QUOTES FOR YOGINIS, PART III
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi

MAHATMA, also lovingly called "Bapu"
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Born at home:  October 2, 1869, Porbandar, Gujarat, India.
Assasinated:  January 30, 1948, New Delhi, India.
"Everything I learned about non-violence I learned in my marriage."


"Instead of training women to use a dagger, it is better to teach them to be fearless."


"Most importantly, do not allow men to treat you as sex toys made for the pleasure of
man.  Men will be able to liberate themselves only when they learn to look at women
with respect and dignity, as equal partners rather than sex pots."


"Literally speaking, ahimsa means non-violence.  But to me it has much higher,
infinitely higher meaning.  It means that you may not offend anybody; you may not
harbor uncharitable thought, even in connection with those who you consider your
enemies.  To one who follows this doctrine, there are no enemies.  A man who
believes in the efficacy of this doctrine finds in the ultimate stage,  when he is about
to reach the goal, the whole world at his feet."


"I have nothing new to teach the world.  Truth and non-violence are as old as the hills.
 All I have done is to try experiments in both on as vast a scale as I could."


"A "no" uttered from the deepest conviction is better and greater than a "yes" merely
uttered to please, or what is worse, to avoid trouble."


"Non-violence is the greatest weapon in the hands of humankind."


"I stress prayer because I believe in a higher power.  Birth is not just an accident.  
Each man has to reap the fruits of his karma.  It would be a good thing if we can think
of God throughout the day; but as this is not possible, we should remember God at
least for a few minutes daily.  If we do not express gratitude for the many bounties of
providence daily,  life ceases to have any meaning."


"Prayer has been the saving of my life.  Without it I should have been a lunatic long
ago."


"Prayer is not asking.  It is a longing of the soul.  It is daily admission of one's
weakness... It is better in prayer to have a heart without words, than words without a
heart."


"The power that pervades the universe is also present in the human heart.  The body
does not offer it any obstruction.  The obstruction is something of our own making, and
is removed by prayer."


"In all my trials - of a spiritual nature, as a lawyer, in conducting institutions, and in
politics - I can say that God saved me.  When every hope is gone, "when helpers fail
and comforts flee," I find that help arrives somehow, from I know not where.  
Supplication, worship, prayer are no superstition; they are acts more real than the acts
of eating, drinking, sitting or walking.  It is no exaggeration to say that they alone are
real, all else is unreal.  Prayer needs no speech.  It springs from the heart... and it must
be combined with the utmost humility."


"Our prayer is a heart search.  It is a reminder to ourselves that we are helpless
without God's support... Prayer is a call to humility.  It is a call to self-purification, to
inward search."


"I have talked of the necessity for prayer, and therethrough I have dealt with the
essence of prayer.  We are born to serve our fellow humans, and we cannot properly
do so unless we are wide awake. There is an eternal struggle raging in man's breast
between the powers of darkness and of light, and he who has not the anchor of prayer
to rely upon will be a victim to the powers of darkness... Take care of the vital thing
and other things will take care of themselves. Begin your day with prayer, and make it
so soulful that it may remain with you until the evening.  Close the day with prayer so
that you may have a peaceful night free from dreams & nightmares."


"I have philosophical reasons to advocate vegetarianism.  I believe that the animals
have spirits and souls also."


















Quotes from AUTOBIOGRAPHY and PRAYER by Mahatma Gandhi,  
and LEGACY OF LOVE by Arun Gandhi
Gandhi rubbing noses with little Narayan
Desai, son of his chief secretary  - today a
world leader in non-violence and author of
Gandhi: Through a Child's Eyes