Gandhi HOME

Gandhi dedicated his life to discovering and pursuing truth, or Satya, and called his movement satyagraha, which means "appeal to, insistence on, or reliance on the Truth". The first formulation of the satyagraha as a political movement and principle occurred in 1920. He based Satyagraha on the Vedantic ideal of self-realization, ahimsa (nonviolence), vegetarianism, and universal love.

Gandhi's 10 principles

1. Change yourself.
 “If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him. … We need not wait to see what others do.”.

2. You are in control.
 “Nobody can hurt you without your permission.” “What you feel and how you react to something is always up to you.” “You can choose your own thoughts, reactions and emotions to pretty much everything.“

3. Forgive and let it go.
 “The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.” “An eye for eye only ends up making the whole world blind.”

4. Without action you aren’t going anywhere.
 “An ounce of practice is worth more than tons of preaching.” Without taking action very little will be done. However, taking action can be hard and difficult. There can be much inner resistance.

5. Take care of this moment.
 “I do not want to foresee the future. I am concerned with taking care of the present. God has given me no control over the moment following.”

6. Everyone is human.
 “I claim to be a simple individual liable to err like any other fellow mortal. I own, however, that I have humility enough to confess my errors and to retrace my steps.” “It is unwise to be too sure of one’s own wisdom. It is healthy to be reminded that the strongest might weaken and the wisest might err.”

7. Persist.
 “First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.”

8. See the good in people and help them.
 “Man becomes great exactly in the degree in which he works for the welfare of his fellow-men.” “I suppose leadership at one time meant muscles; but today it means getting along with people.” “I look only to the good qualities of men. Not being faultless myself, I won’t presume to probe into the faults of others.”

9. Be congruent, be authentic, be your true self.
 “Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.” “Always aim at complete harmony of thought and word and deed. Always aim at purifying your thoughts and everything will be well.”

10. Continue to grow and evolve.
 ”Constant development is the law of life, and a man who always tries to maintain his dogmas in order to appear consistent drives himself into a false position.”