Page:Speeches And Writings MKGandhi.djvu/940

 2 nmmnxx moral elements in it but giving no relation to religion/’ is to him a contradiction in terms. Politics, morals, commerce, all that has to do with conscience must be religion. Naturally, his imagination is profoundly stirred by the " Sermon on the Mount," and the idea of selhrenunciation pictured there, as well as in the Bhagavad Gita and The Light of Asia wins his complete assent. Sel!-mastery, self-surrender, under the guidance ol the Spirit of God, are, in his conception ot lite, stepping- stones to the ultimate goal of all-·the goal of Buddha, the goal as he interprets it, ot John the Evangelist-absolute absorption ot redeemed Man in God. I question whether any religious creed would be large enough to express his views. or any Church system ample enough to shut him in. Jew and Christian, Hindu. Muhammadan, Parsi, Bud- dhist and Confucian, all have their places in his heart"as children of the same Father. " Are you then a Thecsophiet ?" I asked. "No," he said emphatically, ‘° I am not a Theosophist. There is much in Theosophy that attracts me, but I have never been able to subscribe to the creed oi Theosophists " This breadth of sympathy is, indeed, one note of the Passive Resistance movement. It has bound together all sections ot the Indian community. It would be impossible to determine which religious section has done most for its interests. Mr. Cachalia, Mr. Dawad Muhammad and Mr. Bawazeer are followers of Islam; Mr. Parsee Rustomjee and Mr. Sorabji are Zoroastrians; Mr. G.P, Vyas and Mr. Thambi Naidoo are Hindu leaders. All have sunered imprisonment, and all have rendered unstinted service, while common suffering has drawn these and other helpers into abrother- hood of sympathy in which differences ol creed are forgotten. An incident ot last august will illustrate this statement. When " the old cHender," Mr Thambi Naidoo, the Tamil leader, was sent to prison for the third time, to do " hard labour " for a fortnight, Mr, Gandhi suggested that we should visit the sick wife together. I assented gladly. On our way we were joined by the Moulvie and the Imam of the Mosque, together with the Jewish gentleman. It was a curious assembly which gathered to comlort the little Hindu woman in her home——two Muhammadans, a Hindu, a Jew and a Christian. And there she stood, her eldest boy supporti ing her and the tears trickling between her fingers. She was within a few days of the sufferings ot motherhood. Alter we had bent to- gether in prayer, the Moulvie spoke a few words of comfort in Urdu, and we each followed, saying what we could in our own way to give her cheer. It was one ot the many glimpses which we have lately had of that divine love, which mocks at boundaries of creed, and limits ot race or colour. It was a vision ot Mr. Gandhi’s ideal, Owing, chiefly to his sense oi the sacredness of life, and of his views ot health, vegetarianism is with him a religious principle.