What are your thoughts on this quote by Mahatma Gandhi?

Question

Constant development is the law of life, and a man who always tries to maintain his dogmas in order to appear consistent drives himself into a false position.

-Mahatma Gandhi, 1928

Answer 1

What he said seems correct and simple, but understanding and application of this law is really very hard. We all know that the world we are living in is in constant change, and we have to learn constantly to catch up with it. However, stability and progress also remain as a problem which requires much learning and thinking to solve wisely.

Gandhi knew this fact, but still he didn't know how to solve this problem for himself and for his country. Today, we are fortunate to get in touch with the Religion of our time to learn anew all things and to practice those things under the divine guidance.

Unity First

Is unity a distant ideal to be achieved only after the other great problems of our time have been resolved?

Bahá'u'lláh says the opposite is the case. The disease of our time is disunity. Only after humanity has overcome it, will our social, economic, political, and other problems find solution.

Today, several million people around the world are discovering what He means. We invite you to explore His message with us.

The Baha'i Faith

The Emerging Global Religion

of Spiritual & Social Transformation

http://info.bahai.org/bahaullah-...

http://www.bahai.org/

GU-UN

Answer 2

"an eye for an eye only makes the whole entire world blind"

Answer 3

Firstly, Wyomugs has a point about God, except she has not considered that the question refers to "man".  For God is not a man, that He should lie.  We only refer to Him as He that we, man, may have a way to understand His existence based on our limited understand.

To place thought on the quote, I agree. Even without spiritual direction we yearn for constant development.  It's apart of human nature. When a child is born, she first develops by taking in oxygen.  She then moves on to cooing, to crawling, walking, talking...all which develops from previous actions.  Basically, it's the process of life.  Even from life to death we change into another form. It is the only way to exist.  All to say without constant development in all areas if life there would be no growth, without growth is no life, without life...well.

Answer 4

Change is a fact of life, this is true.  However, if one wishes to call one's religious, moral, and spiritual convictions "dogmas" it is an insult.  Let me see then, since God never changes HIS "dogmas" does that mean God is driven into a false position?  Sorry, it doesn't hold water.

Sorry, but I'm not really into Gandhi's philosophies... I take with a grain of salt things spoken by a man who drank a glass of his own urine every day of his life!  BLECH!!!

Have a great day.

Answer 5

very accurate, the only constant is change, we develop and grow, so our Ideas do to and sometimes this means appearing inconsistent.

Answer 6

I will answer that with another favorite quote:

"A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds."

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

This sounds like a rebuke, but it serves to remind us to not hold onto something in the effort to appear consistent.

Answer 7

More Profound than that.

Jesus Christ-- GOD.....said...

Because I live you shall live also.

The Evidence For Christ's Resurrection

Its often said that the validity of Christianity rests upon the resurrection of Jesus Christ. But how do we know Jesus rose from the dead?

As Paul noted in 1 Corinthians 15:14, if Christ did not rise from the dead then our preaching and our faith are useless. We must therefore be prepared to demonstrate that Christs resurrection was an event that occurred in space and time that it was in fact historical, and not mythological (cf. 2 Pet. 1:16). The importance of this event cannot be minimized as Jesus Himself proclaimed that His resurrection would prove His power over death, and thus His deity (John 2:18-22).

Of the variety of evidence we have available, none is more compelling than the fact that over five hundred individuals saw Jesus (1 Cor. 15:6) during a 40-day period following His death and burial (Acts 1:3). In fact, the Apostles appealed to Christs resurrection as proof for the truth of the gospel (Acts 17:18, 31). The historical evidence for the resurrection is so compelling that the famed Harvard law professor, Simon Greenleaf, concluded that any cross-examination of the eyewitness testimonies recorded in Scripture will result in an undoubting conviction of their integrity, ability, and truth.

And even as we consider alternative explanations, reason drives us back to the conclusion that Christ rose from the dead. We know that the Romans had no intentions of stealing Christs body because the last thing they wanted was any turmoil that was sure to follow such an event. The Jewish religious leaders would also have no motive in stealing the body since that would only stir up the very movement they tried to crush. And certainly, the disciples could not have stolen the body; after all, would anyone really suffer and die for a cause that they knew to be a lie? It is conceivable that someone may die for the truth, but inconceivable that hundreds of his followers would, in fact, be willing to die for what they knew to be a lie.

