This is the story of Gandhi’s spiritual evolution – the turning points and choices that made him not just a great political leader but also a timeless icon of nonviolence.

Eknath Easwaran grew up in India and witnessed how Gandhi inspired people of all races, backgrounds, and religions to turn anger into compassion and hatred into love.

How had Gandhi transformed himself from an ineffective young lawyer into the Mahatma, the “great soul” who led 400 million ordinary men and women in their nonviolent struggle for independence? To find out, Easwaran visited Gandhi’s ashram and watched the Mahatma absorbed in meditation on the Bhagavad Gita – the wellspring of Gandhi’s spiritual strength.

Easwaran, a leading authority on the Bhagavad Gita and on spiritual living, explains the principles underlying Gandhi’s nonviolence. He highlights how we can all use Gandhi’s teachings to make our families, workplaces, and communities more peaceful in the world today.

A portrait of the great Indian leader seeks to uncover the personal and spiritual qualities which shaped Gandhi's life and made him the charismatic leader of millions.

This is a very good book. I read the Kindle version and the formatting is a little messed up in some places, but I won't hold that against them. What's important is the content. The book is broken into two sections, a biographical section and then a section devoted to explaining what satyagraha is and how to apply it to politics and home life. The book is a short, succinct introduction to Gandhi, his message, and what that message means. I wish I'd read this before reading "The Essential Gandhi" and "Non-Violent Resistance (Satyagraha)". It would have helped me to better understand the material without having to constantly stop to let the wheels in my head spin to grasp the situation and meaning. Or then, maybe it was better that I didn't read this first? Maybe the message will sink in better having reflected on it.

If you've been putting off reading Gandhi's work, this is a great place to start. There's not much primary source material (his actual writings)here, but it will give you a taste of what you might find in other books of his writings. ( )

jB

Reprinted 1978.

I hated this book. I had to read it for a class. The only good thing about it is there were lots of pictures and quotes so it was easier to read.

Great introduction to an amazing man. While not an in-depth biography, the book captures the essence of who Gandhi was. I would recommend this to anyone that was looking to get a brief look into Gandhi's life. ( )

A fine introduction to Gandhi if the far superior Experiments with Truth is too much to take on. Also try the Essential Gandhi for a great collection. ( )

Nilgiri Press has produced a high quality book in "Gandhi the man: How one man changed himself to change the world" by Eknath Easwaran. Easwaran is a well-known writer who came under the influence of Gandhi while a student. He has also written well about the Gita, the Upanishads, and is known for teaching and writing about meditation, especially passage meditation. In this book, Easwaran, describes in a idiosyncratic, yet, illuminating way, various facets of Gandhi's life. Inevitably, he frequently quotes the Gita, its ideals, and describes how Gandhi, in his view, clearly epitomized those ideals.
"The second chapter of the Bhagavad Gita ends with a description of the highest state of human consciousness a human being can attain. It is the fullest expression of the Gita ideal. ....
They live in wisdom Who
...Not agitated by grief or ...pleasure
They life free from lust and fear and anger....
They are not elated by good fortune
Nor depressed by bad. "
Easwaran continues "These are the verses which summarize Gandhi's life. For more than fifty years he meditated on them morning and night and devoted all his effort to translating them... into his daily action. They are the key to his self-transformation"
Two aspects of this publication stand out. One, more than seventy black and white photographs, many of them page-size, and a few double spreads. The book, per the acknowledgement section, grew from an exhibition of photographs honoring Gandhi at U C Berkeley, in 1969, his centenary. For this edition Nilgiri Press is using restored images licensed by the GandhiServe Foundation in Berlin,Germany the largest photo archive of Indian Independence movement extant.
Two, throughout the book, there are quotations from Gandhi, giving the reader unique insight into the quiet humor, the steely determination, the indomitable will, the adherence to non-violent resistance of the man. Easwaran adds his personal observation of Gandhi frozen in meditation at evening prayer, of Gandhi's speed and energy in walking. Easwaran was there at the time of the salt satyagraha " to break a statute that made the sale and manufacture of salt a government monopoly ".
"The salt march provided brilliant theater. Gandhi and his small band of volunteers took fourteen days to reach the sea, stopping at every village along the way and making headlines....When he picked up a handful of salt from the beach and raised it as a signal to the rest of India, ....the country simply exploded in utterly nonviolent disobedience of British law."
The narrative is hardly linear, it traces back to Gandhi's South Africa lawyer days and his well-known struggles and triumphs on behalf of peoples there. His cryptic prophecy to the racist General Smuts that he would prevail, was also fulfilled. Later, Smuts acknowledged as much, humorously. Lest it should be thought that the book is a hagiography, it points out that a young Mohandas Gandhi before leaving for South Africa, a freshly minted lawyer, did not have great success in the courts of Bombay and even drew some derision from colleagues. He was sponsored for the voyage.
Easwaran quotes Mahadev Desai, gandhi's secretary who was asked in amazement by Londoners as to how Gandhi held forth on behalf of Indians at the Round Table Conference for over two hours without prepared notes. Desai is said to have replied that it is because of Gandhi's singleness of mind. He did not feel one thing and say another. Easwaran develops on this point, talking about yoga, and he goes on to remark on the absence of fear and a peace that permeated the Gandhi ashram.
An appendix ("Chronology,Maps, and Notes") contains a timeline of key events, a map of pre-independence India, and a few short articles titled Ahimsa, Satyagraha, Satyagraha Today, round out the book.
There is plenty for everyone in this 2011 fourth edition, but the rare restored photos alone make this one a keeper.

