Some Reflections on Buddhism and Gandhism

K.D. Gangrade
The Teachings of Lord BuddhaT

HE teachings of Lord Buddha may be divided into two groups: 1.
Philosophical; 2. Moral. The two groups are interwoven in such a
way that the one cannot be understood properly without knowledge ofthe other. The fundamental principle of the Buddha’s philosophy is thetheory of Causation or Dependent-Orientation. The Buddha said, “Suffering and pain are the direct result of ignorance.” Commenting on thecause of suffering in the Buddhistic ethics, Radhakrishnan writes,“Ignorance is the main cause out of which false desire springs. Whenknowledge is attained, suffering is at an end. Ignorance and false desire
are the theoretical and the practical sides of the one fact.” The desire tolive as the sole cause of suffering is not possible as long as the desire tolive continues. If the craving for passion, existence, birth, rebirth, andpleasure is the cause of evil, the removal of evil can occur through the
cessation of craving.
The other important theory of the Buddha concerns the Four Noble
Truths, the first being that all existence is full of suffering. The second
truth is that all suffering has a cause. The third truth is that suffering canbe made to cause to an end and the last that there is a way to end suffering.
Why does the Buddha say that the existence of a being is full of suffering? It is because all beings are subject to birth, decay, disease, death,and again, rebirth. Even pleasures and worldly happiness lead one tosorrow because they are both transitory and the loss of pleasure and happiness is worse than never to have had them at all.
Just as a good doctor tries to discover the cause of a malady before
advising a remedy, the Buddha, the great spiritual doctor, tried to findthe ultimate cause of the worldly suffering of human beings, who all areanimate creatures. He found the cause to be ignorance or the craving rising from it. The Buddha primarily implores the people to remove theirignorance of the mystery of birth and their craving for happiness.
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The Buddha proposes three phenomena as the course of suffering andunhappiness. First, Pride is the main causes of material suffering andmisery as well as spiritual downfall. Second, that every being in theworld is Transitory. Third, that we are the makers of our own Destiny.
One reaps what he sows. Desire is never satisfied. Lord Mahavira
said, “... if the entire universe together with all its wealth is given to you,still it can neither satisfy your cravings nor will be able to protect toyou.” Gandhi said, “There is enough in this world to satisfy everybody’s
need, but not a single man’s greed.” Swami Vivekananda said, “Kill thedesire first. That is the hardest of all disciplines. Try hard for the salvation of others if you want to scale the peak of spiritual attainment.” The
importance of SEVA, or service to others, was expounded by Swami
Vivekananda who declared that one should forget his own salvation andgo all out to serve those who are poor and in distress. He said those whowork only for their own sake are more dead than living. Gandhi had
beautifully summed it in three words; “Renounce and enjoy.”
The Buddha’s heart was full of love for all living creatures. His sole
purpose for dedicating his life to the propagation of truth was to provide
a permanent cure for worldly ills. The Buddha therefore was morally
above all, and could tolerate no hindrance in the way of prescribing arighteous life and a cure for sick souls and bodies, even if it meant scepticism with regard to God and Soul, etc.
Give Up One’s Ego
The life of righteousness is the key to Buddhistic ethics and it is this
aspect of Buddhism that has been responsible for its popularity in India
and the other countries. Discontent with worldly life, which prompts us
to lead a life of detachment as commanded by the Buddha, should not
however be misunderstood as a merely pessimistic condition. Yet, theethics of the Buddha are of a transitory nature and they instigate thepainful ending of so-called worldly pleasures because they are based on
attachment. The point that the spiritual disquietude of Buddhism is infact based on insight into the cause of human suffering born of ignorance or Avidya. This fact is well illustrated in the story of the Buddha
and his brother Nanda, a prince.
Nanda possessed a charming personality and was regarded as themost handsome man in the world. His wife was Sundari, who was theprettiest woman of her time. They were deeply in love with one anotherand would seldom separate from each other. Once it happened that bothof them were together in their private apartment in the palace and werelost to the world when Lord Buddha, who had once belonged to theREFLECTIONS ON BUDDHISM AND GANDHISM