All this leads us to only one possibility that Jesus indeed rose from the dead, and lives to be our Lord and our Savior (cf. Rev. 1:18)!

On the evidence for Christs resurrection, thats the CRI Perspective. I'm Hank Hanegraaff.

Answer 8

everything changes, what seems stable and secure will surely uproot at sometime. there is no need to try to appear orderly or as if you have everything in line. it is too difficult and complicated. the best thing to do is to just let go.

Answer 9

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_d...

What could happen in such a false position as follows:

'Cognitive dissonance is a psychological state that describes the uncomfortable feeling when a person begins to understand that something the person believes to be true is, in fact, not true. Similar to ambivalence, the term cognitive dissonance describes conflicting thoughts or beliefs (cognitions) that occur at the same time, or when engaged in behaviors that conflict with one's beliefs. In academic literature, the term refers to attempts to reduce the discomfort of conflicting thoughts, by performing actions that are opposite to one's beliefs.'

Answer 10

I think he may very well have been referring to religious dogmatics such as Christian and Moslem. On the other hand, consider this quote attributed to him:

"The Baha'i Faith is a solace to humankind." (Bombay Chronicle, May 24, 1944)

Upon reflection, there are many varieties of dogmatism, religious has been mentioned, but there is also intellectual, political, social, scientific, philosophic and probably others as well. I can imagine a scientist many years ago, having discovered the earth is not flat after all, thinks the scientist who refuses to even look at any new evidence to be the most dogmatic of any group. I think over the last 150-200 years it has become much harder to be a scientific dogmatic, but religious dogmatism has been a bit more tenacious. Still, I think religious dogmatism’s days are numbered also. I am most familiar with religious dogmatism, so I will address that aspect, but there may be some parallels with other types as well. I will readily admit my viewpoint may be a bit biased. I know little of Islamic fundamentalism other than what I read or hear in the news, but I suspect that they love their children as much as any other, like to laugh just as much, occasionally shed some tears and in general make pretty good neighbors.

But consistency for consistency’s sake means other aspects and considerations have to be sacrificed to at least some extent. I realize this illustration is a bit far-fetched, but suppose we have a man who is known for wearing no more than alight jacket no matter the weather. For years that has been sufficient, but due to global warming, the weather in his area has been undergoing a transformation. In his attempt to appear consistent, he refuses to adjust his garb, and freezes to death. There are immense groups of people today that believe we will eventually enjoy world peace, just as soon as Christ returns. There are sizable groups who do not believe in Christ, and think life goes on as it has for thousands of years, and even hoping for peace shows signs of being out of touch with reality. There is another group that may not yet be in the top ten, but is growing rapidly and believes Christ has, indeed, returned. That group, call the Baha’is, is busy building what they believe to be God’s Kingdom on Earth.

There unmistakable signs that we (the whole world) are starting to make very noticeable and encouraging steps in that direction. If the Baha’is are right, then peace is finally achievable, and as we travel further along that path, the other groups I referred to will either have to abandon long-held beliefs, or find themselves increasingly out of touch and ineffective. My point is if we choose to close our eyes to reality, then reality eventually turns its back on us.

Answer 11

A most profound understanding of the human condition.

Change is the only constant in life and he who resists acceptance of change is apt to be left behind by events.

Answer 12

I think it means, that life keeps changing and that anyone who doesn't change with life is only fooling themselves.

Answer 13

As life is not static, and as someone recently pointed out we are all born in ignorance, then as we move along with life it should also follow that we move away from ignorance.

There are thing I know today which I was ignorant of yesterday and by adding them to my previous understanding of the world my view of the world must also change, or I will be left starring at what I know is not there convincing myself that it is!

That is to say, I totally agree with his words.

Answer 14

I have no idea. Am from India (who lives in the U.S.) and I don't know wat that means. Fine I'll try - A dude who shows off all the time will lose his position and some other dude will take it. So maybe he's saying not to show off.