This review is of the fourth edition of this book.

This new edition is a beautiful, full-color publication which includes a new chapter and ending chronology. The new chapter is a write-up of personal reflections by the author of Ghandi's influence, both on the author and, by association, Indians of his generation. The additional chronology provides a quick but detailed overview of the events mentioned in the text of the book.

The book provides a cursory sketch of Ghandi's life. It is more concerned with various tenets of Ghandi's philosophy and basic outlines of their origins than Ghandi's personal narrative. There is virtually no discussion of his familial life---only that he honored and cherished his wife's life-example. His children are brief notes.

The book does explore the major events that mark his path as an international figure. The excellent afterward summarizes the philosophical and religious elements of Ghandi's teachings and how they can be applied to political and domestic spheres.

Owners of the most recent previous editions will most likely not find the additional material worth the purchases price. Those readers who are very familiar with Ghandi's life and philosophy will find little new in this book. However, for those who are at the beginning of their journey learning about and understanding this incredible figure, this beautiful, photograph-filled book is a nice way to begin. ( )

This book is a good starting point for anyone interested in Gandhi. It's an overview of his spiritual career, from the brief period as a lawyer to the incredible man the world knows him as. Focusing on the impact the Bhagavad Gita made on his life. Excellent pictures throughout and timeline at the back. ( )

This book should not be considered as an in-depth analysis of Gandhi the man. It is quite brief and has more pages with pictures than with text. Still, it is an excellent primer on Gandhi for those who are looking for a brief introduction or for those who are looking for a light read on an extraordinary man. ( )

I highly recommend this book if you're interested in Ghandi. It is short and to the point, avoiding the 500 pages of useless details that accompany many biographies. It is easy to read, which is helpful since I didn't know much about Ghandi before reading this book. It also has lots of great photos! ( )

This is a nice introduction to the man and his work. Books on Gandhi usually go either spiritual or political and this one definitely goes in to the spiritual camp. It almost reads like a Hindu devotional, somewhat like the Catholic Lives of the Saints.

I would give recommend this to someone who has little or not knowledge of Gandhi. It would make an excellent introduction. ( )

I came to this book rather sheepishly knowing, in only the most general ways, about Gandhi. Of course, I've read quotations. I've heard him referenced. But I had never taken the time to explore further.

This was a wonderful introduction. An easy read. Lots of pictures. And in fact, it's really three books: the first is an admiring portrait by Eknath Easwaran. He brilliantly ties the biographical to the Bhagavad Gita--of which he is a leading translator and interpreter. Part two is a timeline of Gandhi's life and the world politics that help frame his work in a historical context. In some ways, I wish I had read this section first.

