Gandhian Methods to Sustainable Living and Happiness

1. Gandhi believed that life cannot be understood in a fragmented manner but rather as an organic entity.

2. Therefore, he gave the idea of holistic education that focuses on the cultivation of Head, Hand, and Heart.

1. While thinking about sustainable living and happiness, it is important to be fit both physically and mentally.

2. Since we are familiar with how to be intelligent, we will rather focus on how to take care of physical and emotional wellbeing.

3. Gandhi said we should get involved in manual and socially productive labor. It will not only make us physically fit but also we will develop respect for the dignity of the laborers. Secondly while working with others, we will develop skills like collaboration and critical thinking.

• Gandhi said, “Our first duty is that we should not be a burden on society, i.e., we should be self-dependent. From this point of view self-sufficiency itself is a kind of service. After becoming self-sufficient we shall use our spare time for the service of others. If all become self-sufficient, none will be in trouble.”

• Are you earning enough to feed your family? And do you know what “enough” is?

• What is your approach to things: A) Use and throw or B) It can be reused if I repair it?

• In what aspects of life are you dependent on others?

• Can you be self-reliant?

• Do you know that the difference between reptiles and mammals is that the reptiles lay eggs and leave them whereas mammals give birth to their babies and take care of their food, security, love, communication, habits, etc.?

• Thus, compassion is a natural instinct that we humans have mammals.

• And since giving love and taking care is contagious, we feel empathy even for those who are not directly related to us.

• There is a neurological reason as well: there are neurons in our prefrontal cortex that make us feel empathy. They are called ‘mirror neurons’ or ‘empathy neurons’ and you would be surprised to know that Dr. VS Ramchandran, a neuroscientist from the University of California calls these neurons as ‘Gandhi Neurons’!

Two of the greatest questions are: how to live and what to eat?

• In what ways does the food we consume affect us?

• Do you believe that drug addicts behave differently than non-addicts?

• As nutritionists Geoffrey Cannon and Claus Leitzmann have written, “It is only by combining biological, social and environmental approaches that nutrition science can fulfill its potential to preserve, maintain, develop and sustain life on earth.” Gandhi modeled such an integrated approach to nutrition.

• It’s gratefulness that makes us happy.

• “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of the others.” - Gandhi

• We cannot afford extreme individualism.

• Can we buy vegetables and fruits directly from the farm rather than a departmental store? If not always, once or twice a week

• Can we empower our tailors and cobblers residing in villages more powerful by purchasing their services?

• Have you ever noticed what happens to you when you get angry at someone?

• Do you like to be angry at or beaten up?

• "Anger is the enemy of non-violence and pride is a monster that swallows it up." - Gandhi

• Peace starts when we are convinced that happiness is a temporary feeling.

• Is there any connection between our pursuits of materialistic pleasures and violence?

• “Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s needs, but not every man’s greed.”

• Can we communicate in a non-violent manner?

• It is important to be happy but not at the cost of someone else’s happiness.

• Would you like to be happy "anyhow" or do you weigh your methods?

• Our goal is to be happy and peaceful but is that so with our methods too?

• I feel too that our progress towards the goal will be in exact proportion to the purity of our means.

• Have you ever feared being caught of something you shouldn’t have done but did? Do you want to experience that again and again?

• How our religious faith is connected to our happiness?

• Universal religion – all faiths are but different shades of the same color.

• Possibly, there are apparently different stories to tell the same truth.

• Gandhi believed in judging people of other faiths from their standpoint rather than his own.

• What kind of similarities do you between two faiths?

• Gandhi said, “I believe in the fundamental Truth of all great religions of the world. I believe they are all God-given and I believe they were necessary for the people to whom these religions were revealed. And I believe that if only we could all of us read the scriptures of the different faiths from the standpoint of the followers of these faiths, we should find that they were at the bottom all one and were all helpful to one another."

One of the fundamental questions of human history is: should we chase happiness of peace?

Has the chasing of happiness really helped you?