Today is the sixty third Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi’s martyrdom; he brought freedom to the people of India. He is affectionately called Bapu and the father of the nation. I have always admired the title some one bestowed on him – “Mahatma”, the great soul. Indeed, he was one of the greatest souls of the last century along with Mother Teresa and Martin Luther King Jr, my inspirers.
He is my mentor and I think of him quite frequently. I have a special bonding with him, he was in my dream twice patting on my back and telling, “son you have work to do” and that has been an inspiration to me. Yes, much of my work on Pluralism is inspired by him. He was indeed an absolute pluralist.
I have found myself in gratitude when I discover that the Mahatma also has said the things that I write. One of the things I wrote was ” a good Hindu is a good Muslim, is a good Jews, is a good Christian and is a good Muslim” years later I found that Mahatma had written very similar to it. He was the pluralist of the last century. Pluralist is one who accepts the otherness of other and respects the God given uniqueness of each one of the fellow beings.
Its time for me to reflect on the life of Mahatma, MLK, my father and a father of my friend Mary Ann Thompson-Frenk who passed away 8 years ago today. May God inspire us to serve the humanity; there is peace and blessing in it.
My son Jeff and daughter in law Fern have paid their visit to Raj Ghat, marking Gandhi’s presence in India, and I am yet to do that, on my next trip, God willing.
The item is also published in my diary, my facebook companion – http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2011/01/mahatma-gandhi-today.html
Mike Ghouse, speaker, thinker and a writer offering pluralistic solution on issues of the day. Details at http://www.mikeghouse.net/