essay on Gandhijis mantra of mental wellness
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INTRODUCTION
The resilience of Gandhiji's mind and his unshakeable faith in his beliefs has made him one of the greatest individuals ever, to have walked in flesh and blood on this earth. His belief in spirituality, better social integration, endless love for other living beings, non-violence, truth and moral values, all can have a significant positive impact on mental health of individuals. He also had a lighter side about which he once said: “If I had no sense of humor, I should long ago have committed suicide.”[2]
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THE ESSENCE OF MAHATMA GANDHI
As a boy Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was very shy, had no unusual talents and was less than average in studies at school; self-conscious, serious, fearful of thieves, ghosts, serpents and darkness.[3]
George Bernard Shaw has said “Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself”. Gandhi, as a young man, was very lonely at the ship during his first journey to England; his experiments in England to become an English gentleman only created more chaos in his life. To change his life, he had to transform his thinking, which finally led to a much simpler and happier life for him. With time, he felt that one should be true to oneself instead of trying to become an another person or trying to make others happy.[2] It is very often said that “What others think of you, is none of your business;” his transformation in his thinking finally made him “Mahatma” Gandhi as we know him today. The change in him was continuous, throughout his life, learning from his experiences and experiments. These concepts and way of thinking have a very important place in cognitive behavior therapy and can be applied to our everyday lives, to regain mental peace.
John Haynes Holmes, in his book Re-thinking Religion writes “He is modest, gentle, unfailingly kind. His sense of fun is irresistible, his simplicity of manner captivating. Quiet, almost soft in his ways. and an iron courage. The spirit, as manifest in truth and love, possesses his utterly. ‘My creed’ says Gandhi ‘is service of God and therefore, of humanity.and service means pure love.’”
Being patient in most provoking situations, whether it be the huge number of people he met daily, or the alien government he had to deal with; in him we can see many facets of anger management techniques. He was so deeply aware of the fact that “the mills of God grind slowly.” Gandhi worked in those mills.[4] Three of his outstanding qualities were his simplicity, his firm belief in his fundamentals and an unassuming fearlessness.[5] His words: “I am painfully conscious of my imperfections and therein lies all the strength I possess, because it is a rare thing for a man to know his own limitations”, gives a reflection of the present day cognitive behavior therapy, which is helpful in so many psychological problems resulting from unrealistic expectations. Gandhiji had a troubled married life for many years initially, when he tried to impose his ideals on his wife; the friction between the two only decreased when he began to win over her by his own example: in order to transform others you have to transform yourself.[2,6,7] Gandhiji later admitted that it was his wife who taught him how to love, by her constant support and bearing him during his mistakes and anger outbursts. Later, each of them became the other's teacher with Kasturbai inculcating patience in Gandhiji and imbibing his enthusiasm in return.[8]
Gandhiji, in his quest to perfect his ideals, mastered the technique of anger management. Any individual with a demanding position in society needs to master these techniques. He has said: “I have learnt through bitter experience the one supreme lesson to conserve my anger, and as heat conserved is transmuted into energy, even so, our anger controlled can be transmuted into power, which can move the world