This biography is Easwaran’s compelling account of Gandhi’s life and spiritual path, his personal transformation and teachings. Eknath Easwaran grew up in India and was deeply influenced by the way Gandhi brought spiritual values into daily living. His biography is an unusually personal story, for Easwaran focuses not on Gandhi’s politics but on the way he lived, and on the lasting lessons he has for all of us. Gandhi’s message is especially important today for anyone who wants to follow his example in transforming anger into compassion, fear into fearlessness, and hatred into love.
In 1893 Mohandas Gandhi left India for South Africa as a shy, tongue-tied, very average young man of twenty-three, whose past was full of failure. Ten years later, called a saint even by those who opposed him, he was the leader of 100,000 people in a remarkable war without violence. He returned to India as Mahatma, a “great soul” and became the acknowledged leader of 400 million Indians in their struggle for independence.
In this lively reading, actor Paul Bazely gives voices to the rich cast of characters. The British lawyers and administrators with their clipped English accents, Gandhi’s patient wife Kasturbai, his faithful secretary Mahadev Desai, the young Nehru and his father – all these, and above all Gandhi himself, come movingly to life to inspire us.
“I have not the shadow of a doubt,” Gandhi wrote, “that any man or woman can achieve what I have, if he or she would make the same effort and cultivate the same hope and faith.”
British-based Paul Bazely has worked in film, TV, theatre, and radio, for many companies including the BBC and the Royal National Theatre. His family is originally from India, and he has been an avid reader of Easwaran’s books for many years.