We get to follow a great man in the making in this autobiography by Gandhi. Like a mad scientist, and from an early age, he experimented with every area of his life to find essence of the soul.
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Being very limited in my knowledge about Gandhi, I expected a focus on religion in this book, but I was positively surprise find that it was much more an account of life lessons learned. And of course experiments! Both successful ones and failures. Ranging from self control, frugality to diet.
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He dedicated his life to the truth. It’s turns out that being truthful in all aspects of life, is not that easy after all. What is fascinating about this book is to follow his struggle between internal beliefs and actions. And it’s becomes extra powerful because it’s in his own words.
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My main takeaway is to keep trying different approaches in life. I’ve always been a big fan of experiments but it’s always to good to get a reminder of its importance.
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Here are some notes:
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Gandhi tried to memorize the whole “Bhagavad Gita” (an ancient Hindu scripture) by taping passages from it to his bathroom walls so that he could practice them while taking his morning shower.
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“The seeker after truth should be humbler than the dust. The world crushes the dust under its feet, but the seeker after truth should so humble himself that even the dust could crush him. Only then, and not till then, will he have a glimpse of truth.”
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“Renunciation of objects, without the renunciation of desires, is short-lived, however hard you may try.”
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4/5
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“The Story of my Experiments with Truth” by Mahatma Gandhi
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