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royal family, came to the royal palace to beg for alms. The Buddha had
attained enlightenment and had been acknowledged as a world teacher.
But, as ill luck would have it, none of Nanda’s servants took notice of
the arrival of the Tathagata (Buddha). So he waited at the gate of thepalace for some time and after some words with passers-by, started toreturn to his ashram. Just as he was about to leave, he was noticed by abold maidservant, who mustered the courage to enter the private apartment of the Prince and inform him that the great spiritual leader hadcome to beg alms at the royal gate and that he had left without being
offered a seat, words, or alms, just as if he had emerged from a remoteforest. Nanda, being full of high regard for the Buddha, was vexed onhearing this news from the maidservant. He immediately asked leave of
Sundari to pay homage to the Tathagata. She consented on the condition
that he come back before the sandalwood paste on her body had dried.
Nanda hurried towards the ashram of the Buddha and soon reachedthere. He bowed to the teacher and apologized for his negligence. The
Buddha encouraged him to stay in the ashram and to meditate on his
carelessness. Although Nanda made sincere efforts, he could not forgetthe beauty of his wife and was distracted in meditation. The Buddha
called him near and asked, “Perhaps you are disturbed by the thoughtsof your beautiful wife and you are feeling her absence strongly. Is it
true?” Nanda replied in the affirmative. Legend tells us that the Buddha
told Nanda to close eyes, and both of them began to levitate. They roseto the height of a dry and desolate mountain. Nanda saw an ugly old
one-eyed monkey sitting on the dry branch of a lovely old tree on themountain. The Buddha said to Nanda, “Look at this she-monkey. Does
she look beautiful in comparison to your wife?” Nanda replied,“Respected master! Not to speak of the comparison. I cannot fathomeven the contrast between the charm of Sundari and the ugliness of thisshe-monkey.” The Buddha again asked him to close his eyes and they
began to soar higher. After some time, they reached the garden of Indra,
inhabited by beautiful heavenly damsels whose loveliness and divine
charm dazzled the eyes of the mortal Nanda. When he was asked by the
Buddha to compare the beauty of those heavenly figures with that of hiswife Sundari, Nanda said, “Venerated master, the contrast between thebeauty of these fairies and Sundari is as unfathomable as it was in theprevious case between Sundari and the she-monkey.” After that they
returned to the ashram and the Buddha suggested Nanda meditate without being disturbed if he desired the company of heavenly damsels.
With this object in view, Nanda succeeded in concentrating his mind andtotally forgot about Sundari.

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This time Nanda was able to concentrate his mind for several days,
after which the Buddha called him again and asked, “Does the thoughts
of Sundari disturb you even now?” Nanda answered, “Revered master! I
am so much absorbed by the meditation that I cannot think of Sundari,even for a moment.” The Buddha asked him again, “Is it not a fact thatyou are aspiring for the company of the beautiful heavenly damsels andthe pleasures and enjoyment of the garden of Indra?” Nanda confessed it
was so, and the Buddha continued, “You will undoubtedly stain all pleasures contemplated by you as the fruit of your meditation and righteous
life. But will you not pine for these heavenly pleasures as you had
recently for the pleasures of your palace and for the beauty of yourwife? When the storehouse of your merits is exhausted, you will have tobid farewell to the heavenly damsels of Indra’s garden: and you must
imagine the intensity of the torture and the pangs of separation you will
have to undergo at that time.” Nanda began to shudder at the very
thought of it, and then the Buddha said, “Therefore, if you want to havepermanent pleasure, eternal enjoyment, and peace, you must continue tomeditate on the Supreme Truth without any expectation and attainment.”
The Gita advocates the same.
Krishna states in the Gita that the difference between the ignorant andwise is that the ignorant man works in his own interest, while, theenlightened or wise man performs unattached work for the good of others (Gita 3.25). Self-less work is God’s or the Buddha’s work. Man has
to go beyond or transcend the sense of ‘I’ and ‘mine’ and replace it withthe sense of ‘we’ and ‘ours.’ He has to change in accord with the Gitaand perform social service with selflessness and equanimity. To Gandhi
it served as a profound guide in his work.
A similar story has been cited by film historian Sangeeta Datta from afilm by Shyam Benegal. There is really striking story from Benegal’s
1978 film called ‘Kondura’ that is about a young Brahmin who is toldthat the power of a benefit will stay only if he stays celibate. The fellow
and his wife abide by the condition, but what is he to do about the pangsof lust he feels for the landlord’s daughter-in-law. He sits in the temple
praying but sees visions of the beautiful girl. This results in him raping
his wife who then kills herself. The young Brahmin ends up running out
in the fields calling desperately for the sage who granted him the benefit,
pleading with him to take it back.
The transitory nature of sensual enjoyment and worldly pleasures, andthe antinomies of the alternative experiences of pleasure and pain, joy
and sorrow, struck the imagination of the enlightened Buddha, who
advocated a detached attitude to worldly life. The aim of the ethics of

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Buddhism is the highest stage of Bodhisattva. The Bodhisattva is one
who must give up egoism altogether and rise above anger, hatred anderror to gain the virtues of conviction, compassion, benevolence, anddisinterestedness.
Once a great scholar sought out a God-man (or Buddha) andbeseeched him for guidance. “Swamiji,” submitted the learned man, “I
am a reputed scholar, but I have yet to realize that this life is in vain.
Please instruct me how to know the imperishable Self, which is beyond
all change.” The holy man reflected and said, “You must give up. That is
the way to Self-Realization and Bliss.” Accordingly, the scholar gaveaway all he possessed. He also renounced his wife and children. Timepassed, but peace of mind eluded him. He went again to the holy man
for guidance. Again, he was given the same answer, “Give up.
Renounce. That is the only way to Self-Realization and Bliss.” Although
the scholar owned only a begging bowl, a coarse cloth, and a blanket,
even these he gave away. A long time elapsed. Still, he seemed farther
than ever from his cherished goal. So he said to himself, “All I have now
left to give up is this body. Is this getting in the way of my Self-Realization?” He started a large fire and was on the point of throwing himself
into the flames. Then the holy man arrived and held him back. “Whatare you doing?” he remonstrated. “Do you think you have the right todestroy your body? It was given to you by your parents. It is not yours
to the dispose of as you like. Give up what belongs to you.” In a flash,
the scholar realized that what he had to give up was his ‘Ego,’ the offspring of selfishness and self-aggrandizement. This is what all of us
have to follow. That is Vasudhaiva Kutumbkam. The world is One Family.
The Power of Dialogues
The Buddha does not want a suppression of emotion and desires, butasks for cultivation of true love for all creation. The glowing emotion
must fill the whole universe and result in an overflow of goodwill. The
adoption of universal love, tenderness, and compassion has been advocated in the well-known Buddhistic world.
The Buddha said that just as fire cannot extinguish fire. Similarly
today, we cannot solve disputes by fighting. Enmity cannot overcome
enmity; it can be overcome only with love. Disputes can be settled
through dialogue and negotiations, not by war. This is the main philosophy of Gandhiji.
The year 1956 marked a milestone in the checkered history of Buddhism in India. While laying the foundation stone of the Buddha Jayanti

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Park on the New Delhi Ridge, the late Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru
said that the 2,500th Buddha Jayanti celebrations signify the ‘Home
Coming’ of the Buddha. Dr. B.R. Ambedkar sanctified the occasion byembracing Buddhism along with his half-million followers on October
14, 1966, the Vijaya Dashmi Day. Thus, Ambedkar made the Home
Coming of the Buddha a reality. Ambedkar said in his emotional voice,“I started the movement of renouncing the Hindu religion in 1936 andsince then I have been continuing the struggle. This conversion to Buddhism has given me enormous satisfaction and pleasure unimaginable. I
feel as if I have been liberated from hell.” He further remarked, “I
believe that religion is necessary for humankind. When religion ends,
society would perish too. After all, no government can safeguard anddiscipline humankind as does Niti or Dharma.”
Buddhistic ethics are alteristic through and thorough. The Buddha’s
three jewels are: 1. Sila (virtue); 2. Samidhi (concentration of mind);and 3. Shin or Prejan (wisdom), along with the four Brahma vihar: 1.
Maitri (friendliness or love); 2. Karuna (compassion or mercy); 3. Medita (cheerfulness or happiness); and 4. Upeksha (equanimity).
The Buddha’s pragmatism is evident from his preference for the middle path or course. He avoided extreme views about the way of life. He
advocated neither the life of sensual indulgence nor that of rigorous
asceticism. The Buddha suggested eight efforts one must make toachieve happiness. They are: 1. Right Understanding; 2. Right Thought;
3. Right Speech; 4. Right Action; 5. Right Livelihood; 6. Right Effort; 7.
Right Mindedness; and 8. Right Concentration.
An Importance of Ahimsa
Mahavira, Buddha, and Gandhi all advocated Ahimsa (nonviolence) as
the highest virtue. They placed it higher than truth. They regarded
adherence to truth as the necessary corollary of nonviolence.
According to the Buddha, Nirvana literally means blowing out thecandle. Nirvana means a stage of desire-less-ness while the truth meansa stage of ego-less-ness. That is, to reduce oneself to zero. In faith there
is enough light for those who want to believe and enough shadow toblind those who do not. Mathematically, zero is the point where positive
and negative infinity meets. Krishna says to Arjuna (Gita 10.20), that I
am the universe seated in the hearts of all beings. Hence, I alone am the
beginning and middle and also the end of all being. Therefore, nothingness is also a form of God. Gandhiji in this respect says that the experiences and experiments have sustained me and given me great joy. But I
know that I have still before me a difficult path to traverse. I must reduce

