Week 1 -- Gandhi, the Man
“You must be the change you wish to see in the world.” – Mahatma Gandhi
Affirmation:
"Through the guidance and wisdom of Spirit, I am being transformed by the renewing of my mind. All obstacles and emotions are stepping stones to the realization and appreciation of my sacred humanness."
Study Questions - Gandhi the Man (Review in the book Gandhi the Man, the Foreword and Chapter 1, The Transformation, pages 5 - 38)
Gandhi is considered a great soul. What do you consider a great soul to be? Are you a great soul? Notes for discussion:
Gandhi made the choice to give up all he had to follow the Lord, (which he called his experiments in Truth); and he lived his life in love and service to all. (p. 35)
Through years of spiritual practices, Gandhi had transformed his consciousness by reducing his ego to zero, allowing him to be guided fully by Spirit in his thoughts, words and actions.
Asha Devi, a follower of Gandhi, in an interview with the BBC, commented that the secret of Gandhi - in three words - was “his great love” (p. 8)
In Gandhi, all human passions such as: fear, anger, greed, sexual desire, had been transformed into spiritual power – love in action. (p. 39)
If we think about becoming the change we want to see in the world, we start by noticing whether our thoughts, words and actions are positive or negative. Think of a situation in your life that you can turn around by being conscious of the positive or negative intentions and emotions behind it? What aspects of the situation cause you to NOT want to change it?
An aspect of Jesus’ teaching using parables is that one parable can illicit several teaching principles. The shortest parable attributed to Jesus was that of the leavened flour, Luke 13:20-21: “And again he said, ‘To what should I compare the kingdom of God? It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened.’” Discuss how this relates to our changing our own consciousness.