Gandhi

A Spiritual Biography

Nonfiction, History, Asian, India, Biography & Memoir, Religious, Political
Cover of the book Gandhi by Arvind Sharma, Yale University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Arvind Sharma ISBN: 9780300187380
Publisher: Yale University Press Publication: July 30, 2013
Imprint: Yale University Press Language: English
Author: Arvind Sharma
ISBN: 9780300187380
Publisher: Yale University Press
Publication: July 30, 2013
Imprint: Yale University Press
Language: English

In his Autobiography, Gandhi wrote, “What I want to achieve—what I have been striving and pining to achieve these thirty years—is self-realization, to see God face to face. . . . All that I do by way of speaking and writing, and all my ventures in the political field, are directed to this same end.” While hundreds of biographies and histories have been written about Gandhi (1869–1948), nearly all of them have focused on the political, social, or familial dimensions of his life. Very few, in recounting how Gandhi led his country to political freedom, have viewed his struggle primarily as a search for spiritual liberation.

Shifting the focus to the understudied subject of Gandhi’s spiritual life, Arvind Sharma retells the story of Gandhi’s life through this lens. Illuminating unsuspected dimensions of Gandhi’s inner world and uncovering their surprising connections with his outward actions, Sharma explores the eclectic religious atmosphere in which Gandhi was raised, his belief in reincarnation, his conviction that morality and religion are synonymous, his attitudes toward tyranny and freedom, and, perhaps most important, the mysterious source of his power to establish new norms of human conduct. This book enlarges our understanding of one of history’s most profoundly influential figures, a man whose trust in the power of the soul helped liberate millions.

In his Autobiography, Gandhi wrote, “What I want to achieve—what I have been striving and pining to achieve these thirty years—is self-realization, to see God face to face. . . . All that I do by way of speaking and writing, and all my ventures in the political field, are directed to this same end.” While hundreds of biographies and histories have been written about Gandhi (1869–1948), nearly all of them have focused on the political, social, or familial dimensions of his life. Very few, in recounting how Gandhi led his country to political freedom, have viewed his struggle primarily as a search for spiritual liberation.

Shifting the focus to the understudied subject of Gandhi’s spiritual life, Arvind Sharma retells the story of Gandhi’s life through this lens. Illuminating unsuspected dimensions of Gandhi’s inner world and uncovering their surprising connections with his outward actions, Sharma explores the eclectic religious atmosphere in which Gandhi was raised, his belief in reincarnation, his conviction that morality and religion are synonymous, his attitudes toward tyranny and freedom, and, perhaps most important, the mysterious source of his power to establish new norms of human conduct. This book enlarges our understanding of one of history’s most profoundly influential figures, a man whose trust in the power of the soul helped liberate millions.

More books from Yale University Press

Cover of the book Why Conservation Is Failing and How It Can Regain Ground by Arvind Sharma
Cover of the book Marlborough's America by Arvind Sharma
Cover of the book On Democracy by Arvind Sharma
Cover of the book Reclaiming the Petition Clause: Seditious Libel, ',Offensive', Protest, and the Right to Petition the Government for a Redress of Grievances' by Arvind Sharma
Cover of the book Off Center by Arvind Sharma
Cover of the book Sex and the Office by Arvind Sharma
Cover of the book Disraeli by Arvind Sharma
Cover of the book Dispatches from Planet 3 by Arvind Sharma
Cover of the book George Santayana by Arvind Sharma
Cover of the book The Craving Mind by Arvind Sharma
Cover of the book Rome and Rhetoric: Shakespeare's Julius Caesar by Arvind Sharma
Cover of the book The Great Charles Dickens Scandal by Arvind Sharma
Cover of the book The Eighteen-Day Running Mate: McGovern, Eagleton, and a Campaign in Crisis by Arvind Sharma
Cover of the book The Ship of State by Arvind Sharma
Cover of the book The City of Tomorrow by Arvind Sharma
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy