Reflection 2

From the movie we watched on the life of Gandhi it was clear that he really was a man of his word. HIs actions backed up his words and often spoke louder than them, as was seen in the impact of his many hunger strikes and acts of nonviolent protest. 

" 'Love thy neighbour as thyself' is not something we Hindus prescribe to, but it is something that we could learn from. " This is one of Gandhi's quotes that he demonstrated in the movie through his actions. After Gandhi had already moved people to follow his instruction of nonviolence protests which successfully liberated India from the British, India was in disorder again. This time there was violence in the streets because of fighting between Hindus and Muslims. Although Gandhi was born a Hindu, he had never particularly sided with the Hindu majority of India. When India was working out the kinks of its newly formed government Gandhi even offered to let Muslims take most political offices because the Muslim citizens were afraid of becoming marginalized. In one scene where Gandhi is staying at a Muslim friend's house in a village, there is Muslim-Hindu violence that breaks out every night. Children are being killed and people have lost sense of morals. So Gandhi goes on a hunger strike to make a statement to both Hindus and Muslims, and vows to keep on going till his death if they did not stop fighting. The people did stop the fighting, and Gandhi was able to get Hindus and Muslims to stop killing each other.

" A true disciple knows another's woes, as his own. He bows to all and despises none. " Throughout his long life as a social/political activist, Gandhi has strove to be a true disciple (at least in the public). From his early days in South Africa to his later days in India there was always a sense of compassion in Gandhi. As he'd suffered from discrimination in South Africa, Gandhi deliberately chose to never despise and discriminate against someone like he had been. The first of his riots, the pass-burning protest, in South Africa proved this quote true. When the South African police officer struck Gandhi for burning passes, Gandhi kept calm and did not strike back or even curse the officer. He instead showed compassion and understood that this man was acting in such a way not because he was inherently evil but that his actions were a result of his upbringing, culture, and job. Again, in the salt mine protests Gandhi showed a massive amount of compassion and the ability to inspire compassion in his peers. At the salt mines, there was a small group of police officers standing in front of the gate barring Gandhi and his followers from trespassing onto government property. So Gandhi and all his followers lined up in columns to walk steadily in rows to the police. The police subsequently beat the men until they fell down, and the next row came up. Gandhi bowed down to the officers, held no grudge, and kept on going on with his actions in order to make his statement loud and clear to the world. 

Our yoga class was a familiar experience to me, as my mother has had me do it since I was in 9th grade. I first started doing it for physical reasons, as I have bad posture and many of my family members have spine disc problems. While doing the yoga in class I felt calm and in touch with my body. When you actually take the time to stop everything else and just focus on your body you feel much more calm and notice much more about your body than you would normally notice. More recently my mother has taught me yoga and meditation techniques together, which focus on becoming more self-aware. This is related to the reason yoga rituals are used in HIndu religions, as Hindus also strive towards self-awareness. As I've had experience with yoga and meditation, I know that it helps one very much when it comes to understanding one's self. We do the majority of our actions without noticing what we're doing, and we also don't notice very much that happens around us in our daily lives. Through meditation, we learn to focus on what we're doing, why, and notice small things about ourselves and the world around us. It inevitably makes you a better person, as you aren't susceptible and weak to impulsive behaviour and can better deal with situations.