Nature of Man

Freud:
man on the basis of their analysis of unconscious urged and
impulses
Other psychologist reduce man to some original and
native impulses, desires and emotions
Hobbes determine
man in terms of a social drive of a self-centered nature
Man is basically is conceived as a selfish individual who for
the sake of his pleasure fells the need of society
Enters upon a social contract
Other sociologist try to explain the nature of man
entirely in terms of social condition
 Man is essentially and basically a social creature
Apart from society he cannot even exist
Metaphysicians believes in discovering the common
and essential characters of man
Aristotle describes man as a rational animal
Humanists and Existentialists:
Every individual man is unique in his own way
Process certain characters that are peculiar to him alone
Existentialists:
no description of man can be adequate unless it gives due
regards to the particularities of man
 For Gandhi these pictures of man are superficial
Because they do not emphasize the basic truth about man
All such account of man are based on partial analysis of
mans external behavior and conduct
There is another aspect of man which is more or less
neglected or forgotten by psychologist
This represents the true nature of man
Man is a complex being
The bodily man is the apparent man
His body is natural in so far as it is akin to other object of
Nature
 Other aspect of man was neglected or forgotten by
psychologist
This represent the true nature of man
Man is a complex being
The bodily man is the apparent man
His body is natural in so far as it is akin to other object of
Nature
This aspect of man represents merely the physical
aspect
Man is not merely a physical being
He has many other characters which are not just
physical
 He has consciousness, reason, conscience, will,
emotion etc
He has aesthetic sense, a feeling sensibility
And insight into the nature of good and bad
These are not just physical activities
These are all expressions of the real man of the
spirit or the soul present in him
Metaphysical Conviction:
Gandhi was a monistic
He believes whatever we come across is an expression of
the one God
 Man, therefore is also an expression of that one reality
Both the bodily and the spiritual aspects of man are
expressions of God
Spiritual aspect of man represents mans superior and true
nature
Because it is akin to Divine nature
Every individual is a mixture of the bodily and the
spiritual
Initially the bodily and the physical aspects were
more predominant
The spiritual went on becoming more and more
prominent as the evolution process progressed
 Evolution is a change from physical to spiritual
Aiming ultimately at the complete realization of
spirituality, i.e., Divine
Thus, it is apparent that there is an element of
Divinity present in every man
This is expressed in various ways
presence of reason, conscience, free-will etc. is an
evidence of the presence of this element in man
If these Divine elements are used in right manner
man can bring heaven on this earth
 It is the essential goodness present in every man
Though outwardly man appears to be selfish and
even brutish, inwardly and essentially he is good
He says
I refuse to suspect human nature. It will, is bound to,
respond to any noble and friendly action.
This belief in the essential spirituality and
goodness of every man leads him to believe
further in the essential unity of mankind.
 He says:
I believe in absolute oneness of God and therefore
also of humanitythough we have many bodies, we
have but one soul. The rays of the sun are many
through refraction, but they have the same source.
This unity is expressed both in the life of an
individual and in social life
The spiritual law is working behind all kinds of
activities
Individual, social economic and political, and is in
fact running through and unifying them all.
 Gandhi believes in rebirth
He says, by believing in the possibility of rebirth one is
able to make adjustment with life
This belief enables man to loving, kind, moral and
benevolent even in the midst of bitter experiences of
jealousy, hatred and strife
Most often an individual tends to breakdown in the
face of all these
A belief in rebirth opens out before him new vistas and
new possibilities
He comes to realize that this world is not the end of
everything
 That acts done in this life have implications for future
life also
Evil and suffering experienced in this life are not finial
This realization enables man to face this life with
strength
Belief in rebirth goes side by side with Karma
Metaphysically speaking this law explains births and
formation of bodies
Our present life and body are on account of our past
Karmas
The law of Karma is also conceived as a moral law
 He says:
what an individual now is, is the effect of his actions his
habits of thinking, feeling, speaking and acting in the past
Individual by his own acts is going to make himself a
good man or an immoral man
Such a realization will create a sense of responsibility
in man
Gandhi's endeavors for Self-realization were through
strict observance of truth.
He molded his actions on the basis of truth, only the
truth that he perceived within.
 The word truth ordinarily connotes not to tell lies.
But for Gandhi it implied much more.
Even hiding the truth from someone was deemed
as untruth by him.
Defining truth he writes,
"The root of Satya [Truth] lies in Sat. Sat means 'Being'
and Satyathe feeling of the Being. Everything is
perishable except Sat. Therefore, the true name of God
is Sat, thereby implying Satya. So, instead of saying 'God
is Truth,' it is better to say 'Truth is God.' "
 A question may now arise whether the realization of
Truth and the realization of Self were one and the
same for him.
According to Ramana Maharishi, "What is Satya
except Self? Satya is that which is made of Sat.
Again Sat is nothing but Self.
So Gandhiji's Satya is only the Self."
It is now clear that what Gandhi meant by Truth
was in fact the realization of Self.
He writes,
"What I meant to achievewhat I have been
striving and pining to achieve these thirty yearsis
Self-realization, to see God face to face, to attain
Moksha [Salvation]."
 How to realize God is a complicated question.
The realization of God can be attained by purity of
mind and heart, and by Sadhana (constant
practice).
The Bhagavad Gita, the dialogue between Lord
Krishna and Arjuna in the epic Mahabharata, is
regarded as a sacred Hindu scripture and an
infallible guide of daily practice.
Gandhi held the Bhagavad Gita in high esteem.
He found an answer to the above question (of how
to realize God) in the GitaVairagya (non-
attachment) and Abhyasa Yoga (practice).
 Gandhi was born to serve humanity.
He was a householder living among people.
He was a practical man; he chose the path of
practice and the path of renunciation of the fruits
of action.
Absolute faith in God and surrender to His Will
became his object of observance (Niyama); and
the constant thought of the Truth, his practice
(Abhyasa Yoga).
His mind was always occupied with truth in all
walks of lifepersonal, social, or political.
 According to Gandhi, God and dharma are
inseparably linked, and both are combined with
moksha.
Religion and politics could not therefore be divided.
Dharma and moksha were social not individual
concepts.
In the Gita, Krishna is a friend who comes to Arjuna
in his time of distress.
This should be remembered when we read that for
Gandhi, Truth is God'.
Truth is no impersonal absolute nor a substitute for
God.
Truth clarifies what God meant when he used the
term.
It is also a source of power; hence his use of the
word satyagraha, truth force.
 Once he explained it thus:
Its root meaning is holding onto truth, hence truth-force.
I have also called it love-force or soul-force.
I subscribe to the belief or the philosophy that
all life is in essence one and that humans are
working consciously or unconsciously towards
the realisation of that identity. The belief
requires a living faith in a living God who is the
ultimate arbiter of our fate.
 Elsewhere he wrote:
Man's ultimate aim is the realisation of God, and
all his activities, social, political and religious
have to be guided by the ultimate aim of the
vision of God. The immediate service of all
human beings becomes a necessary part of the
endeavour, simply because the only way to find
God is to see him in his creation and be one with
it. This can only be done by service for all. I am
part and parcel of the whole, and I cannot find
him apart from the rest of humanity
 Buddhist teachers and Swami Vivekananda had
expressed the view that no one would obtain
moksha until the last one had achieved
liberation.
Gandhi shared the view that:
He is a true Vaishnava (devotee of Vishnu) who
feels the suffering of others as his own suffering.