is relative and incomplete. And the purpose of life is to learn the truth. The purpose of life, if you will, is to find out who you are in relation to other people and the entire world of life. That’s your purpose. And if you can become enlightened, for Gandhi, that is moksha. That is liberation, self-realization. It’s an ending of the cycles of reincarnation because you will merge your drop of water back into the ocean. Well, Gandhi, how do we get to understand the truth? Well, Gandhi would say, well, it is complicated.
There is a second principle that is central and that is the only way to seek truth is through nonviolence. Gandhi would describe it as ahimsa or non-injury harmlessness. The other blind people will not want to communicate with you if you are threatening them. Truth is the first casualty of war to be just pragmatic. Your own spiritual growth and your own understanding of reality, whether that's an elephant or politics in the United States, it all depends upon communication. And if others are afraid of you because you are violent or threatening, they will not communicate with you and you become a spiritual loser. You cannot benefit from what part of the elephant they are touching. So, for Gandhi nonviolence is the only means to seeking to understand truth which is the goal of life, the ultimate reality.
Well, the third and last principle is voluntary suffering and we will discuss more details later. Gandhi has a trinity, truth, nonviolence and voluntary suffering. Third one is the hardest one for people of western dualistic mentalities to understand and accept. Gandhi would describe it as tapas or voluntary sacrifice or suffering. For Gandhi again it is very practical. If you are going to seek truth and seek to listen to people who do not agree with you, practicing nonviolence you must be willing to suffer. If you love those who do not love you, you will suffer. It is just practical. You will suffer. It is a consequence of loving others who do not love you. It is your suffering that gives power to you and that opens the way to communication which will allow you to understand truth more effectively. So, there is a trinity for Gandhi truth, nonviolence and voluntary suffering or in Gandhi’s words Satya, Ahimsa and Tapas. If you are of a Christian background as being father, son and holy spirit . It also corresponds to the Hindu framework of Brahma , Vishnu and Shiva, the creator, maintainer and destroyer. I find it very fascinating. We will discuss these more carefully in future.
Michael Sonnleitner
Oregon, USA
October 4, 2025
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