The final section is an essay that delves more deeply into the principles that were at the core of Gandhi's life--those we interpret as non-violence (ahimsa and satyagraha). Taking these techniques into daily life at home and work again further enlightens the reader.

I'm still left with questions about how this little, rather unsuccessful, man transformed into one of the most reknowned and beloved figures in recent history. I look around my life and try to imagine how it would work today vs a century ago.

So the book was successful. It made me reflective. Perhaps a bit more tolerant. And curious. I want to know more. I'm eager to share this book with friends and hope that it starts a great dialog. ( )

Honest about Gandhi's early failing and failures, but unwaveringly admiring about his later career, tho9ugh I have seen criticisms elsewhere that toward the end Gandhi was ineffective. Plainly sees Gandhi as a valuable moral guide for today and assumes a non-violent solution can always be effective (if correctly pursied). Frankly, I am sceptical. ( )

Here is a book that I found clear, simple, and profound. A winning combination of abundant photographs, fundamental and thoughtful quotes, narrative insights of an exemplary man, and definitive essays of important concepts (afterword), this delightful book imparts a deeper understanding of the truth and efficacy of non-violence as a way of life. It points to the “how” of approaching and walking this path. Written for everyone, there are no complex philosophies that transcend human understanding. The focus is on recognition of injustice, the non-violent approach to conflict resolution, and immersion in service to all mankind without prejudice or condemnation. Yes, Gandhi was an amazing man, but he maintained that it is within every person’s ability to achieve the same results by following his example. His personal resource for inner strength came from the “Bhagavad Gita” but he did not exclude the value of other religions.

A non-violent approach to supporting truth and resolving differences is “as old as the hills” and should begin within the family, according to Gandhi. He also maintained that what works in intimate circumstances is just as valid and effective worldwide. Non-violence is not passive or weak but requires much personal strength and fearlessness to stand firm and defend truth.
“It is easy, Gandhi used to say, for the strong person to become non-violent. It is the weakling who finds it impossible. For non-violence means the capacity to love those who hate you, to show patience and understanding in the face of the most fiery opposition. This is the most difficult discipline one can learn in life…”

It is becoming clear that violence does not work in the long run. Any good results through evil means are short term. If Gandhi was involved in an event that was tending toward violence due to over-zealousness, he immediately called it off – even if winning. He said “I do not believe in short-violent-cuts to success… However much I may sympathize with and admire worthy motives, I am an uncompromising opponent of violent methods even to serve the noblest of causes… Experience convinces me that permanent good can never be the outcome of untruth and violence.”

This book is relatively short (207 pages) and easy to read, yet it is a treasure. It may lead you to re-assess or re-affirm your own thinking on how to love, respect, defend, serve, resolve conflict, and find truth – that which is and cannot be changed. Highly recommended. ( )

I read this book knowing very little about Gandhi, but came out of it feeling like I had learned so much about him. I always love the idea of approaching someone by learning what inspires and motivates them, and that is the focus of Easwaran's account of Gandhi's life. He examines Gandhi's love for the Bhagavad Gita, which he used as inspiration to develop satyagraha and as a manual for living daily life. The book is filled with pictures of and quotes from Gandhi, some very lovely. If anything, I'd have liked more account of his daily spiritual life; I feel like I got only the smallest taste. Easwaran's writing is breezy and captures from the beginning, and his insight into the character of Gandhi shows throughout the whole book. ( )

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi is considered the greatest man of his age, and his influence has been far reaching in many realms. In Gandhi the Man; How One Man Changed Himself to Change the World, Eknath Easwaran ponders the question of how a seemingly ordinary person managed to transform himself and become such a powerful person that he influenced millions of people, changed politics, and made friends out of enemies.

This book, originally published in 1972, has just been reissued in a new edition printed on high-quality paper. It includes a new introduction by Eknath Easwaran that has been compiled from transcripts, 70 digitally restored photographs from the GhandhiServe archive, and a new detailed chronology of Gandhi’s life and times with maps and background notes. There is also an Afterword entitled “How Nonviolence Works” by Timothy Flinders that service-oriented people will find of practical interest in their own work.

The author, born in 1910, grew up in India during the years when Gandhi was just beginning to make his impact in South Africa and India through his program of nonviolent resistance (satyagraha). Easwaran studied to become a teacher and was the head of the English Department at the University of Nagpur. In 1959 he moved to the United States and founded the Blue Mountain Center of Meditation in 1961. As a deeply spiritual person, the author has written many books on spiritual topics such as meditation, the Bhagavad Gita and the Katha Upanishad. This book is a testament to Gandhi’s vivid impact on Easwaran’s life and the inspiration of his own spiritual evolution.

Easwaran’s writing easily holds the reader’s interest as he details important milestones and influences in Gandhi’s life, such as his early years of repeated failure in school and in his attempts to establish a career – first in India, then in South Africa. It was while Gandhi was in South Africa that he realized the futility of his fruitless attempts to change his outer circumstances, and thus he discovered the path of transforming his life by changing his inner circumstances. He learned to look on every difficulty as an opportunity for selfless service rather than as a way to gain personal profit or recognition. With each personal challenge he learned to draw on previously unrealized resources of intelligence and imagination, and each success led to further selfless service on ever-larger scales of endeavor.

Gandhi gave his secret of life in three words: “Renounce and enjoy.” He said that the Bhagavad Gita, the most important book in his life, is a commentary on these three words. The author posits, “If we can understand the Bhagavad Gita as a manual for daily living, we can understand Gandhi.” In particular, Gandhi has said that the last 18 verses of the Second Chapter of the Gita “give in a nutshell the secret of the art of living.”

Easwaran likened Gandhi to “an immense spiritual force barely contained in a physical form.” And when this force was released, via an act of will and through the fusion of his emotional desires with his physical drive and mental intelligence, it became a force that would never die and that “awakens again wherever a person or a community or a nation turns to nonviolence with all its strength and all its will.”

Gandhi the Man is an inspirational read for everyone who is attempting to transform their lives, to discover and empower their unique avenue of service. It reaffirms the difference that one person can make in the world, no matter their circumstances. ( )

In its simplicity, this book is profound. Commemorating an exhibit of photos and quotes, and interspersed with commentary by Eknath Easwaran, this brief collection goes straight to the heart of Gandhi's philosophy and shocks the Western reader with the enormity of his vision, perseverance and success. Gandhi's observation of the limits of violence as a tool for social change, as well contemplation of the lessons in the Bhagavad Gita, led him to renounce personal gain and devote his life to the poor and oppressed, by living their life and by applying non-violence to every corner of his life, thought and action, whether in political, social or private matters. His belief in the power of refusal to submit to unfair laws, coupled with a willingness to suffer the consequences without anger or violence, broke the governments of South Africa and colonial India. He and his followers simply wore them out.

Easwaran was a beloved teacher of passage meditation, as well as an interpreter of Indian writings. His organization, Blue Mountain Center of Meditation in California, continues to publish his books under the Nilgiri Press imprint. This is the 4th edition of "Gandhi the Man", and includes essays on Ahimsa and Satyagraha, a detailed chronology, maps, many photos, an index, and a bibliography and reading list.

Very highly recommended to anyone with an interest in Gandhi, India, British South Africa, passive resistance, Hinduism, or meditation. I will go back to it many times, even just to browse the quotes, which are fodder for years of contemplation. What a gift this book has been. ( )

This is an excellent introduction to Gandhi by a man uniquely qualified to interpret his achievements to a new audience. Easwaran attempts to explain what made Gandhi such a towering figure human history, and for the most part he succeeds. Taking both an historical and psychological/spiritual approach, Easwaran demonstrates that it is only by addressing the most basic and fundamental struggles of human existence with honesty and integrity that one can achieve greatness. Gandhi's legacy is perhaps more relevant and universal today in that he wrestled with the two most pressing problems facing the human race: conflict and consumerism. Easwaran guides the reader through Gandhi's personal development and the practical implications of his evolving understanding, both personal and political. While pointing out the simplicity of Gandhi's discoveries, one is never left with the impression that Gandhi was a naive or simplistic man. In fact, Easwaran implicitly challenges his readers to undertake the same simple, yet demanding path that Gandhi proved to be within the reach of all who were willing.

The pictures and quotes that are scattered judiciously throughout the book make it a joy to read. While the timeline provided toward the end of the book is helpful, it suffers from a faulty design that makes reading it more difficult that it should be. In all, Nilgiri Press should be commended for releasing this new edition. ( )

It is strange to read a book like this. It is not so much a biography as it is a spiritual explanation of a man who is so very familiar to history and yet is so different from others. It contains beautiful photos and is physically a very beautiful book. It is a reissue of a book written by an Indian spiritualist several decades ago.

I say it felt strange to read this book because it was like deja vu. I felt I already knew the person who was the subject of the book. His ideas are powerful, but they are not complicated. In fact, it's really their simplicity that makes them so powerful. The one thing I wonder about when I read a book like this is, why are there not more people out there who are like Gandhi? And perhaps the answer is, most of us are just too complicated. It's very difficult to realize and live by the idea that life is actually very simple, that we are just put on this earth to love God and each other.

The book is a treasure, with its photos, insets, timelines and creamy thick paper. It makes me smile through tears to read about the things Gandhi said - which were often very funny. His wit is all the more funny because it is not cruel. It contains love within it, love and a sort of wry appreciation of human error and potential.

I recommend the book and recommend that it not just sit elegantly on a shelf or a coffee table but that it be read. ( )

Most everyone, young or old, has heard of Mahatma Gandhi in one context or another.... leader, saint, peacenik, inspiration. But not everyone really knows who he was or why a man who died over sixty years ago is still so revered today in so many walks of life. And how he became the spiritual colossus we know today. The small, smiling man dressed in only a dhoti and sandals, devoted to the principles of non-violence, was the instrument behind the liberation of India from the British Raj and the force behind many of the "peace" movements in history... the recent ouster of Mubarak in Egypt by peaceful protest is an apt example. The ideas Gandhi espoused still burn brightly.

Gandhi The Man by Ehnath Easwaran is a small jewel of a book that will introduce the reader to this man and his principles. Ghandi believed in two things: ahimsa and satyagraha. Ahimsa is non-violence as a way to truth and sathyagraha is "an attitude, an interior condition of nonviolent love which frames our relationship with the rest of humanity." Gandhi believed that if one acted from a basis in truth and love and caused no harm, even to one's enemies, then one must prevail.

This book is an introduction to Mohandas K. Gandhi who became Mahatma Gandhi, the Great Soul. It is beautifully designed. Early photographs of Gandhi, and his family and friends, are interspersed with his quotes and a narrative by the author, Easwaran. It briefly covers Gandhi's life from boyhood to old age and to his assasination. It is not a comprehensive biography, but more like a loving handshake. It offers many points of departure for a more intensive study of Gandhi and the sources of his philosophy, mainly rooted in the Bhagavad Gita.

Everyone, regardless of their religious persuasion, should have this book in their library... it is quieting and inspiring. ( )

Here is a wonderful book about an AMAZING man! This unique and informative look into the life of Gandhi is not a biography in the normal use of the word, but it does do all that a biography sets out to do; it shows how he became the man he was, what important events he played a role in, and how he changed the world, but it is presented in a new and fascinating manner that makes it much more accessible.
Along with information about where Gandhi was born and other life events this book contains quotations about and from this brilliant man as well as many pictures which help visualize the revolutionary times that this man had such an impact on. Definitely worth a browse! ( )

When I was growing up, a boy in the backwoods of Tennessee, USA, Gandhi was a Name in the News. As a youngster I never knew for sure about Mohandas and Mahatma – which was his name and which his title. And then, long before I was grown, he became an Icon. Emblazoned on the mind of the world: a skinny little man, dark, wrinkled but sturdy, bright eyes, bald, barefoot, clad only in a dhoti (loincloth) and perhaps a shawl, made of khadi, a cloth he had spun himself. Along with Einstein and Freud, Gandhi embodied twentieth-century reality: Einstein gave us a new vision of matter, a whole new physical reality; Freud gave us a new vision of mind, a whole new psychological reality; and Gandhi gave us our soul, a lasting vision of the human spirit. As Legend and Lore, as martyred saint, he inspired us and uplifted us. We saw – and heard – him reincarnated in the body and voice of Martin Luther King, in the US uprising called the Civil Rights Movement. He rode our buses with us, sat in our lunchrooms, marched into Selma, raised his arms in front of thousands, declaiming, “We have a dream . . . .” As if at his funeral pyre once again, we sang, “We shall overcome, we shall overcome some day. Deep in my heart I do believe we shall overcome some day.”

