Gandhi’s Top 10 Fundamentals for Changing the World

On Best-selling author Paulo Coelho’s Blog today he posted

Gandhi’s Top 10 Fundamentals for Changing The World. 

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When we discuss the concept of change, like many other issues we look at problems external to us and how and why they should be “fixed.”  We judge, attack, criticize from an outside point-of-view the actions of other nations, cultures, and individuals.

What strikes me the most about Gandhi’s list is that his fundamentals for change all ask the reader to look inward first – to resolve inner-conflict, discover inner-peace, and in turn strengthening the self.

Lately, I’ve realized that the better I know myself the easier it is to see and understand the external world.  Seeing the motivations and desires that drive the actions of others is quicker and clearer.  But this clarity erodes as quickly as it blossoms if the commitment to self-discovery and inner-change ends.

With all of the anti-bullying work we do at Chase Wilson Education, we try and focus on strengthening the inner-confidence and understanding of the individual first – hoping that the change will permeate outward organically from there.  How effective could Gandhi’s Fundamentals be if introduced and taught properly to students?  And not as religious or spiritual rhetoric, but as cornerstones of mental and emotional skill-building?

But no matter the phase of development and growth each of us are at, this list seems to one that provides a great depth of wisdom and insight.  The striving for inner-strength and courage should be endless – and the best way to start “changing the world,” means looking deep down into the abyss of one’s self.  Unfortunately this action takes a great deal of courage.

I believe that change, must like the pursuit of happiness, cannot come from nor should be reflected by looking at external sources.  It starts within.

Gandhi’s Top 10 Fundamentals for Changing The World.

1. Change
“You must be the change you want to see in the world.”
“As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world – that is the myth of the atomic age – as in being able to remake ourselves.”

2. Control.
“Nobody can hurt me without my permission.”

3. Forgiveness
“The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.”
“An eye for eye only ends up making the whole world blind.”

4. Action.
“An ounce of practice is worth more than tons of preaching.”

5. The present moment.
“I do not want to foresee the future. I am concerned with taking care of the present. God has given me no control over the moment following.”

6. Everyone is human.
“I claim to be a simple individual liable to err like any other fellow mortal. I own, however, that I have humility enough to confess my errors and to retrace my steps.”
“It is unwise to be too sure of one’s own wisdom. It is healthy to be reminded that the strongest might weaken and the wisest might err.”

7. Persist.
“First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.”

8. Goodness.
“I look only to the good qualities of men. Not being faultless myself, I won’t presume to probe into the faults of others.”
“I suppose leadership at one time meant muscles; but today it means getting along with people.”

9. Truth
“Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.”
“Always aim at complete harmony of thought and word and deed. Always aim at purifying your thoughts and everything will be well.”

10. Development.
“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.”

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