If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. This is the divine mystery supreme.

If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. This is the divine mystery supreme.

Mohandas K. Gandhi

The Divine Mystery

Topic: Spiritual Growth & Practice

We but mirror the world. All the tendencies present in the outer world are to be found in the world of our body. If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him. This is the divine mystery supreme. A wonderful thing it is and the source of our happiness. We need not wait to see what others do.

Mohandas K. Gandhi

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (born October 2, 1869, in Porbandar, in the Kathiawar region of present-day Gujarat – died January 30, 1948, in New Delhi) is revered worldwide as a moral and spiritual leader whose philosophy of nonviolent resistance profoundly shaped India’s struggle for independence. Raised in a devout Hindu household, Gandhi was formed by the religious pluralism of Gujarat, where Jain, Muslim, and Hindu traditions coexisted. After studying law at the Inner Temple in London, he traveled to South Africa in 1893 to work as a legal advocate. There, his encounters with racial discrimination and the injustices faced by Indian laborers awakened his conscience and inspired his lifelong commitment to satyagraha—steadfast adherence to truth through nonviolent action.
During his two decades in South Africa, Gandhi developed the principles that would define his life: nonviolence (ahimsa), civil disobedience, and the pursuit of self-rule grounded in moral discipline. Returning to India in 1915, he became a central figure in the movement for independence from British rule. Through peaceful protests, fasting, and broad programs of social reform, he worked to reshape not only political structures but the ethical character of society. He challenged caste discrimination, campaigned against untouchability, and encouraged simplicity, self-reliance, and the use of homespun cloth (khadi) as symbols of dignity and resistance. His mass movements—such as the 1930 Salt March—became landmarks in the global history of nonviolent struggle.

Gandhi’s life embodied a living synthesis of faith and action. Drawing wisdom from the Bhagavad Gita, the Sermon on the Mount, Jain ethics, and other religious traditions, he sought unity among faiths and dignity for all people. Though he was assassinated in 1948, his legacy endures as a moral compass for those seeking justice through peace. His life continues to testify that transformation begins within—and that courage, truth, and love remain among the most powerful forces for shaping a just society.

(1869-1948) Hinduism
The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi

Mackenzie, Don, et al. Finding Peace through Spiritual Practice: the Interfaith Amigos' Guide to Personal, Social, and Environmental Healing (Chapter 1) p. 13. SkyLight Paths Publishing, 2016 [Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi].

Mohandas K. Gandhi

Mahatma Gandhi

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), commonly known as Mahatma Gandhi (“Great Soul”). In India he is generally regarded as Bapu (“father”); he was an advocate and pioneer of nonviolent social protest and direct action in the form he called Satyagraha. He led the struggle for India’s independence from British colonial rule.

—Mahatma Gandhi [The Wikiquote website].

From Original Goodness by Eknath Easwaran

Trust is a two-way street. It is the same with our other judgments about life: it’s amazing how quickly the world we live in conforms itself to our ideas about it. You can test this intriguing law in the laboratory of your own life. If someone at work absolutely seems to enjoy making things rougher for you, try treating that person with extra respect—and go on showing him respect no matter how he acts. In a surprising short time, I predict, his behavior will begin to verify your faith in his better side.

—Eknath Easwaran in Original Goodness by Eknath Easwaran.

Additional Mohandas K. Gandhi Quotes

“It is beyond my power to induce in you a belief in God. There are certain things which are self proved and certain which are not proved at all. The existence of God is like a geometrical axiom. It may be beyond our heart grasp. I shall not talk of an intellectual grasp. Intellectual attempts are more or less failures, as a rational explanation cannot give you the faith in a living God. For it is a thing beyond the grasp of reason. It transcends reason. There are numerous phenomena from which you can reason out the existence of God, but I shall not insult your intelligence by offering you a rational explanation of that type. I would have you brush aside all rational explanations and begin with a simple childlike faith in God. If I exist, God exists. With me it is a necessity of my being as it is with millions. They may not be able to talk about it, but from their life you can see that it is a part of their life. I am only asking you to restore the belief that has been undermined. In order to do so, you have to unlearn a lot of literature that dazzles your intelligence and throws you off your feet. Start with the faith which is also a token of humility and an admission that we know nothing, that we are less than atoms in this universe. We are less than atoms, I say, because the atom obeys the law of its being, whereas we in the insolence of our ignorance deny the law of nature. But I have no argument to address to those who have no faith.”

—Mohandas K. Gandhi [Young India (24 September 1931); also in Teachings Of Mahatma Gandhi (1945), edited by Jag Parvesh Chander, p. 458 archive.org].

“For me the voice of God, of Conscience, of Truth or the Inner Voice or ‘the still small Voice’ mean one and the same thing. I saw no form. I have never tried, for I have always believed God to be without form. One who realizes God is freed from sin for ever…. But what I did hear was like a Voice from afar and yet quite near. It was as unmistakable as some human voice definitely speaking to me, and irresistible. I was not dreaming at the time I heard the Voice. The hearing of the Voice was preceded by a terrific struggle within me. Suddenly the Voice came upon me. I listened, made certain that it was the Voice, and the struggle ceased. I was calm. The determination was made accordingly, the date and the hour of the fast were fixed…. Could I give any further evidence that it was truly the Voice that I heard and that it was not an echo of my own heated imagination? I have no further evidence to convince the sceptic. He is free to say that it was all self-delusion or hallucination. It may well have been so. I can offer no proof to the contrary. But I can say this — that not the unanimous verdict of the whole world against me could shake me from the belief that what I heard was the true voice of God.”

—Mohandas K. Gandhi [Harijan (1933, July 8); also in Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi (Vol. 61), and in The Mind of Mahatma Gandhi (Prabhu and Rao, eds., 1967, pp. 33-34)].

Be the Change

“Be the change you wish to see in the world.” These words are usually attributed to Mahatma Gandhi, and frequently appear on bumper stickers. His actual words, however, were [see quote in Context above]. This statement is less suited to bumper stickers but conveys even more deeply the reality that true change starts inside ourselves.

—Mackenzie, Don, et al. [Finding Peace through Spiritual Practice: the Interfaith Amigos’ Guide to Personal, Social, and Environmental Healing].

The Divine Mystery

Resources

Related Quotes