Years later, a father now, a teacher, a mature professional, overworked and under stress, I found a paperback book with the bespectacled icon on the cover: Freedom at Midnight by Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierren, (Avon 1976, c1975), nearly six hundred pages of tiny print, a gripping story of the first year of Indian/Pakistani independence and the last year of Gandhi’s life on earth. He rose above the melee, a towering Hero. I felt, at last, that I knew him as a mortal man. It was as if we all could tell the time of day with the $1 pocket watch that swung from his handmade dhoti. I had revered him, a god among men; now I could love him, admire him, be touched by him. The Mahatma, born Mohandas K., was forever and always simply Gandhi.

So when I found a fresh, new copy of Gandhi the Man by Eknath Easwaran (Nilgiri Press, 2011, 4th ed) in my mailbox yesterday, I was pleased. It doesn’t seem fair to begin a review of a book of such spiritual dimensions by describing it as an artifact. But I’m one who loves the feel of a good book in my hands, whose eyes need to see it as a work of art in its shape and form and texture, whose vision is nourished by its design – the typography, the white space, the surface of the paper, the strength and elegance of its cover and binding, the thoughtful use and placement of illustrations, the tasteful, discreet use of color and/or other flourishes. When I sat in the breezy sunlight of our front porch and opened the package, instantly I knew that this book had a rightness to it. The book as artifact, indeed, exhibited a presence worthy of its text and its message.

Actually, the book is three books in one. First, it is a gallery of photographs, selected for an exhibition at the University of California, Berkeley, in 1969, honoring the centenary of Gandhi’s birth. For this current edition of the book, the photos have been digitally enhanced so that it’s as if one is walking among life-size images of the master himself, in black and white, of course, walking, sitting, smiling, meditating, suffering, in intimate conversation with family and friends, before thronging multitudes, with distinguished leaders, with clamoring “untouchables.” It’s those eyes, bright, shining, perceptive, penetrating – from childhood on, even in his years as a young British dandy, as an awkward attorney on the brink of failure, and in the years of his historic leadership, as the center of news, at the peak of distinction, it’s those dark, skinny legs and the white dhoti and shawl, and that penetrating gaze. Even without the simple captions in small, inconspicuous print accompanying each photograph, as helpful as they are, the gallery alone speaks volumes. Here is the man – the young man, shy and charming, the man he became, the elderly man, wise and sturdy.

Second, the book is a collection of quotations from Gandhi’s own writings, printed in italic and placed quite appropriately within the text, close to the photographs. I understand that they are quotations that were used in the centenary exhibit. Whatever, they are like scriptures scattered among the pages, representing the Mahatma’s ideas and ideals, clarifying the nature and depth of his influence. And once again, I must pay tribute to the design. Such quotations are usually set aside – in sidebars or shadowed boxes, in smaller print, indented or separated from the body of the text. Not so in this edition. The design makes clear that the words of the master are highlights, not to be missed. The quotation marks, printed in a subtle brown, larger than the type, provide the only touch of color on most pages. The body of the text is indented, not the quotations, and the quotations are placed within the text so that one is reading one and then the other with no sense of interruption or discontinuity. The quotations illustrate the ideas being developed in the text, just as the photographs keep the man at the center of our vision and bring his image to life with his words. It’s as if one actually hears his voice, echoing across the years, the space, the barriers of language and circumstances, the bar of death itself. White space used judiciously around the quotations and within the text encourages calm thoughtfulness. Let me give just one example. On p. 114, a single quotation stands alone on pure white paper:

“Strength of numbers is the delight of the timid.
The valiant in spirit glory in fighting alone.”

