In 1950, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. traveled to Philadelphia to hear a speech about the life and teachings of Mahatma Gandhi by Dr. Mordecai Johnson. Martin Luther King was so impressed and surprised that he bought a number of books on Gandhi’s life and works. As he read, he became attracted by Gandhi’s campaigns of nonviolent resistance and he was moved by Gandhi’s philosophy called Satyagraha (Satya is truth which equals love, and agraha is force; Satyagraha, means truth force or love force). The philosophy of Gandhi convinced him that true pacifism was nonviolent resistance to evil. In 1959, Martin Luther King Jr. travel

Gandhi caused many government laws and ways to cease with his actions. Among those are: abolishing taxes over many items placed on the Indians, establishing a Muslim state, stopping much oppression of Indians, creating new ways of thought, life, and being. He accomplished all this and much more all before he retired from politics to travel and speak to groups about nonviolence. Gandhi influenced almost everyone who has heard the name including Martin Luther King Jr. for example.

Gandhi addressed a letter to the Viceroy, Lord Irwin, informing him that unless Indian demands were met, he would be compelled to break the "salt laws". Predictably, his letter was received with bewildered amusement, and accordingly Gandhi set off with a small group of followers towards Dandi. Gandhi, 61 years old, reached Dandi after walking 241 kilometers in 24 days. Gandhi picked up a small lump of natural salt, and so gave the signal to hundreds of thousands of people to similarly defy the law, since the British exercised a monopoly on the production and sale of salt. This was the beginning of the civil disobedience movement. It was a brilliant, non-violent strategy by Gandhi. To enforce the law of the land, the British had to arrest the soldiers of civil disobedience and Indians courted arrest in millions. Gandhi himself was arrested, and thousands of others were also hauled into jail. There was panic in the administration and Indian freedom struggle finally gathered momentum both inside and outside of Indian.

“The Gandhian influence in some way still speaks to the conscience of the world as nations grapple with international problems. If we fail, on an international scale, to follow the Gandhian principle of non-violence, we may end up by destroying ourselves through the misuse of our own instruments. The choice is no longer between violence and non-violence. It is now either non-violence or non-existence.” (Martin Luther King Jr., www.stanford.edu)

The important question is, did the Mahatma, Gandhi, accomplish his goals? If he did, did he accomplish his goals in his lifetime? I feel Gandhi did accomplish all his goals, even more than his goals. Muslims got their own state, Indian oppression decreased and the world improved just from his presence. I feel that he did accomplish a lot of his goals, but not all were accomplished during his lifetime. Many were accomplished simply by his death. Others by his teachings being spread after his death. Though I feel Gandhi did accomplish his goals, I have a doubt that he would be pleased with modern society or today’s world. There is still much violence and wrongdoing around that he would not be pleased with. I believe that our society is greedy, and that if people could they would live by martial law. Because they can’t, people go by their own rules as much as possible. Normal practices in today’s society go against exactly what Gandhi taught. Swaraj, Sanskrit for self-ruling, was one of the many things Gandhi spoke out against, and swaraj is still practiced in everyday life. Ahimsa, noninjury, and satyagraha, truth and firmness, were Gandhi’s most important teachings. Unfortunately we live in a world where to be such a way is “uncool” and almost unacceptable if wanting to be accepted by others when growing up. “My life is my message,”3 is one of Gandhi’s more famous quotes. Much could be learned from this quote. In just two generations most of Gandhi’s teachings have been forgotten. This quote explains all of his beliefs in just five simple words. Gandhi was one of the world’s most inspiring individuals. He accomplished more than any other man in history did. Amazing.

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