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myself to zero. So long as a man does not of his own free will put himself last among the fellow creatures, there is no salvation for him. Ahimsa is the farthest limit of humility. (M.K. Gandhi, My Experiments with
Truth)The Buddha’s and Gandhi’s teachings can be summed up as: 1. The
abstention from evil; 2. The accumulation of whatever is good andnoble; and, 3. The purification of the mind.
Both Guru Nanak Dev and Gandhiji drew their inspiration from Buddhism as is evident from their personal examples and devotion to workfor emancipation of humanity. For a successful life, Gurbani laysemphasis on three cardinal principles, that is, life regulated by the triple
principle of meditation, work, and social responsibility. Guru Nanak
condemned exploitation in very strong terms. He says, “If a garment isstained with blood, it is considered to be soiled. How then can they who
shed the blood of men be reckoned to have a pure mind?” Guru Nanak
preferred to eat the coarsest but hard-earned meal from the house of acarpenter than partake of rich food at the home of a wealthy nobleman.
Buddhism believes that all men can become Buddhas irrespective ofrace, caste, creed, and gender. Mahatma Gandhi was the first Indianafter Asoka the Great to apply nonviolence to politics and to thus spiritualize India’s struggle for independence. Truth and nonviolence form
the crux of his philosophy. He identified truth with God and nonviolencewith love. He awakened and inspired millions of Indians to fight the battle of truth by adopting nonviolence. An organized nonviolence which
would grin a reign of love and peace to be the only remedy against organized violence.
The Buddha says: “Existence is one. There are no boundaries.
Nobody is separate from anybody else. We live in one ocean of consciousness. We are one consciousness—denuded by the boundaries ofthe body and the mind, and because of the identification with the bodyand mind, we think we are separate, we think we are selves.” This is
how we create ego. You are not separate from life, you are part of it.
Like a wave, you are not separate at all. Neither as a saint nor sinner are
you separate. You are not separate at all. You are neither dependent onlife, nor are you independent of life. You are interdependent. When you
understand that we are all interdependently linked with each other, life
is one, we are just manifestations of it, then you start to become blissful.
The goal of life has to be simply to work hard at becoming better thanwhat we were yesterday.
M.B. Lal writing in the introduction to the second edition of the bookby the Late Prof. R.D. Ranade Spiritual Awakening in Gandhi and84

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Other Indian Saints (Sarva Seva Sangh Prakashan, Varanasi, India,
2003, pp. 11-13) says the following:
The classic tragedy of Gandhi is that the world remembers him as a manof peace and non-violence but not as a man of God, like Christ in whose
footsteps he tried to walk all his life. He was never tired of repeatingthat he was not unarmed in his struggle against injustice. He was armed
with a weapon, ‘mightier than the atomic bomb’ which he invoked by
the constant (inner) chanting of Ramanama (name of God). This chantwent on silently within him with every breath. His role objective in life
was to see God ‘face to face’ and the non-violent struggle for freedom
was merely a means to that end. Like Mother Teresa he saw in the‘daridranarayan,’ the poorest of the poor, whose service was the sole
purpose of his life. In one word, the book is about Gandhi’s unshakable‘Faith’ in God’, without which he repeatedly said he was a cipher. And
Faith is the fountain of love.

The spiritual ethos that has pervaded over the centuries and produced
some of the greatest saints of humanity among whom Gandhi was perhaps the last.
Arun Gandhi in the foreword to his book says; “It is only throughlove that we can bring about a ‘union of human souls’ and create a climate and relationship between people where conflict would be reduced,
if not eliminated altogether. I know, some of you will ask: How can anyone love people like Hilter and Saddam? He should not love what they
do but we must respect them as human beings. Therefore, we ought not
to attack the human being but analyze and resolve the issues that makepeople do bad things so that others are not forced into similar action.”
To fight and kill in the name of God is the worst form of evil according to Gandhiji, who was convinced that God is the epitome of compassion, love, respect, and understanding. Gandhiji believed that we humanbeings have divided the image of God because we want God to relate to
the fragment of truth that we hold precious. To bring back somesemblance of sanity in people’s understanding of religion, Gandhiji advocated a friendly study of all the scriptures as the sacred duty of every
individual. Scholars, he said, have often made critical studies of religions, but not many, perhaps not any, have made a ‘friendly’ study.
Gandhiji himself made a friendly study and concluded that no religion
could truly claim to ‘possess’ the Truth, but that all the religions in theirown way are ‘pursuing’ the Truth.
Buddha and Gandhi were evolved souls. They had conquered theirsenses and were never fickle minded. They were like the mother-root forREFLECTIONS ON BUDDHISM AND GANDHISM

