Gandhi is still a great teacher
Gandhi is still a great teacher
Saturday, 26 January 2008
India’s Republic Day
One important goal of authentic education (as opposed to indoctrination) is to equip young people with the knowledge, skills and attitudes required to create positive change in the world. Although Socrates claimed (rightly, I think) that we are never truly educated until we understand how little we know, I think another facet of education is appreciating that we need to be ourselves, we need to care about something that is much bigger than ourselves, and we need to give all we have - to practise ‘generosity of spirit’ as I like to express it.
In a similar vein, the great founder of Indian independence, Mahatma Gandhi, wrote:
True greatness in the world is not found set upon a hill for the vulgar crowd to see. On the contrary, my seventy years’ experience has taught me that the truly great are often those of whom and of whose greatness the world knows nothing during their lifetime.
I have been reflecting on Gandhi’s wisdom over the past couple of days. In part, this is because I have been in Mumbai, which was the final venue for my staff recruitment interviews, where Gandhi’s influence remains strong. Gandhi was, and still is, a model of humility and peaceful resolution of conflict. His wisdom has enduring value because he seldom spoke about transient matters. Some of his excellent words of wisdom can be seen HERE, HERE and HERE.
Of all Gandhi’s wisdom, I really admire the warnings contained in his “Seven Deadly Sins”. When asked about the characteristics that were most perilous for humanity, Gandhi identified seven things that could destroy us:
• wealth without work
• pleasure without conscience
• knowledge without character
• commerce without morality
• science without humanity
• worship without sacrifice
• politics without principles
I think there is enough wisdom in those seven points to make almost everyone agree with Socrates and appreciate just how much remains to be understood and put into practice by all of us!
A memorial to Gandhi in Mumbai, India