On the opposite page is a full-page photograph of Gandhi walking alone, along a rough path in the country, his bald pate, his skinny legs, his white dhoti and shawl, a long white walking pole, his feet in simple sandals, his head bowed as if he might be reciting his mantra, “Rama, Rama.” These two pages are placed in the text between two paragraphs: the one on the preceding page says, “Though in his seventies he went straight to the heart of the violence and walked barefoot through the remote ravaged villages of Bihar state and Noakhali as a one-man force for peace, dependent even for his food on the mercy of his enemies.” The following page adds, “He walked, worked, wrote, and spoke sixteen to twenty hours a day. Everywhere he went, by his personal example, he dissolved barriers erected by religious customs, superstition, and mistrust.”

Third, the book is the biography, actually a hagiography, based on personal memory, written by Eknath Easwaran. In my eagerness to respond, I am writing this review too soon. For Easwaran’s work requires (and will reward) rereading and rereading again. It’s packed. So my comments henceforth are tentative first impressions. However, I must say immediately that, as dense as the text may be, it reads quickly and easily. Among the lofty truths, just as one is about to say, “Hold on a minute, I need to go back and get this straight in my mind” – just at this point, the author will provide an illuminating anecdote, a little story or a specific example, that steadies us and keeps us striding confidently along, not trudging or plodding, but maintaining an even pace.

For instance, on p. 116, just following the packed sentences I quoted, there is the story, recounted in just five sentences, of a fierce agitator who attempts to choke the life out of Gandhi, but instead is overwhelmed by the Mahatma’s courage and sense of love and falls sobbing at his feet. The anecdote concludes, in the fifth simple sentence, “For those who watched, it seemed a miracle.” The text proceeds matter-of-factly that Gandhi had grown used to such “miracles,” and then moves into a profound quotation from Buddha: “Hatred does not cease by hatred at any time; hatred ceases by love. This is an unalterable law.” The very next page has a photograph of Gandhi and company crossing a very rickety-looking bridge “after communal rioting” in Bengal, with two quotations standing out against white space. The second one contends, “Devotion is not mere lip-worship, it is wrestling with death.”

This example is not unusual, but in fact is one that I chose quite randomly, simply by letting the book fall open itself and using what I found there. It is a fairly typical set of passages, showing the careful design of the book, managing the interconnections among text, photographs, and quotations as a composer manages the strings, winds, and percussion instruments in an orchestra.

Now, to be quite candid, if I had chanced upon Easwaran’s text without the photographs and Gandhi quotations, I am not sure whether I would have understood it as well or be eager to reread it. Because it deals with the master’s lofty ideals, it tends to soar off into an etherium on occasion. In defining terms like satyagraha and ahimsa, the author relies largely on abstractions and generalizations. There are not many detailed explanations; the concrete examples are anecdotal, few and brief. Because I was expecting a biography, I kept longing for more biographical detail. I wonder, for example, whether Easwaran was influenced in the development of his “passage meditation” by Gandhi’s practice (for example, his meditation on the second chapter of the Bhagvad-Gota, or did he find in the Mahatma sterling confirmation of the exercise he was already practicing? I guess what I’m saying is that I needed more: I kept wishing for my own one-on-one conversation with the writer. But what I also need to say is that Easwaran’s writing itself is spiritual and poetic, and demands intensive reflection – over and over again, I suspect.

Let me quickly add, however, that two sections of the book, chapters 1 and 4, provide information that had escaped me in all my years of reading about Gandhi, and there’s another insight into his life and nature that is scattered throughout the book that I had genuinely longed for.

In the first chapter, I began to see clearly, for the first time, the young Mohandas Gandhi: the shy boy, the mediocre student, the thirteen-year-old bridegroom, the would-be British dandy, the cultish vegetarian, the ineffectual attorney, the beneficiary’s of family funds and influence, the domineering husband and autocratic father, and at last the “transformation” during his sojourn in South Africa. Though it may seem a minor detail, I had never realized what a handsome young British gentleman he was (as seen, for example in full-page portraits – in stiffly starched collars and dignified neckties – on pp. 37, 41, and 50).