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this tree called Humanity. Let us follow their ideals in our thoughts andactions.
A number of natural laws replete this universe. Our existence is also
governed by a set of natural laws. One such law is Newton’s Law ofGravity. We know that life is subject to the gravitational pull exerted byearth. It does not mean that he was instrumental in bringing it into existence. Before its discovery, gravity always existed. Suppose there are
two men, one who believes in gravity, and the other who does notbelieve in it. Both decide to jump off a cliff. The fall will lead law ofgravity the existence of God is a fact.
The Causal Wheel of Buddhism had made a deepeffect on Gandhiji’s
mind. In fact, Gandhiji’s identification with Buddhism came from the
Buddha’s identification with Law or God. Gandhiji’s point was that
Buddha did really believe in God, and that he identified God with themoral Government of the world. Gandhiji writing in the November 24,
1927 issue of Young India said; “He (the Buddha) emphasized and redeclared the eternal and unalterable existence of the moral government of
this universe. He unhesitatingly said that the Law was God himself.”
Again, he said: “I have heard it contended... the Buddha did not believe
in God. In my (Gandhiji’s) humble opinion, such a belief contradicts thevery central fact of the Buddha’s teaching.” R.D. Ranade in his bookSpiritual Awakening in Gandhi endorses Mahatma Gandhi’s interpretation, namely the psychic and the theistic pertain only to the Hinayanist
philosophy and may be, even the Mahayanist. Above and beyond boththese systems, the Hinayanist philosophy and maybe, even to the
Mahayanist, there is a mystical element in Buddhism that has recently
been brought to light and without which, as Mrs. Rhys David says, nogreat religion could have been founded.
The Dharma Chakra is the essential symbol of Buddhism. It will beseen that this concept of Dharma Chakra was present in Buddhism
before King Ashoka founded the Great Royal Chakra. Three interpretations may be given of this Chakra. In the first place, it may designate thevictory of conqueror over all quarters. Secondly, it may represent the
victory of the Dharma over physical force. And thirdly, it may be a symbol of the ever moving Samsara—the whole process from birth to deathand rebirth again, implying the principle of continuity. The first interpretation may have a political element, the second a religious element, andthe third a philosophical one.
The ultimate goal of everybody had to be to do good to humanity. Let
me conclude by quoting the clarion call of Swami Vivekananda; “Whatwe want is strength, so believe in yourselves... what we want is muscle

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of iron and nerves of steel.” He further said; “Think positively and masterfully, with confidence and faith and life becomes more secure... richer
in achievement and experience. Let the world say that it chooses, I shalltreat the path of duty... otherwise if one has to attend day and night towhat this man says or that man writes, no great work is achieved in thisworld,” said the Swami.
References
I.C. Sharma, “The Ethics of Buddhism,” Ethical Philosophy of India, Johnson Publishing Company, New York, 1991, pp. 146–169.
S. Radhakrishnan, Indian Philosophy, vol. I, p. 367.
Tanyia Chandra’s review of the book play it again, Shyam, Shyam Benegal by
Sangeeta Dutta Lotus Roli, Outlook, vol. XLIII, no. 34, August 26-Sept. 1, 2003, p. 60.
Ramkrishnan’s General Editor’s Preface to the book Loknayak J.P. A Man of the Century, eds. Sachidanand, Bharitya Vidya Bhavan, Mumbai (India), 2002, XXIV.
Langar R.K. Gita’s “Emphasis on Good of the ‘World,’” The Times of India, January
7, 2004, New Delhi, p. 16.
Swami Chaitanya Keerti, “Get Rid of Ego and Attain Bliss,” The Hindustan Times,
January 9, 2004, New Delhi, p. 2.
Lal MB, introduction to the second edition of the book, Spiritual Awakening in Gandhi and Other Indian Saints by R.D. Ranade, Sarva Seva Sangh Prakashan, Varanasi(India), 2003, pp. 11–13.
Arun Gandhi, foreword to the book Gandhi, Man of God by R. D. Ranade, pp. 6–10.
Shri Ashutoshji Maharaj, “Does God Punish Non-believers,” The Hindustan Times,
January 10, 2004, New Delhi, p. 2.
Chaturvedi Anshul, “Swami Vivekananda; The Management Monk,” The Times ofIndia, January 12, 2004, New Delhi, p. 14.