The Power of Non Violence: Mahatma Gandhi - Essay Example

The turning point arrived in the Indian freedom history in 1920 when the Non-Cooperation movement broke out against the British Empire. Main Body Gandhi was aware that the only way to remove the Brits from the Indian Territory was to have a mass movement which had a strange effect on the might of the Empire. He took the empire by surprise with the way he carried out his movement. “God is Truth. The way to truth lies through Ahimsa (Non-Violence)” Above is a quote made by Gandhi in the year of 1927.

In this statement, he is preaching the power of non-violence and is equating it to the level of truth. Along with claiming it as truth, Gandhi observes that only through non-violence can one achieve God and get closer to the almighty. Having said that, Gandhi also said that non-violence was the best way to live one’s life. He believed that peace can only be attained in the world if all people realize that violence corrupts the soul of the people. He was a philosopher and an ideologist who said that the best way to live your life is to respect your neighbor, have a love for your fellow beings and practice non-violence at all times.

However, one question has been frequently asked these days. The question is whether an individual can live life according to the principles laid down by Gandhi. We all know that those principles were apt for the time in which they were applied, but can we follow the same principles in the 21st century? To answer this question, let me dwell on certain aspects of life where we see that the grass is on the other side, to the surprise of many. In life, we face a lot of circumstances in which we are tempted to act violently.

But in hindsight, that violence has always been the weapon of the crude, of the brutal, the one who is not able to gauge his thoughts at the right moment. It is often said that violence is the weapon of the weak, and in life, if we were to act violently, it will only showcase how weak we have been to act in those situations. Obviously, during war violence is required, but we are not at war when we live our life. The aspect which needs to be understood is that if something wrong has happened to an individual, there are both violent and non-violent ways to react to it and make it fine.

However, the one who thinks in keeping mind all the perspectives and aspects of the situation would know that he can get away with enough by means of non-violence itself. Conclusion Gandhi believed in the theory of revenge but says that revenge needs to be carried out individually and does not need to be in the same manner as the harm done by the opposing party. There is no need to avenge something with violence if you have faced violence in your life. Gandhi was more of a spiritual leader than a freedom fighter and thought that in order to level up the spiritual aspect which then would level up the entire breed of their life; people need to follow the principle of non-violence strictly.

And that was the only way he thought that the people could have been elevated spiritually. Therefore, to conclude this essay, I would like to point out that in order to live your life, there is a possibility that you can live your life by following the strict means of non-violence.