But the highlight of the book for me was Chapter 4, also entitled “Gandhi the Man.” Here we see him, as I never had before, warm, good-humored, comfortable, laughing, joking, snuggling childen, interacting with friends and family. Once gain, the photographs are absolutely crucial. “You must watch my life,” Gandhi insisted, “how I live, eat, sit, talk, behave in general. The sum total of all those in me is my religion.” But books about Gandhi rarely achieve that image. Easwaran does. Here is just one – to me very moving – example.

"Meals in the ashram [family/community] had the intimacy of a family sacrament. Gandhi knew that even the most wholesome meal needs to be cooked and eaten with love, and he kept those around him in the best of spirits with just the right touch of jokes and friendly questions. He talked very little, but to everything worthy of interest he gave his complete concentration. Even in such little matters he was teaching his family by personal example to keep all the attention on the work at hand . . . . " (p163)

Finally, I had always wondered about his relationship with his wife Katsurbai. I knew that there were tensions in the marriage from time to time, and I was under the impression that he was neglectful of her and, perhaps, a bit dismissive of the woman’s role in his community. Not so. Scattered throughout this text are passages that pay tribute to Katsurbai and show the Mahatma’s devotion to her. In the last chapter is a passage that corrects the false impression I had fallen into and shows, indeed, the very critical role Katsurbai played in Mohandas’ “transformation”:

"It was his wife, Gandhi admitted later, who taught him how to love. By her personal example, Kasturbai showed the way to root out the anger and competition eroding their marriage: not by retaliating and inflaming the situation more, but by constantly trying to support him and bear with him through his outbursts and mistakes, keeping her eyes always on what was good in him and encouraging him silently to live up to her respect. Gradually Gandhi began to see that she was practicing every day what he himself had been admiring as a theoretical ideal. He took up her example, and each became the other’s teacher . . . ." (p159)

The portraits show her as a young maiden (p28), as a serious, mature, assertive woman, dressed and posed regally in 1915 (p48), and, finally, in her seventies, calm, content, pleasant, dignified, seated on the floor spinning (p151). In 1944 they were in prison together when she died, with her head in his lap. I suspect that were always together, that close, even when circumstances and distance kept them apart. “If nonviolence is the law of our being,” Gandhi said – and he certainly believed it was – then “the future is with woman.” Many of his followers were women, and he welcomed them into his household. Easwaran summarizes this aspect of his nature: “He took them all into his family, and because he had learned to extend his love for Katsurbai and their children to everyone else as well, there always seemed to be room for one more. The whole world was his family.” (p160)

So get hold of this book. Enjoy holding it in your hands. Press it against your chest. Read it through once hurriedly and eagerly if you just, as I did. But then reread slowly, deliberately, reflectively. Dip into every now and then. Let it speak to you. Let it imprint its images on your mind. Eager as I was, I began reading with what I thought was the beginning (p25, “The Transformation”). Later I had the pleasure of reading what the table of contents calls an introduction, “Gandhi: Then and Now,” actually a personal account of Easwaran’s acquaintance with him. Only then did I allow myself to read the brief foreword by Michael Nagler, a man of my own generation, an advocate of non-violence who was first exposed to Gandhi (as I was) on the pages of Life magazine but who later discovered the real man through Easwaran.

I haven’t even mentioned – and praised, as I should have – the chronology, maps, and notes appended to the text, nor the Afterword, a detailed essay on “How Nonviolence Works,” by Timothy Flinders, nor the selective but promising bibliography.

The book is like a little treasure chest. You keep opening up compartments and finding more little surprises. But I would encourage you to do just what I did. Sit down immediately, when you get your hands on the book, and begin reading on p25 with “The Transformation.” Huston Smith, the great writer and scholar of the world’s religions, has been quoted as saying, “This book belongs in every public library in the English-speaking world.” I was a teacher and teacher-educator for forty-five years. What I would add is that this book should be required reading for every high-school student and every college graduate.

In the quotation with which the text closes, we hear Gandhi’s modest but confident assertion: “I have not the shadow of a doubt 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.” I must respond with one of my all-time favorite prayers, “I believe; help thou mine unbelief.” Amen ( )