E-Book - Mahatma Gandhi

Gandhi’s Philosophy of Swadeshi 256capitalists in India, they must still be the village and homeindustries of the past, aided of course, by the adoption of suchimprovements as appear really desirable."In the realm of religion, Gandhi's philosophy ofSwadeshi demands that we be respectful and loyal to thereligion into which we are born. One should in fact berespectful to all religions. No religion is perfect. All religionshave some truth in them. We must therefore be respectful to allreligions, and must learn whatever is good in them to enrich thequality of our own religions. It is not by giving up one'sreligion and opting for some other religion that one canimprove one's religion; when all religions are imperfect, if onechanges one's religion, one is only moving from one imperfectreligion to another imperfect religion. If one religion needspurification and augmentation to be made less imperfect; sodoes the other, so, one's duty does not lie in abandoning one'sreligion, but in making one's own understanding and practicesmore perfect, and in purifying and augmenting one's ownreligion.In the field of spiritual evolution, the practice ofSwadeshi is the practice of Swadharma. By Swadharma Gandhimeans both the specific duty of a person that has crystallizedfrom his nature, his past, and his current situation and context,as well as the general duty of or need for persistent self-relianteffort to overcome obstructions and evolve towards one'sspiritual goal of liberation. One can receive guidance andencouragement. But the effort has to be one's own. Nothingexternal can substitute the internal process. Since the ultimateeffort or Sadhana is to 'identify himself with the entirecreation', he has to commence his altruism with the beings withwhom he comes into contact in his neighbourhood, - aroundhim. One relates to distant beings only in and through one'simagination. It is the beings in our immediate neighbourhoodthat harm us, irritate us or remind us of separateness. It is the