Mohandas Gandhi: Essential Writings

Gandhi once wrote – “My writings should be cremated with my body… what I have done will endure, not what I have said or written.” Happily, the government of India has disregarded his advice and spent over twenty years collecting every statement, letter, and word written by Gandhi. In 1984, India completed the publication of the ninety-five volumes of The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, a massive undertaking with over forty-three thousand pages. For this present book, John Dear read through those ninety-five volumes, as well as dozens of other collections and biographies. Gandhi was a man of action, and though he wrote for hours every day, it was always in haste, as a duty – to urge others on to the spiritual life and political work of non-violence. So, his writings should be considered in the context of a life in turmoil. Gandhi’s writings have been broken here into a few key groupings, beginning with his autobiographical writings and followed by sections on: “The Search for God; The Pursuit of Truth; The Practice of Non-violence; The Discipline of Prayer and Fasting; The urgent Need for Nuclear Disarmament; and, The Life of Steadfast Resistance, which features several key speeches and a sampling of his letters. These writings reveal the heart and soul of a man whose life and message bear special relevance to all spiritual seekers today.